Näskämatic – a Sámi Spinning Jenny? Sámi handicraft, the gender system, and the transition of culture

Pälvi Rantala

This article analyses the role of material culture in the enforcing of a colonial order in early modern Sápmi (Land of the Sámi, the indigenous people in northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula in Russia). In addition, the article focuses on the unequal power relations created through the collecting and cultural appropriation of Sámi objects. The 17th century saw a rapid growth of interest in the Sámi and their material culture. Clothing, sledges, ceremonial drums and other objects were collected for royal and noble courts of Europe, as well as for scholars and other collectors. This Eurocentric process of constructing Sáminess was concurrent with colonial attitudes towards non-European peoples. Empirically, the article explores the collecting of Sámi objects, clothes and religious/sacred material culture such as ceremonial drums and sieidis, as well as models and mannequins, and their role in the colonial rule and imperial representations of Sápmi.

This paper presents the research project Collecting Sápmi. Early modern globalization of Sámi material culture and Sámi cultural heritage today, financed by the Swedish Research Council 2014–18. The aim of the project is to examine early modern collecting of Sámi material culture and early descriptions of Sámi culture, primarily in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We aim to study early modern networks of scholars and collectors interested in Sámi material culture, to investigate how and why the collecting was conducted, and to follow the movement of Sámi objects between collections and collectors around Europe. Furthermore, the project aims to discuss the importance of early modern collecting and the collected objects in today's society. Here, critical issues are raised concerning colonial histories and relations in Sápmi, motivations and ideologies of collecting over time, as well as the rights to Sámi cultural heritage and its management today and in the future.

The concept of ethnicity has been a central concern in the study of Sámi spoons. How is ethnicity presented in research and how has it been inferred from the artefacts themselves? Which characteristics enable scholars to categorize a spoon as a Sámi spoon? Could ethnicity be conceptualized in terms of post-colonial theory and the concept of hybrid, and how might Sámi spoons be seen in that context? This case study uses an archaeological approach to the Sámi spoons in the National Museum of Finland and interprets them as artefacts in which and through which ethnicity has been historically created.

Northern Insights Northern Insights Feminist Inquiries into Politics of Place, Knowledge and Agency Edited by Seija Keskitalo-Foley, Päivi Naskali & Pälvi Rantala Rovaniemi 2013 © Authors Cover design and layout: Suvi Lyytinen Cover images: Anne Lyytinen Orders: Lapland University Press Academic and Art Bookshop Tila PB 8123 FI-96101 Rovaniemi, Finland Tel. +358 40 821 4242 Fax +358 16 362 932 www.ulapland.i/lup publications@ulapland.i Printing: Juvenes Print - Suomen Yliopistopaino oy Tampere 2013 ISBN: 978-952-484-645-5 978-952-484-745-2 (pdf) Contents Seija Keskitalo-Foley & Päivi Naskali Tracing Places and Deconstructing Knowledge 7 Part I: Discussing Places Päivi Naskali Rethinking positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact 19 Minna Rainio “We were in the air” Cultural In-between Spaces in the Video Installation “Angles of Incidence” 43 Mari Mäkiranta & Outi Ylitapio-Mäntylä Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs 56 Part II: Women’s Agency in Everyday Life Past and Present Mervi Autti New Women at the Arctic Circle: Two Photographer Sisters at the Beginning of the 1900s 77 Pälvi Rantala Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? Sami Handicraft, the Gender System, and the Transition of Culture 102 Seija Keskitalo-Foley Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era 130 Part III: Deconstructing Stereotypes of Northern Minorities Hanna Peltomaa he Only Gay in the Village? Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals Living in Rural Communities in Finnish Lapland 153 Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit: Representations of Gender, Place and Agency 174 Riitta Kontio Ethnopolitics ans Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature: Bente Pedersen’s Raija, a history and a life in the North Calotte 201 Authors 231 Tracing Places and Deconstructing Knowledge Seija Keskitalo-Foley & Päivi Naskali traCing plaCes and deConstruCting knowledge “he wild, free North. In the middle of nowhere. Losers living at the expense of the South.”his book looks beyond these worn-out slogans used in Finland and deconstructs dichotomous assumptions of the North as an opposite of the South. he broad social and cultural construction of “the North” has inspired many ields: great narratives are told about the exotic North in the media, and in ilms and novels. In contrast, this book opens up a viewpoint on lived gender and everyday life in the northernmost societies, analysing the agency of women in diferent Nordic contexts as described by both works of art and experiential narratives. Our main purpose is to draw on feminist research to discuss the politics of place from the perspective of marginal Northern societies and cultures. he authors also discuss the power of the placeless gaze and the meaning of geographical place in feminist theorising and research. From the viewpoint of Nordic Lapland or the Arctic region as a whole, most feminist research has overlooked the cultural, social and ethnic differences in the North. Analyses of the Nordic region have customarily consisted of comparisons between the respective countries or between Nordic society and societies in the South and the East. What kinds of naturalised stereotypes about the “North of the North” has this lack of interest created and sustained? Especially when thinking about the Sami – Europe’s only indigenous people – it must be asked how knowledge in the North is created and what direction it comes from. How sensitive is 7 Northern Insights feminist theory to the power of travelling theories and hegemonic scientiic discourse? In recent years, discussions taking place around gender studies have become more diverse in an epistemological, theoretical and geographical sense. It is no longer desirable to propose one coherent feminist voice; the voices and viewpoints are myriad. his paradigmatic change has a long herstory that can be traced back to the postcolonial research and black feminism that challenged the Western, middle class, white feminism of the 1980s (see e.g. hooks 1981). Women from the South and East came to the academic platform with questions that had not been recognised as important in the Western world. his situation demanded that every researcher in the Western feminist community acknowledge social class, race, and ethnicity as diferences intersecting gender that must be taken into account in feminist research. However, this important shift created a dichotomy between North and South: both became uniform modiiers. he North was deined as a wealthy area with independent, educated women. he South was deined as a poor, undeveloped area with strong religiousness, but no gender equality and illiterate, oppressed women (Mattila & Vuola 2007). he North-South dichotomy has been problematised by researchers analysing the agency of women in the South and the regression of the welfare states in the North. Neither North nor South are understood as monolithic, but rather as heterogeneous regions. Space has been created for diferent voices that question the self-evident movement of knowledge and theories from the North to the South. Inside Europe, an interesting angle is whether or not the theories constituted in the West can be applied to the social conditions of Eastern Europe (Cerwonka 2008; Yukina, Saarinen & Kudriashova 2003). Nordic or Scandinavian countries have often been compared with Central European countries, mostly in regard to the social and economic position of women and gender equality. he Nordic countries are often assumed to be tightly knit societies because of their social democratic welfare policy. However, we may debate how Nordicness, and Nordic 8 Tracing Places and Deconstructing Knowledge diferences and intersections are constituted, and how to negotiate the politics of location (see Åsberg, Rönnblom & Koobak 2012). In recent years the Arctic has emerged as an important region in many areas. It has become the focus of global politics and “big money” has vested interests in it. International companies are coming to the “North of the North” to exploit natural resources such as oil and minerals. he threat of climate change has also turned attention to the Arctic region. On the one hand, climate change alerts us to a forthcoming environmental catastrophe; on the other hand, the increased melting of