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The Vague Feeling of Belonging of a Transcultural Generation. An

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The Vague Feeling of Belonging of a Transcultural Generation. An The Vague Feeling of Belonging of a Transcultural Generation. An Ethnographic Study on Germans and their Descendants in Contemporary Helsinki, Finland. A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF ARTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY presented by Dorothea Breier M.A. 2 University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies European Ethnology Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences (HYMY) To be defended 10.11.2017, University of Helsinki Main Building, Unioninkatu 34, Auditorium XII. Supervision by Dr. Hanna Snellman, University of Helsinki Dr. Tuomas Martikainen, Finnish Institute of Migration Reviewed by Dr. Fredrik Nilsson, Lund University, Åbo Akademi University Dr. Oscar Pripp, Uppsala University Opponent Dr. Oscar Pripp, Uppsala University Custos Dr. Hanna Snellman, University of Helsinki ISBN 978-951-51-3811-8 (paperback) ISBN 978-951-51-3812-5 (PDF) 3 Abstract University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts, Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies: European Ethnology Doctoral School in Humanities and Social Sciences (HYMY) BREIER, DOROTHEA: The Vague Feeling of Belonging of a Transcultural Generation. An Ethnographic Study on Germans and their Descendants in Contemporary Helsinki, Finland. Doctoral Dissertation, 250 pages Our world has always been shaped by mobility: moving animals and people are crucial for life on earth. Despite this, the overall scale of people moving has changed significantly in the past centuries and decades. The field of migration studies has adapted to this and is no longer only about actual migrants and their seemingly permanent one-way movements. Instead, the perspective has widened and now includes various shades of mobility, both different movements as well as groups of people affected by it. The study at hand provides an innovative approach and a still rather uncommon research setting. It focusses on Germans and their descendants in contempo- rary Helsinki and asks about the way they (de-)construct boundaries between German- and Finnish-ness, where they position themselves within such frame- works and what personal consequences could emerge from their background and a particular self-positioning. What makes this study novel, especially in contrast to most migration-related research, is that due to the long and intense connec- tion between Finland and Germany the group in question is not regarded as problematic by the majority society. Therefore their way of positing and feeling 4 of belonging must be seen and interpreted in this specific light. Such a per- spective complements the majority of migration studies that often emphasise questions concerning integration of and discrimination against perceived "ex- otic" and thus "problematic" migrants. With the help of 32 qualitative, semi-structured interviews, the author shows how people with a German-Finnish horizon express their often rather vague feel- ing of (not-)belonging. Taking the interviewees’ accounts as a point of depar- ture, it became apparent that belongingness depends on many factors including time, place and social surrounding and that it could change several times in a person’s life. The study examines when and how people draw on national cate- gories, only to deconstruct and question them moments later, and furthermore, what impact on a person’s life his/her self-identification could have. By connecting the findings to the relevant literature and to topical issues and discussions, the aim of the study is to emphasise how important it is to see phe- nomena as part of the big picture, in this case, an intergenerational, societal and historic context. As people’s experiences, emotions and behaviour are heavily influenced by such factors, their understanding becomes only possible when all dots are connected and seen as the inter-connected unit they in fact form. Keywords: Mobility, Migration, Belonging, Transculturality, Transnation- ality, Hybridity, Super-diversity, Mobile mindset 5 Acknowledgements “You’re doing research on Germans in Finland? – Are there that many?!” - This was the reaction I got numerous times after telling what my PhD project was about. Many people I met over recent years were wondering why anyone would study such a group – what “problem” should there be to solve here? Now, after four years of doing research, I do know what makes my study mean- ingful – and I hope after reading this thesis you will agree with me. However, this understanding developed over time and certainly due to the input I got from others over the years. Since I would have never come this far without those people, I would now like to use this space to thank them. First and foremost, I want to thank my supervisor Prof. Hanna Snellman (Uni- versity of Helsinki), who supported my research from the first, vague ideas until today. Her advice and support went much further than the academic duty of a supervisor and I doubt that I will ever find the right words to express