To talk about Finland's national identity, we must go back to when Finland became Finland. Originally from the east, the Finno-Ugric group were the oldest inhabitants of the North-East of Eurasia. Finland's culture was heavily influenced by the Swedish hegemony from 1150 until the Finnish war of 1809, causing the Finnish people to re-assess their situation and what it means to be Finnish. Most of the country was being taught Swedish in schools, so it took quite some time to go back to Finnish, re-establish its language, national history, and literature that had been neglected for years and years.
Language is one of the most essential factors in the definition of identity. The re-introduction of the Finnish language in academia was a significant tool in the construction of this new national identity crisis that they were facing in 1809. Adolf Ivar Arwidsson who was a political journalist and writer said "Swedes we are not, Russians we do not want to become, let us, therefore, be Finns." He is seen as the father of an independent Finland. The publishing of The Kalevala changed the history of the nation. It is a work of epic poetry by Elias Lönnrot from 1835 and is now regarded as one of the most significant works of Finnish Literature. Though this epic advanced the foundation of Finnish as the soon to be majority language, there were still Finnish-Swedes, mainly on the coasts, they were not too pleased to give up their history. Because of this strife, Finland switched from a Unitarian concept of a nation to a bi-cultural one. As time went on, the strength of the Kalevala was starting to show, mainly along the borders of the east and west, contesting the traditional Slavic bylini epic to the east and the old nøger poetry to the west.
To expand out further, we will look at the Nordic identity and what it means to the people of Finland in their emergence of defining their national identity. Finland is a part of the Nordic countries in Europe, which also includes Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway. The countries established this identity by homogenization through historical development. In the 1930s, Finland and Estonia secretly agreed on a defense cooperation against the threat of the soviet union. This strengthened the community an idea of unity between Scandinavian neighbors. This Nordic connection is of great importance to Finnish-Swedes, who have "taken the role as cultural middlemen between Sweden and Finland" (Honko, 1996, p. 53). The bilingual Swedish-Finns living in Finland see their identity as Nordic and not Swedish.
The Finnish and Swedish were headliners of the national discourse, but what about the Saami? The Saami are aboriginal inhabitants to Fennoscandia, which spans from the Norwegian peninsula to part of Russia. They are mainly located in the northern regions of each country, practicing their traditions and culture. About 50-80,000 people are living dependent on the traditionally Saami way of life which includes reindeer breeding, hunting and fishing, and cattle breeding. They have not been able to convince the governments of the Nordic countries to grant them autonomy from the "homeland," though they certainly have internationally minded people, they have only made a small dent in proving their identity nationally. This is a perfect example of "the other" from Triandafyllidou's article. According to her definition, the Saami people would be internal significant others as an ethnic minority who has contributed to the constitution of a nation state. The Saami fit all of her criteria for a definition such an other, "distinct culture, language, traditions and myths of origin from the dominant nation and may, therefore, be perceived by the dominant nation to pose a threat" (Triandafyllidou, 1998). They want rights for themselves as an indigenous group would, but they are conflicted because they want to present their opinions, but must not threaten the legitimacy of the governments of Fennoscandia. The Saami do not want to and never have wanted to secede from the nations, but they view their territory as their own and want governing and other rights for them.
Another "other" may be the Republic of Karelia. Karelia was a Finnish province that was partly ceded to the Soviet Union after the Winter Wars in 1940. Finns visiting ceded Karelia have said it has been stripped of it is original "Finnishness," but the locals living there feel "Finnishness" everywhere. Karelian nationalism has never taken place, considering it is a transnational area that's claimed by several states. Finland may see Karelia as a significant other, definitely an external one, but it cannot be defined precisely by Triandafyllidou's parameters. Most Finnish residents in the ceded Karelia were resettled back into Finland, with only 155 people opting to stay. Today, there is the Karelian Question, which is a dispute whether or not to try to regain control over the ceded areas of Finnish Karelia. It is not a political issue because the government of Finland has not taken any action, it remains a public debate.
In conclusion, the Finnish national identity is expressed through their language, literature, and culture which was realized relatively recently during the 19th century and onwards. Finland most definitely has an internal significant other and possibly an external one, though that situation is muddy.
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Works
Cited
Honko,
L. (1996). Changing National Identities: Finland, 1996. Anthropological
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suomalaiseksi samastuminen Helsingin yliopisto. Retrieved from
URN:ISBN:978-952-10-3962-1 http://hdl.handle.net/10138/23476
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