Barents Sea ice has ofered enhanced economic opportunities for shipment by sea. As another example, the mining industry represents a double-edged sword: it has created some jobs for local people, but at the same time it has resulted in several environmental problems. People are concerned about the damage the mining industry may cause to their region, and also to the tourist image of a natural, pure Lapland. he interventions of global companies might be interpreted as ecological colonialism: the people who really gain from the mining industry are not the local inhabitants, who will instead sufer from environmental damage and the other consequences of these businesses (see e.g. Massa 1994, 204–205). It seems that global capitalism has taken over the role of economic actor from individual states. Both interpretations of Lapland – either as a tourist area, or as a source of natural resources to be exploited – refer back to Edward Relph’s idea of a place as “owned” from the outside (1986, 118–119). he colonialist use of natural resources deines Finnish Lapland as “the Other”, pushing it further towards the margins, as do so many cultural constructions (see e.g. Tuominen 2010). The politics of place In feminist research, place is interpreted in three ways: the place of a researcher and her/his informants in the processes of producing knowledge; the place of a researcher in the social and societal ields; and a place that has been chosen for the theoretical location of the research framework 9 Northern Insights (see Ronkainen & Naskali 2007, 65). hese ideas are based on the principle of localised knowledge in feminist epistemology, which denies the possibility of a placeless “observer” with a universal gaze. he researchers contributing to this book start from the assumption that “reality” is always understood from a certain place and time. Moreover, we consider that a place is not simply a geographical or physical location, but also a mental and emotional place, a state of mind, and a cultural and political construction (see e.g. Massey 2005, 29; Shields 1991). he deinition of Finnish Lapland depends on the perspective of the deiner. On an international scale, Lapland can be deined as the most remote and sparsely-populated area of the EU (Muilu 2010). From the perspective of the economic and political centre of southern Finland, Lapland has stereotypically been seen either as the exotic North or as a deserted wasteland with little potential (see e.g. Keskitalo-Foley 2004, 11). Inevitably, the politics of place deine the dichotomy of centres and peripheries that several feminist researchers (see e.g. Timár 2007) and postcolonial studies scholars have worked on. hey consider the power of those located in a certain place to deine the “reality”. Attributes of marginality are produced as opposites of attributes of centricity, and usually the centre is seen as the norm and the margins as an exception to or the negative opposite of the centre (Assmuth 2005). Even when concepts of margins and centres dominate discussions, they elude deinition, and can sometimes change places; for example, Europe is losing its position as an economic centre in the world. Moreover, margins and centres necessitate the existence of one another: the centre exists only in relation to the margins, and marginality can be seen as a social construction that can be negotiated and resisted. Marginality may also be seen to parallel minority: representatives of minorities and those living in the margins still have to learn the theories, discourses and ways of thinking of those in the centres of power. his double-consciousness, or double-bind (Reay 1997, 18), constructs a space in-between: people in the margins must “think twice”, remain- 10 Tracing Places and Deconstructing Knowledge ing conscious of narratives produced by centres of power and those that challenge and resist hegemony (Savolainen 2001, 177–178). Belonging to a marginal group or minority is seldom a deinition people choose for themselves, even though they might recognise that this is their status. hese processes of marginalisation were visible in a meeting where Lapland was suggested as the location for a large European conference. Stereotypes concerning the place, and doubts about its suitability, could be sensed in the comments and atmosphere connected with the proposal. Ironically, one could ind patronising goodwill in the interjections about the exotic nature of Lapland, while at the same time the general context of the meeting was research on power and diference. However, it is claimed that from the standpoint of creative marginality it is possible to challenge the dead and worthless stigma that the notion of the marginal receives in the mentality and language of the present economic climate. In this book, we draw on marginality as a twilight zone of diferent cultural layers that provides a space for synthesis and new constructions to emerge (see Davis 1997, 263). he politics of place and power relations are always intertwined with agency. Women’s agency in the media and local policy of Finnish Lapland is often described as invisible, diminished or limited (Kari 2009; Rantala 2011). For example, according to Irmeli Kari (2009, 54) provincial planning describes women only as potential mothers, or as those leaving the area. Another option open to women is employment in the tourist industry, while men are ofered industrial work (see e.g. Rantala 2011, 19). Our aim in this book is to analyse from a feminist perspective the different forms, possibilities and limits of agency that can be interpreted in the research data. We understand the term “agency” as referring to the abilities of individuals to negotiate social systems so that they become meaningful for them, and so that consequently acting, even in a limited way, becomes possible (Buss 2005, 9). We subscribe also to Suvi Ronkainen’s (2006, 531–532) description of agency as a relationship between rights, responsibilities and expectations. Agency is a combination of the possibilities open to an individual, the expectations that are set for her/him, 11 Northern Insights and the possibilities that have become reality. he context where agency will be realised constitutes all of the options that are on ofer, the material possibilities, as well as cultural expectations and values. Structure of the book his book has been organised in three parts. In the irst part, Discussing places, we introduce the main themes and topics – emphasising place – that have inspired the authors of this book. he irst article is Rethinking positionality – universalism and localism in contact. In this text Päivi Naskali asks how geographical place is recognised in the context of feminist epistemological discourse concerning the situatedness of knowledge and the position of a researcher. At the same time she examines the possibilities available for feminist knowledge to become a part of scientiic and social cognizance in Finnish Lapland. Minna Rainio, in her text, opens a perspective on the in-between spaces and experiences of refugees moving to Lapland. Her article “We were in the air” – Cultural in-between spaces in the video installation “Angles of Incidence” discusses how art communicates non-linguistic experiences – such as memories – that are not easily transmitted through language. Mari Mäkiranta’s and Outi Ylitapio-Mäntylä’s aim in their article Care and emotional looking in memory-based photographs is to consider how the living environment, gender and photography are complexly and constitutively interwoven, and to examine what kinds of gendered memories are attached to certain places. his article is based on a workshop held in Iceland, during which the participants drew upon memories of places signiicant to them, and went on to produce images that built on those memories. he second part of the book – Women’s agency in everyday life past and present – focuses on women’s place and agency in society, the labour market and the local community. his section begins with Mervi Autti’s microhistorical article New women at the Arctic Circle – Two photographer sisters at the beginning of the 1900s. Here she examines the position and agency of women in 1920s Lapland, in the small but rapidly-growing village of 12 Tracing Places and Deconstructing Knowledge Rovaniemi. Her interpretation draws mainly on family album photographs taken by the unmarried photographer sisters Lyyli and Hanna Autti, whose lives are the focus of the text. Pälvi Rantala brings the theme of agency to the present in her article Näskämätic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? Sami handicraft, the gender system, and the transition of culture. Her aim is to relect on new ways of making Sami handicraft from the perspective of women – both their position and their work. Likewise Seija Keskitalo-Foley’s article illustrates Lapland today as she examines the positions and agency of university-educated women in the regional and local labour market. In Highly educated women in Lapland