Karelia in Flux : Shifting discourses in Soviet literature and contemporary opinion

• Main Author: Siegenthaler, Ansel
• Other Authors: Helsingin yliopisto, Humanistinen tiedekunta, Maailman kulttuurien laitos, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Arts, Department of World Cultures, Helsingfors universitet, Humanistiska fakulteten, Institutionen för världens kulturer
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Helsingin yliopisto 2019
• Subjects: Discourse; perception; reality; Karelia; Finland; Russia; identity; international relations; Soviet Russia; collective memory; opinion; letters to the editor; newspaper; helsingin sanomat; Soviet literature; literature; Karelian literature; border relations; national identity; ontology; utopia; alue- ja kulttuurintutkimus; Area and Cultural Studies; Region- och kulturstudier; karelia*; karelian
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10138/301904

Karelia has numerous questions regarding to whom its soul belongs with accompanying loyalties, identities and senses of belonging. Underlying assumptions may affect personal, political or business perceptions. Through explorations in discourse through selections of memory, ontology and reality we examine the necessity to rethink perceptions about Russian and Finnish relations as seen in the Karelian borderlands. Further, addressing how Karelia is constructed in Soviet literature and more contemporary opinion. Discourse from two periods of time is digested to reflect on the nature of knowing, remembering, learning and realizing. I include Soviet novels from 1940s to the 1980s about Karelia and newspaper letters to the editor and editorials from 2000 to 2015 to serve as gauges of perceptions and time periods. The discourse is examined for patterns and evidence of perceptions. The examined discourses suggest there is a disconnection between knowing and experiencing. Evidence is seen through government steering committees in Soviet literature and in memory and political exposure in popular opinion. Communicative acts in Soviet literature and published opinion pieces show how Karelian discourse can be affected. By addressing these perceptions we create opportunities to develop more realistic knowledge to aid in personal, political or business relations.