Street mirrors, surveillance, and urban communities in early modern Finland

Timo Ylimaunu; James Symonds; Anna-Kaisa Salmi; Risto Nurmi; Titta Kallio-Seppä; Tiina Kuokkanen; Annemari Tranberg; Paul R. Mullins

doi:10.1177/1359183514521923

Street mirrors, surveillance, and urban communities in early modern Finland

Timo Ylimaunu, James Symonds, Anna-Kaisa Salmi, Risto Nurmi, Titta Kallio-Seppä , Tiina Kuokkanen, Annemari Tranberg, Paul R. Mullins

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

This article discusses street mirrors or ‘gossip mirrors’, in terms of urban social relations and surveillance. Street mirrors were introduced to coastal towns in Sweden and Finland in the 18th and early 19th centuries and may still be found in well-preserved towns with historic wooden centres. The authors argue that the introduction of monitoring and spying devices, such as street mirrors, occurred in the 18th century due to increased urban populations and feelings of insecurity caused by greater regional and transnational mobility. Mirrors, in this sense, were one
material mechanism in the process of modernization and the development of individuality.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	145-167
Number of pages	23
Journal	Journal of Material Culture
Volume	19
Issue number	2
Early online date	20 Feb 2014
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183514521923
Publication status	Published - Jun 2014

Keywords

Gossip
Identity
Individuality
Street mirrors
Surveillance

Access to Document

10.1177/1359183514521923

Cite this

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title = "Street mirrors, surveillance, and urban communities in early modern Finland",

abstract = "This article discusses street mirrors or {\textquoteleft}gossip mirrors{\textquoteright}, in terms of urban social relations and surveillance. Street mirrors were introduced to coastal towns in Sweden and Finland in the 18th and early 19th centuries and may still be found in well-preserved towns with historic wooden centres. The authors argue that the introduction of monitoring and spying devices, such as street mirrors, occurred in the 18th century due to increased urban populations and feelings of insecurity caused by greater regional and transnational mobility. Mirrors, in this sense, were onematerial mechanism in the process of modernization and the development of individuality.",

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AU - Symonds, James

AU - Salmi, Anna-Kaisa

AU - Nurmi, Risto

AU - Kallio-Seppä , Titta

AU - Kuokkanen, Tiina

AU - Tranberg, Annemari

AU - Mullins, Paul R.

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