looking for agency in the neoliberal era she asks what kind of spaces are available for highly educated women in Lapland in the present political, economic, social and cultural contexts. he third part, Deconstructing stereotypes of Northern minorities, illustrates how diferences such as sexual orientation, religion and ethnicity are constituted in small Northern communities, and in what way these diferences may direct people’s lives. his section begins with Hanna Peltomaa’s article, he only gay in the village – Lesbians, gay men and bisexuals living in rural communities in Finnish Lapland, in which she analyses some aspects of the lives of sexual minorities in rural Lapland. In the second article, Laestadian girls in Forbidden Fruit – Representations of gender, place and agency, Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo studies the portrayal of the Laestadian revivalist movement, analysing representations of young religious women through the Finnish ilm Forbidden Fruit. he last article in this section, Ethnopolitics and women’s history as relected in popular literature: Bente Pedersen’s Raija, a history and a life in the North Calotte, is written by Riitta Kontio. She examines the irst work of Bente Pedersen, who is a member of the Kven minority in northern Norway. In her article, Riitta Kontio analyses the strategies of resistance and agency that Pedersen uses in constructing Kven and female identities. When editing this book, we have got great help from many experts in diferent ields. We are grateful, and want to thank all of them. his book has been peer reviewed by anonymous referees, whose comments 13 Northern Insights have made a wonderful contribution to sharpening the texts. Most of the texts have been proofread by Mark Roberts; Richard Foley has translated Riitta Kontio’s article. We thank them for careful and creative work in revising the language. We are grateful to Suvi Lyytinen for the beautiful cover. Finally, many more thanks are due her for patiently handling the layout and the inishing touches needed to complete this book. References Assmuth, Laura 2005: Me ja muut. Periferian identiteettejä. In Hirsiaho, Anu; Korpela, Mari & Rantalaiho, Liisa (eds.): Kohtaamisia rajoilla. SKS, Helsinki, 92–108. Buss, Helen M. 2005: Katie.com: My Story. Memoir Writing, the Internet, and Embodied Discursive Agency. In Kadar, Marlene; Warley, Linda; Perrealt, Jeanne & Egan, Susanne (eds.): Tracing the Autobiographical. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, Waterloo, 9–23. Cerwonka, Allaine 2008: Travelling Feminist hought: Diference and Transculturation in Central and Eastern European Feminism. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 33: 4, 809–832. Davis, Natalie Zemon 1997: Kolme naista: kolme elämää 1600-luvulla. Helsinki: Otava. (Women on the Margins. hree Seventeenth-century Lives. Translated in Finnish by Jaana Iso-Markku.) hooks, bell 1981: Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. South End Press, Cambridge MA. Kari, Irmeli 2009: Naistoimijuuden sulkeumia ja avaumia alueella ja työssä. Naistutkimus– Kvinnoforskning 22:4, 43–54. Keskitalo-Foley, Seija 2004: Kohti kuulumisen maisemia. Toimijuuden tilat ja paikat lappilaisen maaseudun naisten elämäkerroissa. Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis, Rovaniemi, 78. Massa, Ilmo 1994: Pohjoinen luonnonvalloitus: suunnistus ympäristöhistoriaan Lapissa ja Suomessa. Gaudeamus, Helsinki. Massey, Doreen 1991: A global Sense of Place. Marxism Today 38 ( June): 24–29. Mattila, Päivi & Vuola, Elina 2007: Kehitys. In Kantola, Johanna & Valenius, Johanna (eds.): Toinen maailmanpolitiikka. 10 käsitettä feministiseen kansainvälisten suhteiden tutkimukseen. Vastapaino, Tampere, 201–225. 14 Tracing Places and Deconstructing Knowledge Muilu Toivo 2010: Needs for rural research in the northern Finland context. Journal of Rural Studies 26, 73–80. Reay, Diane 1997: he Double-Bind of the ‘Working-Class’ Feminist Academic: he Success of Failure or the Failure of Success? In Mahony, Pat & Zmroczek, Christine (eds.): Class Matters. ‘Working-Class’ Women’s Perspectives on Social Class. Taylor & Francis, London & Bristol, 18–29. Relph, Edward 1986: Place and Placeness. Pion, London. Rantala, Pälvi 2011: Sukupuoli ja tasa-arvo journalismissa. Tapaus Lappi. (http://www. lapinletka.i/media/Sukupuoli%20ja%20tasa-arvo%20journalismissa.pdf (accessed 2.5.2013) Ronkainen, Suvi 2006: Haavoittunut kansakunta ja väkivallan toimijuus. In LohinivaKerkelä, Mirva (ed.): Väkivalta. Seuraamukset ja haavoittuvuus. Talentum, Helsinki, 531–550. Ronkainen, Suvi & Naskali, Päivi 2007: Paikka ja paikattomuuden etuoikeus. Naistutkimus–Kvinnoforskning, 20: 2, 65–71. Savolainen, Matti 2001: Intellektuelli, maanpakolainen, amatööri. Kontrapunktinen luenta vastarinnan muotona Edward Saidin teoksissa. In Said, Edward: Ajattelevan ihmisen vastuu. Loki-kirjat, Helsinki, 175–192. Shields, Rob 1991: Places in the Margin. Alternative geographies of modernity. Routledge, London. Timár, Judit 2007: Diferences and inequalities: the ”double marginality”of East Central European feminist geography. Doc. Anàl. Georg. 49, 73–98. http://www.raco.cat/ index.php/DocumentsAnalisi/article/viewFile/81494/106020 (accessed 5.12.2012) Tuominen, Marja 2010: History as a Project of Progress? he North as a Focus of Attention. In Linjakumpu, Aini & Korkalo-Wallenius, Sandra (eds.): Progress or Perish. Northern Perspectives on Social Change. Ashgate, Farnham, Surrey, 11–31. Yukina, Irina; Saarinen, Aino & Kudrashova, Elena (eds.) 2003: Women’s strategies and politics in transition: dialogue across the east-west divide. Seminar report St. Petersburg, 26–28 May 2000. Gender Research: methodology and practice vol. 4. Pomor State University, Arkhangelsk. Åsberg, Leena; Rönnblom, Malin & Koobak, Redi 2012: Re-orienting Nordicness. Again. Nora. Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research 20:2, 75–77. 15 I disCussing plaCes Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact Päivi Naskali rethinking positionality – universalism and loCalism in ContaCt Introduction In this article, I consider the question of knowing and knowledge in the tension between locality and universality. he viewpoint is bidirectional: I will consider the possibilities available for feminist knowledge to become a part of scientiic and social cognisance in the Finnish North, and at the same time I will ask how geographical place is recognised in constructing diferences in the ield of feminist research. In this article I suggest that knowledge concerning gender and sexuality is still in the process of becoming in the Finnish North. Gender has belonged to the central social and theoretical discussions in Europe and globally for decades, but has not yet taken root in theoretical or political discussions concerning the “North of the North”.1 his statement 1. In addition to Lapland, I use the term “North of the North” quoted from Elina Vuola (20002, 182). he concept refers to the deconstruction of the south/north dichotomy. It does not limit the north to a strict geographical area. As a geographical area, the North is a very relative concept. he assumption of a coherent North as an opposite to a coherent South, usually meaning the hird World, can hide local colonialist practices. Heidi Sinevaara-Niskanen (2010) has shown that the eye only looks in one direction in postcolonial discourses concerning the “south of the north”: while analyzing northern colonialism, domestic issues concerning indigenous people are easily ignored. She suggests that in order to discover adequate concepts for describing the Northern way of life, north/south dichotomies should be deconstructed. 19 Northern Insights is sweeping: research concerning gender issues has been conducted for years, and gender equality politics has been carried out in local development projects (e.g. Lapin Letka). he question is more about why discursive change occurs at such a slow speed. One explanation could be found in analysing gender issues as imported knowledge, “invented” elsewhere, and imported to the local context. For example, gender equality has much been taken into account because of demands coming from state and EU politics. However, gender and sexuality exist in the everyday lives of people in Lapland as they do everywhere else: people live their gendered and sexual lives in small towns and villages, even if it is not raised as an issue in political programs (see Peltomaa in this book). In the matter of gender and sexuality, global theories and local realities seem to confront each other. his confrontation can be analysed through discussions concerning “travelling theories” (see e.g. Knapp 2005)2, the localization of knowledge and the possibilities of local knowledge. I use the term “place” in a geographical sense to refer to the concrete place – the North of the North that contains and makes possible certain concrete and symbolic spaces, for example the rhetoric space to construct knowledge, to become heard and understood (see Code 1995). “Place” has been deined in relation to space and time, and it has been understood as a more stable and concrete concept than “space”: human conduct transforms place into a lived space. Constructed in social practices, space is understood as being multiple and lexible (de Certeau 1988; Upstone 2009). he time-place division has also been connected to gendered meanings: time has been coded as masculine and place as feminine. Women are supposed to live more “local life” than men because place has been connected to being, concreteness, and home (Massey 1994, 6-10). However, I suggest that these diferences are not clear, and the concepts 2. Edward Said created the idea of “travelling theory” in 1983 (157): “…the movement of ideas and theories from one place to another is both a fact of life and a usefully enabling condition of intellectual activity.” According to Gudrun-Axeli Knapp (2005, 250) this notion has itself become an exemplary case of an idea in motion. 