ST201901

I

s there anything more quintessentially British than

refusing the help from a shop assistant, even though

you actually could do with it? Or perhaps feeling the

awkwardness of sharing a lift with a stranger? But

actually, when you take a look at the Finnish

Nightmares cartoon, you’ll realise that these

scenarios also happen to be quintessentially Finnish.

Devised by Karoliina Korhonen, the star of Finnish

Nightmares is Matti: a stickman with the stereotypically

Finnish national trait of being somewhat reserved.

After all, this is the country that has the saying, “An

introverted Finn looks at his shoes when talking to you;

an extroverted Finn looks at your shoes.” But Matti’s

anxieties will no doubt make you laugh in recognition

and have struck a chord throughout the world – look on

the Finnish Nightmares Facebook page and you’ll see

comments from across the globe. In China, Matti has

become something of a culture figure and it’s helped

inspire a new buzzword, jingfen, or “spiritually Finnish”.

The appeal of Finnish Nightmares is that it offers a

bit of reassurance for anyone who knows what it’s like

to feel shy or socially anxious. At some point, most of us

will be a little bit Matti. And, in a noisy world, when it

can feel that everyone else is shouting about their

achievements or opinions, there’s some comfort in

recognising that, despite what the news or social media

may imply, that there are millions of people around the

world who feel precisely like you – and Matti – do.

Illustrations taken from Finnish Nightmares by

Karoliina Korhonen (Atena); atena.fi.

YOU’LL LIKELY RECOGNISE YOURSELF IN FINNISH NIGHTMARES – 

A WRY CARTOON THAT’S FOSTERING CROSS-CULTURAL EMPATHY

Illustrations: KAROLIINA KORHONEN