Language Standardisation As Frozen Mediated Actions: the Materiality Of

6 Language Standardisation as Frozen Mediated Actions The Materiality of Language Standardisation Pia Lane1 1. Introduction In June 2015, a padded envelope arrived in my mailbox at work. The envelope contained the book Kainun kielen grammatikki,‘A grammar of Kven’ (Söderholm 2014)—the first grammar of my parents’ mother tongue (Figure 6.1). Even though I was surrounded by Kven as the everyday language in my home village Pykeä2 on the coast of northern Norway, I did not learn to speak Kven as a child due to my parents’ belief that children were better off learning only Norwegian. I grew up as a passive bilingual: I understood Kven, but spoke only Norwegian. Later, as an adult, I embarked on the journey from a passive bilingual to a new speaker of Kven. This journey included studying and researching Kven as a linguist, coming to understand the prejudice experienced by my parents and their generation and seeing what was once considered ‘dirty Finnish’ become officially recognised as a language in its own right. Eighteen years later, receiving and reading the first grammar of Kven was a significant moment for me. Reading a book is a common and ordinary social action, but for me, both from a personal and professional perspective, this was a very important moment. In this chapter, I will investigate this book as a ‘frozen mediated action’, resulting from cycles of discourse and a chain of previous social actions (Scollon 2001; Norris 2004). My analysis is guided by the follow- ing questions, based on Scollon and Scollon (2004), and Scollon and de Saint-Georges (2012): What are the actions going on here? What are the social actors doing here and why? What is the role of discourse in these actions? This moment when I picked up the book can be understood as a site of engagement—a point in time and space where separate practices come together, a moment defined by Scollon (2001, 147) as: ‘the conver- gence of social practices in a moment in real time which opens a window for a mediated action to occur’. I will map cycles of discourse and the chains of social actions ultimately leading to the moment in space and time when I opened the envelope and held a grammar of the Kven language in my hands. I begin with a description of the Kven-speaking community and the socio- political process which lead to the creation of a written standard of Kven. I 102 Pia Lane Figure 6.1 Söderholm 2014: Kainun kielen grammatikki then analyse the role of various social actors in the standardisation process, suggesting that the material outcome of standardisation may be understood as frozen action (material results of social actions taken in the past [Scollon 2001]) and as mediational means (a tool for social action [Wertsch 1991]). I discuss these characteristics of standardisation in relation to the grammar book. Finally, I analyse the reception of standardised texts by investigating Language Standardisation 103 how social actors positioned themselves when they read texts written in Kven. I draw on my experiences as a new speaker, a linguist and a partici- pant in Kven language planning over two decades. 2. From Dialect to Language—Recognition and Standardisation of Kven The Kven are a Finnic-speaking national minority3 group traditionally liv- ing in the two northernmost counties of Norway, though today many live in other parts of Norway (Figure 6.2). Like many other minority groups, the Kven went through a period of linguistic oppression (Eriksen and Niemi 1981; Pietikäinen, Lane, Salo, and Laihiala-Kankainen 2010). They were not allowed to use their language at school, and during the first part of the 20th century, boarding schools where the use of Kven and Sámi was forbidden, were built. Until 1959, the use of Kven and Sámi in the educational system was forbidden. Until 1964, one had to speak Norwegian to buy land in the northern area, effectively excluding Kven from owning land and achieving social mobility (Lane 2010; 2015). One consequence of this oppression was a feeling of shame and a devaluing of the Kven culture and language. Many Kven speakers have expressed that they did not wish to place the same bur- den on their children as the one they had to carry, and therefore, they chose to speak only Norwegian to their children (Lane 2010). These oppressive policies and general processes of modernisation where Norwegian was seen as the language of progress and possibilities have led to language shift in all Kven communities (Lane 2010; Räisänen 2014). Language shift is a process in which ‘the habitual use of one language is being replaced by the habitual use of another’ in communities (Gal 1979, 1). Those born after around 1965 were largely raised speaking Norwegian, and Kven is no longer used in the majority of social domains. The notion of