Minority Language Use in Kven Communities:

• Main Author: Räisänen, Anna-Kaisa
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: British Academy 2014
• Subjects: Northern Norway
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197265765.003.0005

This chapter examines the relationship between language beliefs and language ideologies among the Kvens in Northern Norway, and specifically how beliefs about Kven language transmission to future generations are manifested in discourse about use of the language with children at home. A critical discourse analysis approach is adopted, analysing discursive structures, especially modal structures, and word choices. Critical attention is also paid to language ideology with a focus on power relationships and their effect on language and its use as a social practice. The goal is to analyse how linguistic beliefs about the Kven language are constructed, based on semi-structured interviews recorded in 2007 with 12 Kven-Norwegian bilinguals from Bugøynes in Northern Norway.