Henrik Mattjus
About me
I am currently working as a post doctoral researcher in the project Baby Box as an Emotional Object in the department of History, Faculty of Social Sciences. In addition to my current topic, I am interested in the use of visual/pictorial sources, oral history and digital methods such as geographical information systems and spatial mapping. Furthermore, my field of interests include the transnational history of transfer of (scientific) knowledge and influences, as well as the development of methodological approaches in historical research. I also take special interest in the history of Czech Republic (and the area of the former Czechoslovakia).
Main positions of trust
Member of the editorial board - Jargonia 2015-2020
Secretary - The Historical Society of Tampere 2019->
Research topics
In my PhD-project (published in 2023, see below) I explored the social- and cultural history of the 20th century by analyzing the spatial modernization of Finnish rural homes, the related visual culture of rural homes and the oral histories of quotidian living in them in the 1920s and 1930s. As the key result of my research I argued that a structure, which sets the boundaries and possibilities of experience, can be formulated for the everyday living of the rural household in the 20th century. This structure was formed for example within the talks and professional practises of the planning experts, in the various representations of rural homes, as well as in the practical applications and interminglings of modernization and the more traditional ways of living.