20 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact are not opposites but require each other. Places, too, are constructed by human values: a place is constituted in human experiences that cannot be separated from physical and material surroundings (Ronkainen 1999, 214). So, place modiies agency as much as researchers modify meanings connected to place. Flexibility, multiplicity, and openness are incorporated in both concepts. Place is an important concept in the methodological sense: the situatedness of knowledge and the position of a researcher are at the core of feminist research, and the politics of location has been discussed since the 1980s. Feminists have previously brought the concept of position into the scientiic ield, and stressed its importance in making power relations visible in the production of knowledge. Feminist research has asked: who has been recognised as a possessor of knowledge? Who has the authority to legitimate viewpoints as knowledge? Who is excluded from the sphere of knowledge, and how is knowledge connected to corporeality and sexuality? However, today we might ask if time and place have lost their importance in a globalised, virtual world where forms of media have been developed to replace face-to-face contact. People are no longer tied to physical places: knowledge moves from one place to another, and people from diferent communities meet in shared virtual places. In principle, we are all equal participants in global communities: almost all knowledge is attainable and we can contribute to discussions taking place on the other side of the world. Democracy can be improved by travelling discourses, concepts and lifestyles. However, the celebration of virtual spacelessness bypasses questions of materiality – language, corporeality, and knowing connected to experiences – in constructing knowledge. Moreover, even when knowledge emerges on the internet it is always created by a speciic person in a speciic place, and it travels in one direction: postcolonial theorists have identiied the directional low of knowledge as lowing from north to south, while East European researchers see it as travelling from west to east (see Mohanty 2003; Cerwonka 2008; Knapp 2005). 21 Northern Insights Among the feminist community, demarcations have been constructed according to geographic locations. For example, the discussions about Nordic welfare and equality politics are well known, but do not take into account an accurate deinition of “North”. Nordicness has been under consideration recently in NORA (the Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research). he editors of the journal write about strategic Nordicness as an inclusive strategy of incorporation concerning Nordic matters. hey also encourage the authors to refer to “researchers of Nordic countries” instead of nationally isolated indexing in order to avoid positioning oneself in the centre of feminist research (Åsberg, Rönnholm & Koobak 2012, 75-76). he coherence of “Nordicness” raises interesting questions for the North of the North: where is the North constructed and by whom? What is the direction of knowledge, and who is excluded and included? I will irst introduce the principles that consider the situatedness of knowledge and intersectional diferences in feminist epistemology. Secondly, I will introduce the discourse concerning local thinking by analysing the concept of episteme in the indigenous northern Sami culture, and consider the marginalization of gender diference in the hierarchy of diferences. In the end, I ofer the concept of positionality in an open way; instead of creating oppositions, the discursive space can be opened up for the analysis of diferent forms of knowledge, universalism and localism, and imported and local knowledge. Location and position at the core of feminist research Feminist epistemological research has strongly afected the methodological scientiic approaches taken in so-called mainstream studies – even if the debt to feminist thinking has not always been acknowledged (e.g. Julkunen 2011). he central thesis of feminist research concerns the idea of knowing as a process. he conceptualisation of knowing as acts and processes sounds simple, but leads to many important questions, not least 22 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact of which would be pondering how knowing is bound to the knower, the time, and the place.3 he postmodern discourse that appeared early in the ield of feminist research (e.g. Alcof & Potter 1993) and feminist naturalism4 (Tanesini 1999) questioned the assumption of a world of ideas and transcendental beliefs as the origin of knowledge: scientiic knowledge is always a product of human activity. Knowledge is not a collection of abstract theories, terms and concepts, but it is rather connected to a material basis, and it is bound with intersectional dimensions and corporeal places. First of all, critique has been focused particularly on the foundationalism that assumes knowledge is based on some unquestionable states, for example experiences and metaphysical orders. Second, representationalism has been challenged: knowledge is not constructed through real representations of a real world. hird, epistemology as the “irst philosophy” is refused. he philosophical, individual mind is not good enough to separate real knowledge from presumption. Instead of individualism, feminist research stresses dialogical communities where knowledge is produced collectively (Tanesini 1999; Stoetzler & Yuval-Davis 2002, 320, 327).5 3.hanks to Suvi Ronkainen for realizing the meaning of knowing as a process. Ronkainen has, on many occasions, pointed out that knowing is constructed of deeds and choices (see e.g. Ronkainen et al., 2011). 4. According to the naturalists, the features of scientiic methodology cannot be deined according to philosophical principles, but the attention should instead be focused on the operations and activities enforced in the research community. (Pihlström 2005, 152) 5. Alessandra Tanesini (1999, 13, 269) has drawn three conclusions from these principles: irst, knowledge is social; we know everything in relation to other knowledge. Secondly, not only the outcome of research, but also the phenomena to be known are constituted socially. his does not deny the existence of the material world, but instead states that our knowledge about materiality is only possible with the help of language. hird, knowledge cannot be value-free, because human values are always implicated in the phenomena studied; epistemic and political evaluations cannot be cleanly separated from each other. 23 Northern Insights While stressing knowledge as a human practice, the conditions of producing knowledge, place and time provide a challenge for evaluation. Discussions concerning situated knowledge have highlighted the diversity of knowledge and the value of cultural aspects and situated viewpoints. Moreover, researchers have been required to see the world from a queer viewpoint, and relect on their own position. For example, in standpoint epistemology – as conceived by Sandra Harding (1991) – a marginal position is valued as a starting point that opens up a window to a more multiplicitous and even truthful world than that ofered by the mainstream. his is based on the postulate of the double consciousness of marginalised people who must know both the dominant and the marginal way of things. he beneit of standpoint theory is not, however, in knowing the difference of others: it is in the conscious awareness of the researcher of her/ his own diference, and in the awakening experienced in order to relect her/his own self-evident values and insights (Ronkainen 1999, 203). In the context of critical research, the question often heard in Lapland – “Where are you away from?” – is central; the researcher must know where she/he is coming from and from what point of view she/he is observing the world. his does not mean relativism where “everything goes”, but partiality of knowledge and accepting that something worth