Continuing is always more difficult than starting. The second issue of the Nordic and Baltic Studies Review has required much more effort from the editors, especially since this year was very rich and interesting in terms of scholarly life. Site statistics and editorial correspondence indicate the Review’s relevance. Gradually, the geography of our authors is expanding. More and more materials are coming from early-career researchers and in the second issue we have provided many of them with the opportunity to publish their scholarly articles.
In general, the issue turned out to be very voluminous and diverse. In addition to its main sections (articles, reviews and academic life), we found it expedient to revive the tradition of publishing materials of momentous conferences. The year of 2017 was a jubilee for Russia and Finland, a landmark in the Russian-Finnish and Russian-Swedish relations. It is therefore natural that the research fora, held also in Petrozavodsk, were dedicated to the years of 1617 and 1917, significant dates of our joint history in many aspects. We publish virtually in full the materials of the Russian-Finnish seminar of historians 1617 / 1917: landmarks of Time and Space (Petrozavodsk, September 2017), supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grant No. 17-11-10501) and the Ministry of Economic Development and Industry of the Republic of Karelia, in order to familiarise our readers with the latest achievements of Russian and Finnish researchers.
An extensive programme of various events under the title The Year of Finland in Karelia initiated by the Interdisciplinary research and educational centres FENNICA (PetrSU) and NORDICA (Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History of Karelian Research Centre, RAS) was dedicated to the centenary of Finland's independence. One of the most important activities of the programme was a sociological poll Finland through the eyes of the inhabitants of Karelia, which results are presented in this issue.
This year, the publications section is devoted to another significant date, and not only for Karelia — the 85th anniversary of the National Theatre of the Republic of Karelia. It is preceded by a historical essay on the main stages of the establishment and further development of the theatre and includes publication of documents from the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia (four letters written by Ragnar Nyström) and a photo gallery The History of the Theatre in Persons, a unique selection of photographs from the archive of the National Theatre of Karelia.
We now leave our readers to judge whether we managed to make this issue interesting and scholarly valuable.
Irina Takala
Alexander Tolstikov
Petrozavodsk, December 23, 2017