monolingualism as the natural state of being and the only way to social mobility (though people tended to spend their lives in Kven-speaking communities) led to widespread language shift. This devaluing has changed somewhat in recent decades, although negative attitudes to the language remain. As is the case for many indig- enous groups, there has been a growing awareness and recognition of Kven language and culture during the last two decades. Initially, people studied Finnish, as there were no textbooks or courses in Kven, but courses in Kven at the University of Tromsø have been popular since they were offered for the first time in 2006. Norway ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1992, and the text entered into force in 1998. The Charter is a convention under the auspices of the Council of Europe. It is designed to protect and promote regional and minority languages as a part of Europe’s cultural heritage and to enable speakers of a regional or minority language to use it in private and public life4 (see also Camps, this volume). According to the Charter, minority languages are languages traditionally used within Figure 6.2 Kven- and Finnish-speaking areas in northern Norway Source: © Kartverket Place names are obtained from SSR ©Kartverket: www.kartverket.no. Language Standardisation 105 a State’s territory, spoken by a group numerically smaller than the rest of the State’s population, and are different from the official language(s) of that State. Dialects of the official language(s) of the State or the languages of immigrants are not covered by the Charter. Each signatory country elects which languages the Charter applies to. Based on reports by the nation- states that have ratified the Charter and meetings with national authorities and representatives of the minority language speakers, the Council of Europe makes recommendations for improvements in national legislation, policy and practice. A repeated recommendation for the Kven language was for Norway to clarify whether Kven should be seen as a dialect of Finnish or a language in its own right (Lane 2011). The Norwegian government commissioned a report on the status of Kven. The report was written by Hyltenstam and Milani at Stockholm University (2003), and based on their conclusions, Norway decided that Kven should be regarded as a language (25 April 2005). This was not an uncontroversial decision, and many (and often diverg- ing) opinions were expressed in a wide range of local media. When talking to people in my home community, I noticed recurring statements regarding the Kven language. A frequently expressed opinion was that Kven is not a language, but rather a dialect of Finnish. Kven was often explicitly mea- sured against standard Finnish and seen as falling short, illustrated by the use of terms such as kjøkkenfinsk ‘kitchen Finnish’ or even paskasuomi, ‘dirty Finnish’. Thus, when Finnish was used as an implicit or explicit point of reference, Kven would be seen as lacking. For others, the recognition of Kven was a welcome development, as they felt that Finnish was quite different from their variety, and for many, the recognition of Kven also indexed their primary belonging to Norway and not Finland. Kven used to be seen as a derogatory term, so for some, both speakers and non-speakers of Kven, the term Kven still carries with it negative associations. An increasing num- ber self-identify as Kven, but many refer to themselves as ‘being of Finnish descent’ or use no ethic label. Not all Kven people use the term Kven for their language. Some perceive this as a stigmatised term, whereas others self-identify as Kven but are not used to the term Kven, as this is a relatively recent term for the language, and refer to their languages as ‘our Finnish’ or ‘old Finnish’. When the language is referred to as Finnish, this is frequently modified in this manner. Some say ‘Kainun kieli’ (‘the language of Kainu’— seen by some as the Kven land of origin) or link the language to a place by using the name of a village, such as ‘Bugøynes Finnish’. As Kven was to be considered a language, the Norwegian government allocated funding to the Kven Institute, a national centre for Kven language and culture, so that they could initiate the standardisation process. For a ‘proper’ language having a written standard was seen as important, both by the authorities and the NGO the Norwegian Kven Association. This was seen as a way to counteract the oppression experienced by Kven speakers in the past and to make the language more accessible to a new generation 106 Pia Lane of learners. The standardisation process was carried out under the auspices of the Kven Institute, and in 2007, the Kven Language Council was estab- lished, and five linguists were elected to serve for a three-year period.

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