The Candid Moomintroll Learns about Life: Intertextual Relations between Moomin and Voltaire’s Candide

Abstract

Bengt Lundgren's article draws a parallel between Tove Jansson’s Comet in Moominland (1946), and Voltaire’s satirical novella Candide, or Optimism (1759). The author of the article points out how the adventures in the Moomin story in interesting ways mirror those of Candide and his companions. Lundgren lets us accompany Moomintroll and the little animal Sniff while they are learning about the world, threatened by disaster. The journeys of Candide, allowing him to get a perspective on the human condition, serve as an intertext which, according to the author, might broaden our view of the Moomin characters.   Keywords: comparative literature, intertextuality, Paradise, heroes, Tove Jansson, Voltaire, philosophy of humanism