Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics

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In this methodological article the question of authenticity of folklore material is discussed. The article deals mainly with the research history of Nenets folklore studies and examines critically two of its paradigms, namely the so-called Finno-Ugric paradigm and the Soviet studies. It is argued that in these paradigms there existed biases that prevented the students to study certain kind of folklore material. The biases were related to the language and the form of the material: due to these biases folklore performed not in Nenets and not in forms defined traditional were left outside collections and research. Furthermore, it is shown that Russian speech and narratives embedded in speech are part of Nenets everyday communication and thus also material worth studying and collecting. Instead of the criticised paradigms the Nenets discourse is examined within the notions of communication centered studies that have gained attention since the 1980s.

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This article analyses the change of articulation of ethnic boundaries on the coastline and the fjord areas in Finnmark, Northern Norway in the post-World War II period. From being a ‘social stigma’ in the 1950s a Sámi identity is today something that can be expressed in certain cultural constructed spaces. This change can be described as a result of socio-economic changes in the region, the populations’ firmer integration in a Norwegian culture and the ethno-political struggle of some Sámi that corresponded with a general development in the view on indigenous people in the Western world. Even if great changes have occurred there are still some resemblances with ethnic processes 50 years ago. A spatial ordering of ethnic boundaries and pragmatic assumption of Norwegian culture being neutral norm are among those features perpetuated until today.

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In summer 2009 I carried out initial field research for my dissertation project in the Erzgebirge, a mountain range divided by the Czech-German border – which separates it into a Saxon and Bohemian side – and which is famous for handmade wood arts. Initially my research concerned the question if, and if so how, property claims on wood arts are negotiated in international, national, and local contexts. The ongoing preparation for Montanregion Erzgebirge (the Erzgebirge Mining Region) to be nominated as a UNESCO Cultural Landscape widened my interest. Using this example of World Heritage in the making I enquire who the initiators are, what possible resistance there is, how the selection processes for entry onto the preliminary list of artefacts unfolds, and how the selected elements are interpreted.

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Book Review:
Aleksandar G. Marinov. 2019. Inward Looking: The Impact of Migration on Romanipe from the Romani Perspective. Romani Studies 2. Oxford; New York, NY: Berghahn Books.

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30 years after socialism many groups of Evenki reindeer herders failed to survive in the suboreal taiga of East Siberia. By making reference to two case studies from the northern part of the Zabaikal region and southern part of the Republic of Sakha, this article shows how the successful continuation of reindeer herding is based on the ability of charismatic leaders mobilising Evenki communities around reindeer herding and subsistence economies. This success also relies on connection to different agents of power in local administrations, large cities and governments and the use of all of the available opportunities that infrastructure or economic agents can offer.

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The Karelian Isthmus belonged to Finland until 1939. The period between the World War I and the World War II was a time of rapid contextual change and ended the difficulties caused by modernisation aggravated in the year 1918. Divine-like authorities were posed in a new light and the Civil War of 1918 set the whole nation before direct aggression and “Red” revolutionism. The ”Whites” won the war at the expense of the ”Reds”. Young nation (Finland gained independence in 1917) was compelled to define its relation to Reds and Whites – Whites were chosen. Also the Lutheran church was officially against Red anarchy and bolshevism. The situation around the reminiscence concerning the Red victims of the Civil War 1918 in Finland is complicated. The question of the problem of meaning and publicity plays a central role in the logic concerning the ritual performance and memory of the Civil War 1918 in the city of Vyborg. There is public and private silence and even prohibition to be connected with deaths, memory and places. It has continued until these days. At the same time the official history was put on a favourable form and there were clear limits for the official narratives. The victory of the “Whites” was interpreted as a victory for the independence of the Finnish nation. The history of the “Reds” became a national anomaly: forgotten and invisible. The atmosphere of concealing continued until the 1960s, when especially Finnish literature took pioneer steps towards the more open minded interpretation of history. On the other hand, the inheritance of concealing still exists – especially when it comes to oral history.

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This article examines how esoteric traditionalism in contemporary Russia searches for legitimisation using alternative archaeology. Although New Age spirituality is often considered a private religion, some of its manifestations have a significant impact on the public sphere. The author demonstrates that the New Age in Russia contributes to redefining of categories of religion, science, and cultural heritage through the construction of sacred sites and discursive opposition to academic knowledge. The research is based on analysis of media products that present esoteric interpretations of archaeological sites in southern Russia and ethnographic data collected in a pilgrimage to the dolmens of the Krasnodar region.

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Naithani, Sadhana. 2019. Folklore in Baltic History: Resistance and Resurgence. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi. 128 pages.

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The current paper looks into the issues connected with underwater cultural heritage in Estonia and deals with its legal and physical protection. The report discusses the topic of what we actually mean by underwater heritage, what are the threats in terms of preservation and what are the possibilities to protect underwater heritage in Estonia. The paper analyses objects that are not defined by the UNESCO convention from 2001 as underwater cultural heritage, but which form a considerable part of underwater objects in Estonia that are protected by the state. A wide range of challenges – protection, ownership, value – is illustrated by the study of the history and present state of the battleship Schleswig-Holstein.

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A place name sign is a linguistic-cultural marker that includes both memory and landscape. The author regards toponymic signs in Estonian Sign Language as representations of images held by the Estonian Deaf community: they reflect the geographical place, the period, the relationships of the Deaf community with hearing community, and the common and distinguishing features of the two cultures perceived by community’s members. Name signs represent an element of signlore, which includes various types of creative linguistic play. There are stories hidden behind the place name signs that reveal the etymological origin of place name signs and reflect the community’s memory. The purpose of this article is twofold. Firstly, it aims to introduce Estonian place name signs as Deaf signlore forms, analyse their structure and specify the main formation methods. Secondly, it interprets place-denoting signs in the light of understanding the foundations of Estonian Sign Language, Estonian Deaf education and education history, the traditions of local Deaf communities, and also of the cultural and local traditions of the dominant hearing communities. Both perspectives – linguistic and folkloristic – are represented in the current article.

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