The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands
The Orthodox island monastery of Valaam in Russian Karelia is today a popular destination for Finnish tourists visiting Russia’s western borderlands. Many of these tourists are descendants of the Karelians who had evacuated the area following World War II. The monastery’s institutionally sanctioned...
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Geographical Society of Finland
2013
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:3d70695de62a473f9d1dbb3e9746b8cb 2023-05-15T17:00:16+02:00 The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands Maja Mikula 2013-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/3d70695de62a473f9d1dbb3e9746b8cb EN eng Geographical Society of Finland https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/7031 https://doaj.org/toc/1798-5617 1798-5617 https://doaj.org/article/3d70695de62a473f9d1dbb3e9746b8cb Fennia: International Journal of Geography, Vol 191, Iss 1 (2013) Homeland tourism Valaam Karelia Finland Russia borderlands Geography (General) G1-922 article 2013 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T04:20:58Z The Orthodox island monastery of Valaam in Russian Karelia is today a popular destination for Finnish tourists visiting Russia’s western borderlands. Many of these tourists are descendants of the Karelians who had evacuated the area following World War II. The monastery’s institutionally sanctioned genealogies construct it as the civilizing force, which had brought Christian enlightenment to the local heathen population. This discursive template is played out in the way the place is presented to visitors, with each highlight telling a carefully constructed story that promotes the monastery’s significance for the Russian religious and national identity. Yet, drawing on lived experience, as well as on popular culture, family lore and meanings from collective memory, the Finnish visitors break the monolithic official discourse and produce a complex “thirdspace” in their own measure. This paper is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted during a homeland visit to Ladogan Karelia in June 2010. Article in Journal/Newspaper karelia* karelia* karelians Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Homeland tourism Valaam Karelia Finland Russia borderlands Geography (General) G1-922 |
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Homeland tourism Valaam Karelia Finland Russia borderlands Geography (General) G1-922 Maja Mikula The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands |
topic_facet |
Homeland tourism Valaam Karelia Finland Russia borderlands Geography (General) G1-922 |
description |
The Orthodox island monastery of Valaam in Russian Karelia is today a popular destination for Finnish tourists visiting Russia’s western borderlands. Many of these tourists are descendants of the Karelians who had evacuated the area following World War II. The monastery’s institutionally sanctioned genealogies construct it as the civilizing force, which had brought Christian enlightenment to the local heathen population. This discursive template is played out in the way the place is presented to visitors, with each highlight telling a carefully constructed story that promotes the monastery’s significance for the Russian religious and national identity. Yet, drawing on lived experience, as well as on popular culture, family lore and meanings from collective memory, the Finnish visitors break the monolithic official discourse and produce a complex “thirdspace” in their own measure. This paper is based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted during a homeland visit to Ladogan Karelia in June 2010. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Maja Mikula |
author_facet |
Maja Mikula |
author_sort |
Maja Mikula |
title |
The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands |
title_short |
The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands |
title_full |
The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands |
title_fullStr |
The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands |
title_full_unstemmed |
The island monastery of Valaam in Finnish homeland tourism: Constructing a “Thirdspace” in the Russian borderlands |
title_sort |
island monastery of valaam in finnish homeland tourism: constructing a “thirdspace” in the russian borderlands |
publisher |
Geographical Society of Finland |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/3d70695de62a473f9d1dbb3e9746b8cb |
genre |
karelia* karelia* karelians |
genre_facet |
karelia* karelia* karelians |
op_source |
Fennia: International Journal of Geography, Vol 191, Iss 1 (2013) |
op_relation |
https://fennia.journal.fi/article/view/7031 https://doaj.org/toc/1798-5617 1798-5617 https://doaj.org/article/3d70695de62a473f9d1dbb3e9746b8cb |
_version_ |
1766052905377333248 |