knowing will always remain. For northern Finns, for example, it is diicult to become aware of our whiteness, which is not seen as race but as a part of common humanity (Valovirta 2009, 92). Postcolonial theory, black feminism, and indigenous women have all challenged “placeless” knowledge and questioned the position of European, white, middle-class research, and the sex-gender system it constitutes. Also, the concept of “woman” was deconstructed; as a dualistic concept it was deemed to refuse the diversity of gender and the diferences among women of diferent cultures all around the world. Western feminism was also seen as elitist, excluding the experiences of women living in the hird World, and even Western women living in subordi- 24 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact nated positions (Vuola 2003, 112; Harding 1998; Smith 2005; Kuokkanen 2004; see also Pälvi Rantala in this book). Feminist research has criticised Western tradition for its tendency towards oneness and dichotomisation, but is, however, part of Western culture, and easily reproduces its assumptions. For example, Judith Butler’s (1990) theory of the performativity of gender and sexuality can be seen as a theory which has acquired the status of authority and become cultural dogma (see Said 1983, 179). Its starting point is not located anymore in any cultural or geographical place. heory has been canonised during the years by faithful repetition. Feminist theory also reproduced the western story of progression when its own story was told as a series of losses and returns; those narratives not only make the complicated history simple, but deine the theoretical and political boundaries within which researchers should locate themselves (see Hemmings 2011). he stories indicate gaps of knowledge, pointing out works that “everybody must know” in order to become recognised as knowing subjects in the highly competitive knowledge markets (Knapp 2005, 251-252). he dichotomy between the topical and the outdated is diicult to avoid because new “waves” are coming to the research ield all the time – postsecularism, postfeminism, new materialism, new vitalism, afective and ontological turn (Koivunen 2010, 16) – and in order to prove you remain up-to-date, you have to refer to the new discussions. Intersectionality – a device to see locality as divided by many diferences Partiality, locality and diversity have lately been discussed alongside the term intersectionality – a “travelling concept” that originated in the USA, and travelled via the UK to Scandinavia (Christensen & Jensen 2012, 109-110). Intersectionality emphasizes the importance of taking into account the many simultaneous diferences that construct identities. he economic, political, psychological and subjective factors are seen as “axes 25 Northern Insights of diferences” that cross each other (Valovirta 2010, 94).6 Research that focused either on gender or race was not successful in taking into account the complicated and contradictory experiences connected to subordinated positions. Leslie McCall (2005, 1780) has described how “[i]t was not possible, for example, to understand a black woman’s experience from previous studies of gender combined with previous studies of race because the former focused on white women and the latter on black men.” he term “axis” has been criticised because it may give the impression that the many diferences are separated from each other. Nina Lykke (2005) names separate lists of diferences as additive intersectionality (additive intersektionalitet). She refers to the separation between the terms “interacting” and “intra-acting” as deined by Karen Barad (2003): the former means interaction between limited entities, but the latter is deined as a two-way cooperation between boundless phenomena, so that the phenomena have an impact on each other (see also Irni 2010). If the factors are understood as unconnected, the idea of double or triple subordination may emerge. In this kind of thinking, social diferences will be seen as essential (Yuval-Davis 2005, 22–23), focusing on categories instead of categorisation (Christensen & Jensen 2012, 111). Moreover, additive intersectionality does not deconstruct the power of a Western understanding of knowledge. he marginalized can be given a voice, but only as a mark of diference; “others” are tolerated and given a space to speak for themselves. For example, in the universities of the USA, otherness is institutionalised into courses concerning “diferences”. New groups of people 6. Nina Lykke (2005) writes that comparable theoretical considerations have been developed since the 1980’s. Also the “situational analysis” initiated by Adele E. Clarke (2005, xxii-xxviii) is not dissimilar to intersectional analysis. It is based on grounded theory, and constructs a research frame where “the situation per se becomes the ultimate unit of analysis”. Clarke emphasizes the importance of taking “situatedness, variations, differences of all kinds, and positionality/relationality very seriously in all their complexities, multiplicities, instabilities, and contradictions” (Ibid xxviii). his viewpoint resonates also with the new materialism (e.g. Barad 2003), because situation is broadened to involve also non-human actors. 26 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact are accepted as a gesture of inclusion that does not, however, interrupt the dominance of mainstream thought (Cerwonka 2008, 818–920). It is not an easy task to take account of many diferences simultaneously, and moreover, the diferences are often organized in hierarchies. For example Nina Lykke (2005) has mentioned the priority of social class within the frame of Marxist research. Usually, the same factors such as race, ethnicity, social class and sexuality are mentioned according to “the North American politically correct feminist litany” (Vuola 2002, 182). In the “quotation market” of academic capitalism, these lists tell the reader that the author is aware of the concepts mentioned; that she or he is politically correct (Knapp 2005, 254-255). Some diferences – such as disability, age, or religion – are rarely taken into account, or they are added to a list as an afterthought to a list under the generic abbreviation etc. Also, the geographical location is seldom mentioned.7 It raises the question of whether the local situation and place are diferences that really do make a diference. Diferences are both hierarchical and diferently visible. Ethnic, racial and gendered features can often be recognised. In Finland, sexuality, social class and geographical diferences are not usually considered as visible diferences. Beverly Skeggs (2004) claims, however, that forms of culture are inscribed into social groups and bodies by marking them and restricting their possibilities to move in social spaces. She has analysed the ways social class is constructed in the processes of social exchange and evaluation. From this point of view, social class is a process that is constructed all the time, rather than a stable category that “happens” to people (Skeggs 2004, 2). he provinciality associated with the North can be seen as an opposite to the more urban ways of the south; it is inscribed in subtle ways into the language and habits. his constructs a dichotomy between the centre and periphery, and creates experiences of being left 7. According to Allaine Cerwonka (2008), the diferences between European countries have mainly ignored, and theories constructed in Western Europe have not generally been applicable to East European states. 27 Northern Insights outside. here can be feelings of not being “at home” in places named as cultural and intellectual centres. I analysed with Suvi Ronkainen (2007) the articles of the Finnish journal of women’s studies, Naistutkimus–Kvinnoforskning, in order to identify how feminist principles of located knowledge materialised.8 We found out that the researchers did not pay much attention to place, especially the geographical and cultural location of the data. Neither did they position themselves explicitly. According to the analysis, taking place into account is likely only when the research concerns people living in marginal or peripheral areas such as the countryside. he meaning of place is, in all likelihood, recognised in cases where ethnic groups are studied, or international comparisons are conducted. Research carried out in the margins, for example in Lapland, is usually located because of its cultural or peripheral specialty. Finnish Lapland can be compared to North-Karelia as studied by Marja-Liisa Honkasalo (2004). She describes the people living in that area as rooted in their home districts where their families have lived for decades. However, modernisation has challenged their feeling of living “at the centre of life” and constituted a threat of “dropping down from the brink of the world” (Honkasalo 2004, 62). Neoliberal ideology has strengthened this development: economic growth demands the centralisation of human and economic capital. Unemployment, poverty, the migration of young people, and ideological conservatism mark the Finnish rural areas. Place and gender are political categories and that is why they are not unimportant in the production of meanings and the use of power. Hiding one’s locality and gender constructs a covert viewpoint and creates a privileged position from which to write without consideration of place or gender (see Ronkainen & Naskali 2007). heories are always created in a certain place by a speciic person, but they are often presented as if 8. We investigated how Finnish feminist researchers position themselves and their data in their studies. he data consisted of 66 articles published in the journal between 20012006. We asked how the authors relect on their position, and how place as a geographical or cultural area has been taken into account. 