Locating Estonia: Perspectives from Exile and the Homeland (original) (raw)

Estonians and Russians in Contemporary Estonia: Is the Soviet Past still dominating the Present?

2011

The current article focuses on a study about Estonians and Russians living in Estonia. As a method we used Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) to investigate their patterns of identification with 'Estonians', 'Russians in Estonia', 'Russians in Russia', and 'Estonian Government'. The themes embraced constructions of the past, including the context of the Soviet Union's role in WWII. Findings suggest that alarming events on the streets of Tallinn (April 2007) appear to be related to the role of the Soviet Union in WWII inter alia, where its construction as 'occupier' of Eastern Europe (as opposed to 'liberator') forms a 'core evaluative dimension of identity' for the Estonians, together with the Bronze Soldier having no symbolic salience or relation to the Estonian identity. Findings, such as Estonian Russians expressing much stronger idealistic identification with 'Estonians' than with the “own parents" group, al...

Critical events of the 1940s in Estonian life histories

2006

The article observes how critical times, conditioned by events concurrent with Soviet power and World War II, are currently reflected in life histories of newly independent Estonia. Oral history analysis comprises texts from southern Läänemaa: oral life history interview (2005), written responses to the Estonian National Museum's questionnaire "The 1949 Deportation, Life as a Deportee" (1999) and a written life history sent to the Estonian Literary Museum's relevant competition "One Hundred Lives of a Century" (1999). Aiming at historic context, materials from the Estonian Historical Archives and Läänemaa County Archives have been used. The treatment focuses on two issues. First, whether oral and written narratives only differ by the form of presentation or do they also convey different messages (ideologies). Secondly, whether memories and history documents solely complement each other or do they more essentially alter the imaginations obtained from the events. The public is presented with experience narratives on coping under difficult circumstances, both at practical and mental levels. Narratives are presented from a certain standpoint, pursuant to narrators' convictions, with the main message remaining the same in different presentations. The addition of history sources enables to better observe the evolving of narrative tradition (narration rules) and highlight new questions (hidden in the narrative).

Asylum in Amnesia: Exploring Historically Established Ethnic Segregation in Estonia

2018

This thesis explores historically established ethnic segregation in Estonia and how it affects the status of refugees and asylum seekers residing in the country today. It contributes to filling a gap in the literature on factors affecting formation of attitudes towards involuntary migrants relocating to Estonia. The thesis builds on ethnographic material obtained through semi-structured interviews, scholarly historical analyses, media publications, and the author’s positionality within the studied society. It traces fluctuations in the power dynamics between native Estonians and Russian Estonians associated with changes in the domestic situation and international status of the country. The thesis then shows how the fluctuations are mirrored in the experiences of the recently arrived refugees and asylum seekers. The analysis is divided into two phases: (1) emergence, manifestations, and influences of ethnicity-based segregation and (2) factors that determine capacity of the long-term residents of Estonia to receive newcomers. Habitual self-identification through exclusion and othering inherent to the Estonians society has shown to be a key factor determining commonality of negative attitudes towards people of less familiar backgrounds arriving in the country. In conclusion, it is argued that prolonged tensions between native Estonians and Russian Estonians combined with the fluctuations in the respective power dynamics result in habitual fear towards “foreigners” which affects the way refugees and asylum seekers are perceived by the long-term residents of Estonia.

Leaving the ‘Baltic’ States and ‘Welcome to Estonia’: Re-regionalising Estonian Identity

After a decade of transformation in Estonia, the formerly dominant topics on the political agenda—internal consolidation on ethnic grounds and external security—have given way to an emergency of less conflictual modes of identity policy. If recent analysis was focused almost entirely on ethnic tensions then this article argues that the way Estonian elites imagine Estonia’s place on the map of the world can also be said to be influenced by the fact that the country will soon be part of an enlarged Europe. Thus, conflictual issues increasingly lose their importance. Historically, Estonians have been influenced by Germans, Swedes and Russians, and all these three ‘cultural spaces’ had their own impact on Estonian imagination. Is Estonia ‘simply’ Western or particularly Scandinavian? Does it belong to the ‘North’, the ‘East’ or the ‘West’? Is it ‘Baltic’, baltisch, pribaltiiskii or simply ‘Estonian’? An imagined Estonian Geschichtsraum must not necessarily be limited to the almost canonical ‘our space’ inhabited by ethnic Estonians. This view, which was extremely popular at the end of the 1980s, becomes, on integrating Europe, increasingly old-fashioned because of its isolationist tendencies. However, ‘our space’ remains the core of any attempt to re-regionalise Estonian identity in providing the historic motive of Estonians living there for at least 5000 years. Yet, the growing dissatisfaction with being ‘Baltic’ as a means of being a victim of history is one of the main arguments in trying to escape the ‘East’ and reach the ‘North’, and it is part of a marketing strategy to ‘sell’ the country as being successfully transformed.

Battle over identity - Russian minority in Estonia in-between competing narratives 1

2013

Owing to a complicated shared history, the host state Estonia and the kin-state Russia both claim influence over the Russian minority in Estonia. Strategically constructing the identity of the minority through presenting contesting storylines acts as a way to exert power and undermine the opponent in this triadic relationship. When in theory a multitude of identities is possible by virtue of the dynamism and context-dependency of the concept, in practice conflicting memories and competing narratives insist on taking a side. Therefore, the Russian minority in Estonia finds itself in-between a small host state fearing for its survival, and a large kin-state looking to strengthen its ties with its kin abroad. Findings based on a content analysis and critical discourse analysis into the Russian and Estonian blogosphere suggest that the language of dissimilation occurs most often. Historical grievances from both sides are reintroduced by the opinion leaders to bring attention to the 'rightful' victimhood and to justify present day actions of the parties involved. The underlying discursive strategy that prevails is one of confrontation, which disregards the option of using narratives as a bonding device instead.

Rupturing otherness: Becoming Estonian in the context of contemporary Britain

Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 2010

While identity construction continues to be a widely discussed and researched area in contemporary social sciences, the existing theories have overlooked the importance of understanding why and how identities as semiotic constructions emerge in individuals’ consciousness in the flow of their everyday functioning. This article seeks to address this limitation in the theorizing by proposing an alternative conceptualization of identity, according to which identity construction is triggered by rupturing life-experience, which surfaces another perspective and makes the person aware of a possibility to be otherwise or of the reality of being different. Theoretical claims put forward in the paper are drawn from data gathered in a recent study, which explored lived-through experiences of young Estonians, who made study-visits to the United Kingdom. The discussed data will also highlight some interesting aspects in Estonians’ self-definition as it is constructed in relation to Eastern-European identity in the context of contemporary Britain.