Laestadius and Laestadianism in the Contested Field of Cultural Heritage
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Northern Studies • Monographs no. 6 Laestadius and Laestadianism in the Contested Field of Cultural Heritage A Study of Contemporary Sámi and Tornedalian Texts Anne Heith Anne Heith Laestadius and Laestadianism in the Contested Field of Cultural Heritage A Study of Contemporary Sámi and Tornedalian Texts Northern Studies Monographs 6 Published by Umeå University & The Royal Skyttean Society Umeå 2018 © Anne Heith Design and layout Leena Hortéll, Ord & Co i Umeå AB Printed by UmU-Tryckservice, Umeå University Umeå 2018 ISBN 978-91-7601-827-9 ISSN 2000-0405 Contents PREFACE. .9 I. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................11 Choice of Primary Material ......................................................................12 The Ethnic Dimension. 17 Postcolonial Challenges to Narrations of the Nation ..................................... 23 Theoretical and Methodological Considerations . .25 Perspectives from Postcolonial Studies and Decolonising Methodologies ........26 Ethnofuturism ..................................................................................31 Critical Whiteness Studies .................................................................. 32 Narratives about Laestadianism in Presentations and Academic Studies ............. 34 Contents of the Volume ......................................................................... 42 II. SITUATEDNESS AND DIVERSITY: REPRESENTATIONS OF LARS LEVI LAESTADIUS AND LAESTADIANISM .....................................45 The Only Known Portrait and Biard’s Painting ............................................. 47 Bror Hjorth’s Version of Laestadius Preaching to the Sámi .............................. 50 Alien and Oppressive Laestadianism. .52 Feminist Responses to Laestadianism ..........................................................54 The Topos of the Abusive, Laestadian Father ................................................54 Celebrating Laestadius and Laestadianism ...................................................61 Anticolonial Perspectives on Laestadius and Laestadianism .............................62 Colonial Complicity .............................................................................. 64 Summing Up: New Sámi Representations Presenting Laestadianism as a Radical Force, and Laestadius as an Accomplice of Colonialism, Respectively ........................................................................................ 67 III. SARA RANTA-RÖNNLUND’S CONTRIBUTION TO SÁMI REMINISCENCE LITERATURE: MEMORIES OF LAESTADIANISM. 68 Sara Ranta-Rönnlund’s Distanced View on Laestadianism ...............................81 5 IV. EXOTIFICATION, OPPRESSIVE GENDER STRUCTURES, AND POSTMODERN APPROACHES: HÖIJER, CULLBLOM AND KORPI ON LAESTADIANISM. 94 Björn-Erik Höijer − Author from the Miningtown of Malmberget ....................94 Höijer’s Play about a Notorious Laestadian Preacher . 99 Colliander’s Book about Sallinen as an Intertext . 103 Höijer’s vs Ranta-Rönnlund’s Version of the Story about Viktor Apelqvist . 106 Novels by Höijer Depicting Oppressive Laestadianism . .110 Laestadianism and Oppressive Gender Structures. 115 Annika Korpi’s Hevonen Häst. .118 V. LAESTADIUS AND LAESTADIANISM IN BENGT POHJANEN’S TORNEDALIAN COUNTER-NARRATIVE ...............................................121 Bengt Pohjanen ...................................................................................122 The Role of Culture for Decolonisation: Expressing Awareness of Oppression and Resistance . 126 The Debut Novel .................................................................................130 Laestadius’ Bewildered Gaze upon a Swedified Tornedalian .........................131 Responding to Internal Colonialism and the Construction of Domestic Others 132 Ropandes röst: Postmodernist Metafiction about the Narrativisation of Laestadius and Laestadianism . 136 Feminism and Psychoanalysis ...............................................................143 The Theme of Colonialism ..................................................................147 From Stories from the Outside to Insider Stories ...................................... 148 Paradoxical Lars Levi Laestadius: Champion of the Poor and Grave Robber . 150 Establishing Connections: Paratexts and Postcolonial Life-Writing .................. 152 Autobiographical Writing. 158 Ethnofuturism, Minorities in the Margin, L’Ugritude ................................ 159 Tornedalian Books for Young People ......................................................... 165 Kamos: The Time of the Year When the Sun Doesn’t Rise. 170 The Korpela Movement as Subject Matter: Revivalism Gone Astray ................. 