28 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact they come from nowhere in particular: a placeless position makes universalisation possible. For example, when constructing knowledge in southern Finnish universities, researchers appear to be justiied in talking generally about the Finnish sex-gender system. However, when research is conducted in northern Finland, generalising knowledge concerning the whole country is more diicult. A researcher situated in the North of the North is also expected to represent the marginal and or speak for it. When a place is not the presupposed one, there is an expectation of confession: those coming from a position of otherness are supposed to confess their diference – like the researcher investigating gender or sexuality that must “confess” her/his feminism or sexual orientation. he rural areas do not constitute unique places, but rather constantly changing entities. In feminist geography (Massey 1994), place does not mean an area described by exact borders. Borders are needed if place is theorised in an oppositional sense. However, those outside a certain place can also take part in deining that place. Places are not static entities, but are perpetually constituted in the cooperation between people and their surroundings. hat is why places do not have coherent identities, but are full of internal conlicts – the specialties of places are not based on their history and the nostalgia produced (ibid., 156). Lapland can be interpreted according to these criteria: it has an identity, but it is not without its internal conlicts, for example concerning the deinition of indigenous people. It is constituted continuously, and its borders – e.g. national borders – are and have always been porous. It can be deined and understood only in relation to the other places around it. When considering places we cannot ignore their imaginary nature: places are constructed also in language, discourse, and images. Lapland – which, especially for the citizens of Finnish capital, is located farther away mentally than many foreign European cities – exists very much as a collection of imaginary pictures which can easily be loaded with mythic stories and stereotypes (see Wallenius-Korkalo in this book). Tourism strengthens the myth of Lapland and its gendered and sexualised nature as a place of freedom where one can escape everyday life. 29 Northern Insights Local thinking and shared experience? One intersectional factor in the “North of the North” is Sami culture. he Western way of knowing and traditional scientiic research methods both have been challenged by Sami researchers. For example, Rauna Kuokkanen has opened up the understanding of knowledge of the Northern indigenous cultures in her book Reshaping the Universe: Responsibility, Indigenous Epistemes and the Logic of Gift (2007). She deines it as universal in the sense that the indigenous peoples share a common episteme9 which is based on “a collective cognitive experience” – knowledge that is produced in language, spoken tradition and ceremonies (ibid., xviii). he starting point of Kuokkanen’s analysis is in the tension between the academia10 and indigenous knowledge. She describes the academia “a storehouse of knowledge” (ibid., 2), which does not welcome the Other, and demands the responsibility and reciprocity of the academic world in relation to the indigenous peoples which do not speak the academia’s language. A central metaphor is gift: how the academia could be made to accept the epistemic gift of the indigenous peoples. If the knowledge were distributed as reciprocal gifts, reciprocity and responsibility could be made possible (ibid., 44). he knowledge of indigenous peoples is unique because: “[I]t calls for participation by the communities being researched; it acknowledges traditional genealogical and other organizing structures; it supports research that is relevant to the communities being studied, as well as culturally appropriate methodologies and codes of conduct; and it is activist in the sense that it is committed to capacity building and to addressing the damage done by colonization.” (ibid., 44–45) 9. Kuokkanen (2007, 57) uses the term episteme instead of epistemology while wanting to stress that the term is not restricted to knowledge but covers aspects of the larger worldview. 10. Instead of “University” or “Academy”, some Sami researchers use the term “Laavu” to describe the place where indigenous knowledge is produced (Helander & Kailo 1998). 30 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact he informants of the communities are respected as the “bearers of the tradition” and valued as equal partners and experts in the research process (Porsanger & Guttrom 2011, 23). Indigenous theorising problematises the dichotomy between tradition and modernity that makes indigenous peoples’ epistemologies invisible, constructs the indigenous people as the Other, and makes indigenous communities and people the source of the “problem”. In order to overcome the dichotomy between tradition and modernity, many scholars have applied the term “indigenous” instead of traditional knowledge (ibid., 240). In much indigenous theoretical discourse, indigenous peoples’ interests, knowledge and experiences are required to be placed at the centre of the methodologies used, and in the construction of knowledge (e.g. Porsanger & Guttorm 2011; Kuokkanen 2007), but at the same time the value of Western methodologies is acknowledged. here are, however, researchers who deny the need for Western concepts, scientiic methods, and even ways of writing. Elina Helander and Kaarina Kailo describe, in their book No Beginning, No End (1998), indigenous knowledge that is based totally on storytelling without interpretation. In my view as a Western researcher, the book is composed of raw data: interviews with six women and three men. he method of presentation seems to suggest the possibility of authentic knowledge that could be mediated as such via language. As a Western researcher, it is diicult to avoid an analytic stance: the texts take the reader into a conversation with diferent interpretations, concepts and theories, each of which lead to asking whether representationalism – the description of experience – produces a valid enough basis of knowledge. Tom Ingold (2002) considers that it is diicult, or even impossible, to reject Western scientiic methods and escape “the West” in research. He points out that the critiques focusing on Western dichotomies is just “what ‘the West’ is all about” (ibid., 6). However, he investigates the conditions of knowledge from the indigenous perspective, and describes it as a “…knowledge not of a formal, authorized kind, transmissible in contexts outside those of its practical application. On the contrary, it is based 31 Northern Insights in feeling, consisting in the skills, sensitivities and orientations that have developed through long experience of conducting one’s life in a particular environment.” (Ibid., 25) Ingold’s argument reminds us of feminist epistemology’s emphasis on located, material-based knowledge when he says that “an intelligence that was completely detached from the conditions of life in the world could not think the thoughts it does.” (Ibid., 25) Knowledge is strictly connected to the conditions of life, to the environment and dwelling, to engagements between persons and environments, not as “reasoning logically from irst principles”. his kind of knowledge does not make s distinction between separate mind and body, human beings and animals. For sensitivity and responsiveness, knowing needs intuition, and constructs a sentient ecology that is not restricted to indigenous peoples: intuitive understanding constitutes a basis for all kinds of scientiic systems and ethics. So, there is much in common between feminist and indigenous epistemologies. In both of them, knowledge is understood as a way of knowing, as deeds and processes, as well as information. It is created through the distribution of knowledge, as opposed to owning and governing it. Moreover, critique, questions and problematisation are important parts of knowledge