Representations of Finnishness in Sweden

"More than half a million Swedes – one in twenty – is of Finnish descent. This book explores Finnishness, multilingualism and identities of young people with Finnish background in Sweden. What does it mean to grow up in a Finnish family in Sweden? Who are ‘real Finns’ and what does it take to be(come) one? Is a shared minority language essential for the survival of the minority, or can a minority culture stay viable without it? What is Finnishness and who, in the end, can define ethnicity? How to make sense of, and how to present interviews that are rich with imitations of accents, jokes and laughter? Representations of Finnishness is Sweden is an ethnographic interview study in the domain of applied language studies. This book is aimed at readers interested in sociolinguistics, linguistic ethnography, and the study of identities. Interviewees’ voices take a central position in this book and interview excerpts are used not only as illustrations, but also serve as starting points for discussing broader theoretical concepts. The author, Dr. Lotta Weckström, grew up bilingual – Finnish and Swedish – in Finland. She studied linguistics and migration studies in Germany and the Netherlands, and in this longitudinal study encompasses her expertise.

Ei omena kauas puusta putoa : Ruotsinsuomalaisten naisten ylirajaiset sukupolvet Ruotsin työmarkkinoilla

Artikkelissa tarkastellaan toisen maailmansodan jälkeen Ruotsiin muuttaneita sekä heidän tyttäriään Ruotsin työmarkkinoilla. Ensimmäisen polven siirtolaisnaiset työskentelivät useimmiten niin sanotuissa siirtolaisuusammateissa, joissa kielitaitoa ei tarvittu. Tyttärille kielitaitoisina avautuivat laajemmat työmarkkinat. Artikkelissa sukupolvet ovat fiktiivisiä siinä mielessä, että kyse ei ole äiti-tytär-pareista, vaan aineistot tulevat eri äideiltä (Snellman) ja tyttäriltä (Weckström).Peer reviewe

The invisible opponent: A study about feelings of national belonging, Finnishness and immigration of second generation Finns in Sweden

In 2002–2003 I participated to a one-year Master of Philosophy course organized by the Graduate School for Humanities, Universiteit van Amsterdam to study Pragma-Dialectics and argumentation theory. In the final thesis I analysed interviews with Finnish speaking Finnish immigrants’ second generation in Sweden1. These interviews were conducted during the spring and summer 2002 with the aim to gather information about the connection between a minority language- and minority identities of the second-generation immigrants. And, of course, to get a glimpse of their everyday life in a middle-sized city in the area of Mälardalen, one of the most ’Finnish’ areas is Sweden. The interviews were semi-structured and the language was either Finnish or Swedish according to the interviewee’s wish

Baltic Sea Area Studies: Northern Dimension of Europe – poikkitieteellinen tutkimusprojekti

Baltic Sea Area Studies: Northern Dimension of Europe – poikkitieteellinen tutkimusprojekt

...And They Lived Happy Ever After?

Lukkarinen Kvist, Mirjaliisa 2006. Tiden har haft sin gång. Hem och tillhörighet bland sverigefinnar i Mälardalen. (English abstract.) Lingköping Studies in Arts and Science No. 372. Linköping: Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för samhälls- och välfärdsstudier. 278 pp. ISBN 91-85643-94-7. ISSN 0282- 9800; 372