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JOHANNA DOMOKOS JUOKSU AND PALVELIJAN LOIKKA | THE SERVING STRIDE Susanne Gottberg’s image of a faceless runner, which appears on the cover of Juoksu (see the picture below), suggests the heightened psychological state of emptiness that can come from physical exercise. Clearing the mind can lead to a mystical experience, to the so-called union with a higher consciousness. Both the book and the essay are connected through this painting. Picture no.1. Cover of Jari Ehrnrooth’s novel, which features a painting by Susanne Gottberg In his essay The Yearning Stride, Ehnrnrooth comments on the painting: In the photo the running servant would have a face but he has none. Image is to the soul as the clock is to the time. The faceless runner finds an ally he can trust, not in his inner moans, but in the gushing of the wind, the beating of the rain, the splash and slap of his footfalls. Running is about surrendering and forgetting and forgetting what one is surrendering. It is the sea that offers room for emptiness. But emptiness will never come. Something is always left—that which is most valuable.” As many of Ehrnrooth’s titles immediately demonstrate, he often plays with the multiple meanings of words, not only in his mother tongue but across languages. For the English edition of this work, Ehrnrooth suggested the title of The Servant Stride for Palvelijan loikka, (literally, ‘the stride of the servant’)—which binds together the nominal and adjectival meanings of the word “servant” as well as the nominal and verbal meanings of “stride.” ® Jari Ehrnrooth, Kaipaava askel / The Yearning Stride, 80. + 326 + Daréczi-Sepsi-Vassänyi_Initiation_155x240.indb 326 6 2020.06.15. 11:04:27