production, making hidden worlds visible, getting voices to be heard, and deconstructing dichotomies. Knowledge, in both feminist and indigenous epistemologies, is understood as political, connected to power. However, feminist epistemologies ind gender and sexuality important themes in constructing knowledge, a social world, and power relations. Signiicantly, it denies a basis in assumed tradition, or even the purpose of keeping tradition alive. Indeed, the opposite is true; the purpose of knowledge and research is change (Liljeström 2004). Change is not only an essence of reality, tradition or culture, but it is something that is enacted by investigating and deconstructing the material and symbolic representations of the world. So, for example, by just listening to Sami stories without interpreting them, the research will repeat the indigenous or traditional gender system that is not explicitly analysed or discussed. It does not change anything, and it may even legitimate activities that 32 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact engage some systems of oppression that are “naturally” seen as a being part of the culture. Closed locality and an assumed authenticity can lead to the idealisation and mystiication of local experiences. Certain phenomena can be deined and understood only in certain languages (see Vadén & Hannula 2003). In research, it is always a matter of translation: everyday language must be translated into theoretical concepts, and terms developed in one culture must be translated into the language of another. Language is powerful in constructing the world. Imported terms and travelling concepts must be analysed in order to understand their genealogy and diferent connotations. Translating from one language to another is never perfect, but can we determine if there are experiences and phenomena that are not able to be translated at all, but which instead construct a closed locality? Rauna Kuokkanen (2007, 59–60) ponders how diferent epistemes change and inluence each other. However, the hierarchy of power relations poses problems: “In attempting to explain indigenous epistemes in a language that is foreign to them, we risk violating their integrity, because they are not easily translatable into other systems, nor can they be reduced to simple categorisations.” Questioning the limitations of translation may construct a hierarchy of experience that is connected to both authenticity and universalism: only “we” can discover the real meanings, only “we” can have these experiences. he problematic nature of presuming who “we” are and justifying “us” becomes visible when the dominant culture defends the rights of “we” in a nationalist sense. In feminist research, the straightforward relationship between experience, identity and politics has been called into question: living as a woman, or as a member of an indigenous people, or as a Finnish citizen cannot be argued or justiied through the experiences a person has of her/his own life as a woman, indigenous person, or Finn – there will always be the danger of additive intersectionality as mentioned above. In the hierarchy of experiences and categories of diferences, gender is easily omitted: social or ethnic oppression nulliies it. For example, some African researchers have criticized feminism as emerging from 33 Northern Insights imperialism, having a racist past, and being unable to see the position of African women. Anna Johansson quotes Cleonora Hudson-Weems who has crystallised this dilemma, saying: “Prioritising gender is obvious for women who have never experienced the powerlessness based on ethnic oppression.” ( Johansson 2002, 32) In a Northern context, economic diferences and colonial history are not as destructive as in Africa, but gender still loses its meaning here in relation to ethnicity. Moreover, questions of power connected to gender – for example, economic and social rights and gendered violence – can be seen as threatening the coherence of an ethnic group that is ighting for its rights. Andrea Amft (2001, 11) has written about the need for loyalty in the Swedish indigenous community – which does not welcome feminist critics: “If a woman says that she is subordinate she is regarded as Swediied. he general notion is that the Sami society is egalitarian.” (Amft 2001, 11) Harmony can be strengthened also by essentialising gender and feminising the locality. For example, Joanna Kafarowski (2002) suggests that, according to Carol Gilligan and Judith Plat, indigenous women have “empathetic, nurturing dispositions and are bonded with the land” because of their ability to reproduce. Women are close to nature, and indigenous people are more feminine than Western civilisations. In Aboriginal communities, women and men take part in the creation and communication of traditional ecological knowledge and other forms of oral traditions. Keenly aware of nature’s changes, the lives of Northern Aboriginal peoples are based on an intimate relationship with the land, wildlife, ecosystems and their processes. Traditional ecological knowledge and oral traditions serve as a guide on how to conduct one’s life through conveying the essential tools for survival. (ibid., 75) his harmony is supposed to guarantee gender equality; inequality arrived with Western values and ways of life. So, there is an idea of a pure, genuine state without power relations or discrepancies between 34 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact men and women: the evil has come from the outside, amoral, patriarchal world (ibid., 76). Do some groups – ethnic, local, or gendered – have experiences or knowledge which others are not able to have, or cannot even justiiably aspire to? Do we need universal claims of truth alongside local knowledge? By “universal claims” I mean questions concerning universal humanity in the sense of how it is inscribed in human rights, and – much later – in women’s rights. he strong refusal of a common womanhood, with its fear of essentialism and imperialism, has led to a situation where feminist theory has remained static while women have been oppressed in diferent cultures. Elina Vuola (2002, 182–183) has analysed this issue in the context of Latin America. She has recognised discourses which have exceeded this dichotomy by forming a pluralist position to emphasise both the universality of humanity and the rights of women, while simultaneously taking cultural diferences seriously. In this position, it is possible to take a political stance by recognising, for example, diferent modes of violence which women sufer all over the world. Impurity of gender, and the power of imported theories I suggest that an open locality and impure knowledge might ofer a means of breaking away from the dilemmas of universalism and ixed locality. Open locality challenges the notion of “authentic” experiences, and takes us back to the questions concerning change and process. Both feminist and indigenous research can be seen as impure and disturbing in relation to mainstream research and knowledge. hey can also be considered impure in relation to each other: the knowledge of indigenous people can pose a challenge to the abstract and universal nature of feminist theories. Feminist research can ofer conceptual gifts in the areas of gender and sexuality. I suggest that we have travelling theories to thank for the wealth of critical research that has challenged, for example, the authenticity of indigenous cultures (see e.g. Valkonen 2009) and the gen- 35 Northern Insights der systems of Sàme and other Lapland-based cultures (see e.g. Green 2007; Kuokkanen 2004; Sinevaara-Niskanen 2007; Rasmussen 2009). Leena-Maija Rossi (2009, 192) argues that it is not unusual that imported theories raise suspicions in national or other contexts. In the context of Lapland, for example queer-theory may provoke discussions about its application, or even about imperialism, that is “veiled in academic scholarship.” However, postcolonial concepts that work as a theoretical background for the arguments of indigenous knowledge are also imported theories – much like queer and feminist theory. Nonetheless, they are more easily accepted because they can be used for local political purposes. he beneits ofered by many postcolonial viewpoints in analysing Finnish minorities are undeniable.11 However, we can follow Anu Koivunen (1998, 27) and ask – even today – according to which power is gender still understood as being marginal and seen from a restricted viewpoint? What is the power that makes social relations other than gender important a priori? In feminist pedagogy, a good deal of analysis has been conducted concerning the challenges of receiving and absorbing knowledge. Deborach Brizman (1995) states that, according to Michel Foucault, we are always choosing from many alternatives, and that is why knowing constitutes a drawing of lines between the known and the not-known. Not-knowing is actually not ignorance, but a part of the structure of knowing. When we know something, at the same time we exclude something else from the realm of knowing. Besides the will to know, there is always the passion to not know. Brizman separates knowledge that can be known, knowledge that is excluded, and knowledge that is dangerous to know. Questions concerning gender and sexuality are still often issues that may be diicult to deal with rationally as central aspects of the human world, social life and power. Conversely, sexuality and gender are connected to emotions, values, morals, and religious principles. It can be claimed that 11. It is interesting to note that in order to open up the knowledge and episteme of indigenous peoples, Rauna Kuokkanen employs a Western European, abstract deconstruction of Jacques Derrida. 