| Summary: | This doctoral dissertation investigates the imagery of Sáminess in contemporary Sámi poetry. The research material of the study consists of poetry collections published in North Sámi and Norwegian by eight Sámi authors: Inger-Mari Aikio (previously Aikio-Arianaick), Inga Ravna Eira, Rawdna Carita Eira, Irene Larsen, Rauni Magga Lukkari, Hege Siri, Nils- Aslak Valkeapää, and Ellen Marie Vars. The emphasis is on poetry published at the turn of the 2010s. The study examines how Sáminess has been depicted and constructed in poetry from the 1980s onwards. The four original research articles ask how images traditionally connected to Sáminess and indigenousness are used in contemporary poems and how this imagery has been deconstructed and updated. Further, the way the poems manifest the intersection of the internal differences and categorisations of Sáminess is scrutinised. The analysis uses the method of socially contextualising close reading. The translation of the studied poems into Finnish forms the basis for interpretation. Thematic reading of individual poems and their comparison give shape to a larger picture of the focal points of contemporary Sámi poetry. The study is positioned in the ethically and politically oriented field of poetry research. It is connected to transnational literary studies, which aims to deconstruct the unconsciously nation-oriented research known as methodological nationalism. The dissertation also represents indigenous research by discussing the meaning of indigenous methodologies for literary criticism and by reflecting on research ethical questions related to the position of a researcher who comes from outside the Sámi culture. Moreover, the relationship between indigenous research and post-colonialism is scrutinised. Since the representation of Sáminess has a prominent role in the research material, this study suggests that Sámi poetry takes part in the ethno-political project and in the production of national Sámi self-understanding. Established Sámi imagery is found in abundance in ...
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