The birth of minority legislation in the newly independent Finland and Estonia (1918–1920): a comparative analysis

This article analyzes how ethnic minorities were taken into account in the Finnish and Estonian constitutions, and why account was taken precisely in a certain way. At the same time, it approaches what kinds of views were presented by different political parties and interest groups, what kind of debate was being held in Parliament and how the matter was dealt with in the leading media. The outcome of the process in both countries was that exceptionally broad linguistic and cultural rights were given to minorities if the situation was compared with the rest of Europe. There were several factors behind the process. One factor was the relationship between ethnic groups in Finland and Estonia in the historical perspective. Another factor was each country's internal debate on what kind of social order in general was to be built. The third factor was how the politics in Finland and Estonia was influenced by international trends and theories about how ethnic minorities should have been treated.

Language as a resource for ethnic and cultural identity: experience of Latvian expats in Sweden

The aim of this article is to investigate the experience and significance of the use and preservation of Latvian for native language maintenance, national culture and identity in the Nordic countries. This has been done by analysing native (heritage) language as a resource for ethnic and culture identity. The aim of the article is to ascertain the language situation in the diaspora, explore practices and perspectives regarding the sustaining of Latvian language and ethnic culture. From the theoretical point of view, the data is approached with reference to P. Bourdieu`s view on language skills as linguistic capital, a form of culture capital. The paper uses a combination of both quantitative survey and in-depth interviews with Latvian emigrants, especially those in the Nordic countries.

New Heathenry between past and present. The case of Ásatrúfélagið and Samfundet Forn Sed

As a variant of alternative spirituality derived from postmodern fluidity and fragmentation of large narratives, Nordic Heathenry has gone through a revival for the past decades. Due to the common ground of potentially völkish/ethnicist views shared by far-right milieus, it has been confronted with the risk of the extremist framework dominating the reception of Norse symbols and myths. While many strains of heathenry might present similarities in their neo-romantic nativist revival, some have been attempting to focus on a heritage discourse that can become acceptable and normalized in society, reflecting an open and inclusive attitude. The Asatru Association in Iceland and The Old Way in Sweden, through their public message and stated mission, underline the need for the freedom to reinvent myth and ritual while remaining anchored in the present, thus distancing themselves from other cultural appropriations and proclaiming their own role in society. The very flexible view on myth and ritual constitutes a defining aspect for the identity of these movements.

The family tree – a challenge for multicultural learning: some aspects of Swedish, Serbian and Bulgarian kinship terminology

To discover the essential differences in cultural and linguistic patterns of a certain society, we need to look no further than to the most common relations of all – those between family members. When studying, working and living in, or for instance marrying into another culture, we must not only learn, but also acquire and utilise a whole new set of relationships and terms in order to be able to function and communicate. Without this knowledge we will quickly encounter a multitude of social difficulties in the other environment. On a deeper level, if we follow the assumption that a language is the mirror of its culture, and that language also influences culture, the linguistic terms designating family relations present a number of interesting phenomena, such as: which relations occupy the centre of importance in the society; the concept and understanding of a core family; which family relations are considered “worth” having a term for, and thus meaningful to keep up; the relations after a crisis, for instance a divorce; and several more, including the transfer of family relations to friendship and business contacts. This qualitative pilot study discusses some important aspects of family relations from the perspectives of Swedish-language (Sweden and Swedish-speakers in Finland) family terminology, in comparison with Serbian and Bulgarian. The study also includes a Serbian-language survey about kinship terms, and it raises questions about further research into cultural and social patterns and connotations reflected in kinship terminology. Social and cultural differences specifically between the Serbian and Swedish spheres are highlighted; the Bulgarian and Swedish-speaking terminologies in Finland are used here mainly as references and for comparative purposes. The study combines different scientific fields in mapping out some aspects of cognitive, social and cultural patterns. It emphasises the importance and necessity of multilingual and multicultural learning instead of foreign language and culture learning, and shows some of the pitfalls and possibilities students of languages and cultures encounter when learning new kinship concepts and terms.

