Gjestfrihet på prøve. En undersøkelse av gjestfrihetsparadokset i Tove Janssons Mummitrollbøker

This article discusses how Finnish writer Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels that are written in Swedish explore concepts of hospitality in light of Jacques Derrida’s seminars on hospitality in De l’hospitalité: Anne Dufourmantelle invite Jaques Derrida à répondre (1997). Taking Derrida’s understanding of “conditional” and “absolute” hospitality as a departure point, my close readings demonstrate how the Moomins’ seemingly utopic social community is put to the test in the following novels: Comet in Moominland (Swedish: Kometen kommer, 1946), Moominsummer Madness (Swedish: Farlig midsommar, 1954), Moominland Midwinter (Swedish: Trollvinter, 1957), Moominpappa at Sea (Swedish: Pappan och havet, 1965) and Moominvalley in November (Swedish: Sent i November, 1970). I then showcase how the latter three novels thematise the idea that hospitality is impossible; Jansson’s narrative technique sheds light on new aspects of hospitality as a distinctly literary phenomenon. I conclude by proposing the concept of hospitality as a useful allegory for the reflective space emerging in the contact zone between text and reader.