Rituaali, identiteetti ja ylirajaisuus

In this article I ponder the relationship between rituals and identities in the context of the remigration of persons of Finnish origin from Russia to Finland. The traditional ethnological study of rituals of death presupposes that ritual has to do with the community’s system of values and answers the main questions of human existence concerning the possibility of eternal life. In this conception of ritual the person is seen as a member of collective and a carrier of its culture. On the contrary, the postmodern theory of subjectivity releases the subject from membership in the stable group, but argues that identification is a flexible strategic process, serving the individual’s and group’s future goals. Using examples of official Soviet-era funeral scenarios and unofficial Russian folk-religious funerals, I analyze those cultural models and ideologies. Through my own experiences of funerals in Petrozavodsk and Joensuu I introduce the multivoicedness of funeral practices. Remigration to Finland is a part of present-day Finnish nationalism on the one hand, and global transnational migration and diasporic space on the other. A return migrant’s ethnic, national, ideological and cultural identification tends to be multi- layered, inconsistent and hybrid. Conducting ritual according to a certain canon does not automatically express the “true identity” or moral values of the community, but rather perceived configurations of cultural power-relations of the society of residence.In this article I ponder the relationship between rituals and identities in the context of the remigration of persons of Finnish origin from Russia to Finland. The traditional ethnological study of rituals of death presupposes that ritual has to do with the community’s system of values and answers the main questions of human existence concerning the possibility of eternal life. In this conception of ritual the person is seen as a member of collective and a carrier of its culture. On the contrary, the postmodern theory of subjectivity releases the subject from membership in the stable group, but argues that identification is a flexible strategic process, serving the individual’s and group’s future goals. Using examples of official Soviet-era funeral scenarios and unofficial Russian folk-religious funerals, I analyze those cultural models and ideologies. Through my own experiences of funerals in Petrozavodsk and Joensuu I introduce the multivoicedness of funeral practices. Remigration to Finland is a part of present-day Finnish nationalism on the one hand, and global transnational migration and diasporic space on the other. A return migrant’s ethnic, national, ideological and cultural identification tends to be multi- layered, inconsistent and hybrid. Conducting ritual according to a certain canon does not automatically express the “true identity” or moral values of the community, but rather perceived configurations of cultural power-relations of the society of residence

Suomen venäjänkielinen media ja monietninen julkisuus

The article examines Finland’s Russian media from the angle of multi-ethnic public sphere, which presupposes minorities rights to communicate and to be understood, and the concept of differentiated citizenship (Husband 1998). Present-day diasporic media are transnational, and the role and position of national ethnic media is under pressure of neoliberal market, digitalization and transnational discourses. The article is based on the interviews of Russian-speaking media-actors which were collected in 2016. The ability of media in Russian produced in Finland to act as a public sphere for Russian-speakers is assessed through outlets’ revenue models and journalistic qualities. Although the media scene is seen by interviewed experts as wide and diverse, it is experienced as non-sufficient and its representativeness is doubted. The Russian media and public sphere in Finland can be strengthened by developing measures of support of ethnic media and intensifying cooperation between different actors.Artikkeli tarkastelee Suomen venäjänkielistä mediaa monietnisen julkisuuden näkökulmasta. Monietnisen julkisuuden mahdollistavat etnisten ja uskonnollisten vähemmistöjen oikeudet viestittää, tulla ymmärretyksi ja heidän ryhmäidentiteettiensä tunnustaminen (Husband 1998). Nyky-yhteiskuntien diasporinen media on ylirajaista sekä markkinoiden, digitalisaation ja ylirajaisten diskurssien ehdollistamaa. Journalistisen, faktapohjaisen etnisen median tärkeys korostuu demokraattisissa monietnisissä yhteiskunnissa. Artikkeliperustuu vuonna 2016 toteutetun Suomen venäjänkieliset mediankäyttäjinä -hankkeen venäjänkielisten mediatoimijoiden haastatteluaineistoon. Venäjänkielisen median kykyä toimia julkisuutena arvioidaan sen ansaintamallin ja journalistisen toiminnan näkökulmasta. Vaikka Suomessa harjoitetaan monipuolista ja laajaa venäjänkielistä mediatoimintaa, se koetaanriittämättömäksi ja sen kykyä edustaa vähemmistöä epäillään. Suomen venäjänkielistä mediakenttää voi vahvistaa kehittämällä etnisen median tukitoimintoja ja tiivistämällä yhteistyötä eri toimijoiden välillä