the gratefulness I feel towards her. Furthermore, I wish to sincerely thank my second supervisor Docent Tuomas Martikainen (Institute of Migration in Finland) as well as my mentors Dr. Lotta Weckström (University of California, Berkeley) and Dr. Laura Hirvi (Finnish Institute in Germany) for reading and commenting my texts. I highly appre- ciated their critical input which helped me to develop my ideas and lift my research onto a higher level. For the same reason, my gratitude goes to Docent Oscar Pripp (Uppsala University) and Prof. Fredrik Nilsson (Lund University, Åbo Akademi University) who dedicated their time to writing pre-evaluations of my thesis and spotting points worth elaborating further. In addition to these people, many others also contributed to the progress of my research, be it fellow Ph.D. students and scholars at the University of Helsinki, 6 or researchers I met at national and international conferences. The fact that I could participate in academic conferences and workshops world- wide was only possible due to the travel grants I received from the University of Helsinki as well as from the Eino Jutikkala Foundation. The latter is to be thanked for enabling me to work and focus full-time on my research as they kindly provided me with scholarships for three years. Last but not least, I want to thank each of the thirty-two interviewees who gave me their time, trust and life stories. Their words form the very basis of my research; without them, this study would not exist. From the bottom of my heart I want to say “Thank you, Kiitos and Danke” to all of you! Contents 1 Introduction 9 1.1 Changing world, changing views .................. 9 1.2 Previous research ........................... 12 1.3 Concepts and terminology ...................... 16 1.4 Research questions .......................... 26 1.5 Methodology ............................. 29 1.6 The ethnologist in the field . .................... 45 1.7 Structure of the thesis ........................ 48 2 German-Finnish history 53 3 The first generation of Germans 63 3.1 From disconnection to Germany... .................. 68 3.2 ...to passing on Germanness to their children ........... 99 3.3 Summarising reflections .......................119 4 Descendants of Germans in Helsinki 121 4.1 The importance of language for belonging .............122 4.2 Drawing and de-constructing boundaries, negotiating positions . 139 4.2.1 Manifestations of belonging .................142 7 8 CONTENTS 4.2.2 Articulating belonging ....................161 4.3 The impact of mobility ........................186 4.3.1 Summer illusions vs. reality .................187 4.3.2 Life strategies .........................194 4.3.3 Mobile mindset . .......................205 4.4 Summarising reflections .......................215 5 Dismantling boundaries 219 Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Changing world, changing views Looking into the history of the field of European ethnology it becomes apparent that even 100 years ago, at a time when the subject was already relatively estab- lished as an own, independent discipline, the idea of the concept of culture was significantly different than from what it is today. "Die Volksseele produziert nicht, sie reproduziert.", as Eduard Hoffmann-Krayer put it in the year 1903, while Hans Naumann used the term "gesunkenes Kulturgut" in 1921 to de- scribe culture as something that sinks from a high-culture into folk-culture and gets imitated by it.1 Today the scholarly view is quite different from that: culture is usually regarded as something that is constantly shaped and created by each of us, no matter who someone is and what background he or she has. Once methodological na- tionalism, as Andreas Wimmer and Nina Glick Schiller proclaimed it2,isleft 1See Bausinger, Hermann: Folklore und gesunkenes Kulturgut: http://tobias-lib.uni- tuebingen.de/volltexte/2012/6072/pdf/Bausinger_Hermann_Folklore_und_gesunkenes_ Kulturgut.pdf (accessed 02.04.2014). 2Glick Schiller, Nina; and Andreas Wimmer: "Methodological nationalism and beyond: nation-state building, migration and the social science." In Global networks 2, no. 4 (October 9 10 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION aside, culture is not seen to be bound to political borders or specific places. It does not end at the frontier of a country, particularly not at a time when words like "globalisation" and "transnationalism" are on many people’s lips. In discussions around migration, many different terms are in use; some are clearer than others, some are taken to be outdated. Further below I will give a brief overview of categories like culture, identity, multi-, inter- or transculturality - and if and how they are suitable for my study. In common with others, Germans have had a long history of moving around, migrating and re-migrating. Living in Germany, one quite often hears of people starting a "new life" far from the place where they grew up. Popular TV chan- nels have been broadcasting series like "Good-bye Deutschland"or"Auf und davon — mein Auslandstagebuch"3, based on an obvious interest of a large number of Germans eager to hear about the migration projects of others.
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