173 Dagning; Röd! ...................................................................................174 Kristallarken. 187 Tornedalska öden och äventyr − Korpelarörelsen ......................................... 195 6 Commemorating the 200-Year Anniversary of Laestadius’ Birth: Pohjanen’s “Song of Praise to Lars Levi Laestadius” . 205 Autobiographical Writing, Pictures of the Time and Local History in the Form of the Novel . 210 The Laestadius Opera ...........................................................................219 Mikael Niemi’s Koka björn: Laestadius as a Character in Crime Fiction .............222 VI. SUMMING UP: CONCLUSIONS ......................................................226 Representations of Backwardness . 227 Enthusiasm for Modernity versus Anti- and Postcolonial Criticism ..............229 Contradictory Anticolonial Narratives about Laestadius ............................232 Critical Whiteness ............................................................................233 Ethnonationalism and l’Ugritude . 234 Concluding Remarks. 235 SOURCES AND REFERENCES .............................................................237 7 8 PREFACE This volume is the outcome of a project entitled “Decolonisation and Re- vivalism: The Role of Laestadianism in Contemporary Sámi and Torneda- lian Texts”, funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation´s RJ Sabbatical programme, the aim of which is to provide researchers with a possibility to complete research projects that have reached an advanced stage. The volume was written in the aftermath of the project “Tornedalian Textual Landscapes” which I worked on between 2008 and 2011 at Tromsø University, Norway.1 My interest in Tornedalian literature at the time of my research period in Tromsø is related to the fact that the Tornedalians have been acknowledged as a historical minority in Sweden. In the year 2000, Sweden ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Lan- guages and the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protec- tion of National Minorities. Today the Tornedalians, Sámi, Finns, Roma and Jews are national minorities (see Elenius 2006, 26). One consequence of the acknowledgement is that the specific languages of these groups are officially recognised minority languages in Sweden. All varieties of Sámi are recognised, as well as Meänkieli, previously called Tornedalian Finnish.2 However, the official recognition that Sweden historically has been a multi-ethnic, multilingual and multicultural nation state has not always permeated the discussion about ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity, which has often been seen in the popular debate as a consequence of migra- tion and globalisation in recent decades. The vantage point for the project “Tornedalian Textual Landscapes”, my previous research on Sámi literature and culture and this volume, is that the notion of Sweden as a historical- ly homogeneous nation when it comes to ethnicity, language and culture needs to be deconstructed and that new histories need to be written which include the diversity that has been suppressed in homogenising narratives of the nation. Cultural homogenisation and assimilationist policies are re- lated to the issue of cultural encounters whereby a dominant culture has spread while the cultures of minorities without status and political pow- er have been marginalised. Regardless of whether the official policies have 1 Today the name has been changed to Tromsø University, the Arctic University of Nor- way 2 While Meänkieli is officially recognised as a minority language in Sweden, the linguis- tic situation is different on the Finnish side of the border. In Norway, the term “Kven” is used about the language spoken by the descendants of Finnish-speaking immigrants of northern Norway. This volume focuses upon Tornedalian literature produced in a Swedish national context, which differs from the situation in Finland and Norway be- cause of the historical backdrop of the present-day linguistic and cultural mobilization. 9 been aimed at promoting assimilation or segregation, as in the case of the ‘Lapp shall remain Lapp’ policies in Sweden, the cultures and languages of the Sámi on the North Calotte and the Tornedalians in Sweden have be- come threatened. During my work on this volume, I have had the opportunity to present work in progress at Tromsø University, the Arctic University of Norway. A special thanks to Associate Professor Roald Kristiansen for arranging a research seminar in May 2017 and for providing valuable response. I would also like to thank Associate Professor Rolf Inge Larsen, whose expertise in the field of Laestadian Studies has been of great value, and Professor Steinar Thorvaldsen for his positive interest in the project. Furthermore, my thanks go to Professor Håkan Möller who invited me to present the