Editorial Foreword

The 13th volume of The Romanian Journal for Baltic and Nordic Studies reflects some of the research presented at the 12th International conference on Baltic and Nordic studies titled "Rethinking multiculturalism, multilingualism, and cultural diplomacy in Scandinavia and The Baltic Sea Region," which will be held on May 27-28, 2021, under the auspices of the Romanian Association for Baltic and Nordic Studies. RethinkMulti-Kulti2021 was called to reflect on multiculturalism, multilingualism, and cultural diplomacy in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region 10 years after German Chancellor Angela Merkel predicted the end of German multicultural society. Many politicians with Conservative leanings praised the confirmation that the half-century-cherished multi-kulti "utterly failed," and far-right gurus interpreted it as an omen. Furthermore, Merkel's track record as a committed democratic-minded politician, EU leader, and proponent of migrant integration has garnered near-universal support for this argument. Furthermore, in academia, Merkel's assertion has never been adequately questioned, but rather taken for granted. Meanwhile, policies governing multiculturalism and multilingualism in the EU and EEA have been stuck in a rut, particularly in what Fareed Zakaria properly refers to as illiberal democracies. The purpose of the conference was not to resurrect the political objective behind multi-kulti, but rather to critically reassess the role of multiculturalism, multilinguism, and cultural diplomacy from the viewpoint of Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region. We see Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region as interrelated and partially overlapping by a plethora of historical, cultural, and social channels, hence papers dealing with multiculturalism, multilinguism, and cultural diplomacy as reflected in these regions and wider Europe were planned. Papers on connections, liaisons, affiliations, divergences, animosity, legal or de facto statuses of cultures and languages in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea Region were also presented during the conference. How multilingualism, multiculturalism, and cultural diplomacy prospered or muddled through transitions from liberal nations to far-right or far-left governments and back were also addressed. The volume's first issue focuses on lingualism, bilingualism, and multilingualism as a path to diversity and how individuals reflected on it. Kari Alenius looks at the telling case of the Sámi minority in northern Finland and the disputes over whether or not to grant it wide autonomy, which was ultimately determined in favor of opponents of the proposal. Johanna Domokos examines the case studies of two contemporary multilingual writers, Sabira Sthlberg from Finland and Tzveta Sofronieva from Bulgaria, to demonstrate how they aspire to address cross-culturally to readers of all languages, backgrounds, and locations, concluding that "the reader is empowered to take part in not only piecing together but creating a better 'new' world." Sabira Sthlberg is the author and coauthor of two articles that address multiculturalism in a very solid and original manner. The first follows the partly mythical and partly tourist-tracking journey of international traveller and well-known Swedish-language author Göran Schildt, who sailed on his yacht Daphne in the Black Sea and the Danube Delta in the summer of 1963 as one of the first cracks in the curtain separating the two opposing ideological blocs. The latter, co-signed with Dorijan Hajdu, focuses on the relationships between family members, as expressed particularly in Swedish and Serbian language, allowing for a highly comprehensive knowledge of diversity from inside. Finally, Adél Furu's most recent article in our journal examines educational trends in the context of Russian and Estonian second language training in Finland, observing the shift from language loss to language maintenance. We hope that all of these pieces will spark new thought on the subject and help our readers better comprehend multiculturalism and multilinguism as they were perceived and implemented in Europe, particularly in our and the previous century.

On semantic and semiotic multilingualism in earlier and latest works of Sabira Ståhlberg and Tzveta Sofronieva

The present study describes the poetics of two contemporary multilingual writers, one born in Finland (Sabira Ståhlberg) and one in Bulgaria (Tzveta Sofronieva). Besides being prolific writers in literary genres such as poetry, prose, drama, both also translate and edit world literature. Early in their career each of them achieved a PhD. Sofronieva and Ståhlberg carry out academic activities through their research studies. After visiting a multitude of places, they have become not only literary figures of both their birth countries’ literature and the literatures of several other countries, but real literary citizens of the ‘new’ world literature (McDougall, 2014). Their philosophical and ecological aestheticism voices the most urgent problems of humanity by incorporating the latest insights of brain studies, quantum physics, psychology, migration and cultural studies. Their oeuvre addresses any reader irrespective of language(s), background(s), and location(s). After looking into the monolingually multilingual (using hidden code-switching) as well as multigraphic and multilingual (using overt code switching) artistic production of Sofronieva and Ståhlberg, this study compares two poems, one by each of them, sharing the common metaphor of the sea horse. The aim of this comparative study is to point out how their highly topical poetries activate the multilinguality of any reader, as well as how the linguistic, alphabetic code-switching and shifts of interpretation paradigms loosen formal and conceptual borders. By their act, the reader is empowered to take part in not only piecing together but creating a better ‘new’ world.

Window to a world beyond: Göran Schildt’s journey to Bulgaria and Romania in 1963 and some multilingual and multicultural strategies

International traveller and acclaimed Swedish-language author Göran Schildt sailed in the Black Sea in the summer of 1963. He was a well-read scholar with a deep interest in the Antiquity and a seasoned traveller with a vast experience of multilingual and multicultural situations. This was the first and last visit of his yacht Daphne to the Black Sea and the Eastern Bloc. Through the eyes of this keen observer, a small aperture can be detected among the bricks in the walls dividing Europe. A window had been opened by world politicians in the Iron Curtain at the end of the 1950s. Although there were periods of high global tension, new possibilities for travel and tourism were created in some Eastern Bloc countries, among them Bulgaria and Romania. Visits by dozens of journalists, writers and artists and thousands of charter tourists from the Western Bloc over the next few decades opened up new windows to the world beyond the Iron Curtain. Göran Schildt stands out among the Nordic cultural visitors to Bulgaria and Romania in the post-war period. His desire to get acquainted with everyday life and ordinary people, capability to see behind facades and analysing experiences could be defined as journalistic, but his travel writing went deeper. In comparison with some other writers from Finland, who visited Bulgaria or Romania during the Cold War, such as the poet Lassi Nummi or comic fiction writer Arto Paasilinna, and the Bulgarian author Yordan Radichkov who visited Sweden, Schildt’s background, interests and multilingual and multicultural strategies supported the discovery and collection of extensive information and the processing of it into a multidimensional travel book. This article discusses the journey and travel narrative of Göran Schildt from the perspective of multilingual and multicultural strategies for encountering other languages, societies and cultures, and the processing of experiences as recorded in his diary and his popular travel narrative.

Knowledge of Russian and Estonian – an aisle of Finnish–Russian–Estonian relations

This article seeks to identify the educational tendencies in the case of Russian and Estonian second language instruction in Finland observing the shift from language erosion to maintenance. We examine the reasons why the promotion of Russian and Estonian in Finland is opportune and how acquainted immigrant children’s parents are with their rights to Russian or Estonian language instruction. The aim of this study is to examine the level of ethnic and linguistic intolerance sensed by the Russian and Estonian immigrants and the degree of integration into the Finnish culture and society. The study addresses the following research questions: How does Finland try to attenuate the social exclusion of the Russian and Estonian immigrants? Do immigrant students receive enough support to achieve bilingual proficiency? In what cases does the child not agree to speak Russian or Estonian at all? Is knowledge of the two analyzed languages a prerequisite for economic and cultural perspectives in Finland? The topic will be focused from sociolinguistic, linguistic, cognitive, cultural perspectives and the article will adopt a comparative approach.

Acculturation or autonomy? Controversy over the status of the Sámi in Finland during the interwar period

The newly independent Finland in the 1920s and 1930s was, in principle, a nation state in which ethnic Finns had an undisputed leading position. Nevertheless, there was a lively debate about the status that would be given to other nationalities in various spheres of social life. The Swedes were the country’s main national minority (accounting for 10 per cent of the total population), and they were granted extensive minority rights. Another locally significant minority were the Sámi who lived in northern Lapland. This paper analyses the extent to which the majority population was willing to meet the wishes of the Sámi. Some Finns were in favour of the Sámi being acculturated as quickly as possible, but a few activists would have liked to grant the Sámi broad autonomy. Several ministries and government agencies investigated the matter thoroughly, but the result was negative for the Sámi.