36 Rethinking Positionality – Universalism and Localism in Contact not only indigenous knowledge (see Ingold before), but also knowledge connected to afects, intuition, and the traditional self – still central in humanist philosophy – is only an imaginary construction.12 Knowledge is never perfect; something is always left out. We are trying to protect our world view and values because new knowledge forces us to change our imaginings – especially of ourselves. he unwillingness to welcome new information can be seen in the practices of university studies: students openly ignore knowledge concerning gender, describing in their essays their feelings of anxiety, and showing a willingness to ignore inequality (See Vidén & Naskali 2010). Queering something familiar raises discomfort that leads either to nulliication of a foreign phenomenon, calling it into question, making a joke out of it, or even to aggression. Cynthia Enloe (2004) claims that staying within familiar beliefs saves energy and suits eiciency of thought: complicated questions demand time and thought. Curiosity is needed instead of intellectual laziness and comfort; it leads to new discursive spaces, accepting contradictions, and crossing outside one’s comfort zones. Conclusion A borderless, global world where people live in a cosmopolitan common space does not exist; this kind of presupposition of placelessness engages hegemonic politics and strengthens the traditional belief in universal knowledge. Knowing is partial and local, it is a process and it has a connection to power-relations. It is a question of responsibility, agency and ethics. Scientiic theories are always created in a speciic location, and 12. Megan Boler and Michalinos Zembylas (2003, 111) write about discomforting truths in the context of pedagogy. he pedagogy of discomfort “recognizes and problematizes the deeply embedded emotional dimensions that frame and shape daily habits, routines, and unconscious complicity with hegemony”. he strange, diferent and disturbing are pushed out from our security zone – the area of knowledge where we want to stay – while deining learning, and even studying, too. Uncomfortable feelings are activated when we meet something that must be resolved through emotional work. 37 Northern Insights then travel in time and place. he efects, however, are not onilateral but reciprocal. In this article, I have indicated that in the North of the North feminist theories can be seen as travelling theories constructed “out there” and imported to the local context. hey have met both acceptance and resistance, the latter especially in relation to the indigenous knowledge of the Sami people. In its position as being critical and striving for change, feminist research has produced impure knowledge that has deconstructed safe ields of knowledge legitimated by arguments of naturalness, normality, traditionalism and practicality. I have argued for an open positionality and fertile interaction between local and global knowledge. his presupposes an understanding that theories are not just accepted and applied, but that they are modiied, developed, borrowed, and worked out. “Misreading” can generate transformed ideas by their relocation in a new time and place (Cerwonka 2008; Said 1983). heoretical conversations are not engaged simultaneously in diferent places: while international feminist theory analyses gender as a cultural-material construction in the state of becoming, locally gender may still be seen as a “natural” diference between women and men which has no political or theoretical ramiications. Feminist theory has also pointed out that even if there is no placeless gaze, we are not tied into our positions, they are not deterministic and static, and it is possible to understand the position of another person. Place is malleable to some degree; we can gather information about the experiences and reality of another without necessarily identifying with them. he positions of people and groups are intersectional, changing, and contradictory. Travelling theories and philosophical systems do not constitute a threat to locality if we think of both place and knowledge as processes: both are changing, both have porous borders, and both exclude something – yet both can be opened up to new things. 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We were in the air. his is how a young Afghan man describes his feelings of uncertainty while he was living temporarily in Cuba. He was still a teenager when he and his family led from Afghanistan to Iran. From Iran they then went to Cuba with the help of a human smuggler, and the family lived there for many years before the UNHCR granted them a refugee status in Finland, where they have now lived for two years. A complete uncertainty about life and the future is often at the core of stories told by refugees. heir whole life seems to be on hold – in a psychological and physical standstill. he video installation Angles of Incidence (Minna Rainio and Mark Roberts, 2006)1 deals with the experiences of refugees living in Rovaniemi, northern Finland. he installation consists of three synchronised video projections which depict spaces encountered during diferent stages of the asylum seeking process: interview rooms 1. Angles of Incidence premiered in the Finnish Photography Triennial “Talvimaa” in Salo Art Museum, 2006. Since then it has been shown in Rovaniemi Art Museum, in Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen; Kiel Stadtgalerie in Germany, and Franklin Art Works, Minneapolis, USA. 43 Northern Insights in border control oices and police stations, reception centres where the refugees might live many years while waiting for their permits, and the Finnish Immigration Service oices where decisions concerning the residence permits of refugees are made. Each of these spaces is part of the complicated process that asylum seekers must go through when they arrive in Finland and want to be legally accepted into Finnish society. In the video installation, the images from these spaces are juxtaposed with audio interviews with refugees in which they describe how they had to leave their homes and families, travel around the world, and wait in uncertainty. hey also talk about how it felt when eventually arriving in Finland. hese lived experiences create a stark contrast with the empty administrative spaces depicted in the imagery (Rainio & Roberts 2006, 70). he stories the refugees relate in the interviews are touching and powerful in many ways. he fact that most of them have unimaginable experiences of war, loss, uncertainty and fear, but yet also talk about hope and belief in a better future is very poignant. he irst story encountered is of a young woman from Afghanistan who escaped with her mother and siblings to a refugee camp in Iran. From the camp they moved to Tehran and lived there for years as illegal refugees without any oicial papers. Now in Finland, this woman speaks luent Finnish and English and hopes to study in a Finnish university. Another story is that of young Somali man who experienced indescribable hardship as a child, and was brought to Finland by a smuggler. He doesn’t have any family here or elsewhere. When he arrived in Finland the smuggler simply left him on the street, saying there was nothing more he could do to help, and directed him towards the police station. At the time of the interview, the Somali man had been in Finland for two years. During that time he had been moved between reception centres in Helsinki, Kajaani, Vaasa and Rovaniemi. After two years he was still waiting for a decision to be made about his residence permit, and lived in complete uncertainty about his future. In many ways these refugees exist on the thresholds of diferent realities: physically they pass through and live in transitional spaces; psychologically 44 “We were in the air” they exist between several cultures, identities and languages. heir memories might be (dis)located in places out of sync with the collective memories or oicial history of any given mainstream culture. hese memories can often also be visceral and non-linguistic. For example, the only thing that the Afghan woman remembered of the day they led Kabul was that it was very hot, and they had nothing to drink. When they arrived in Finland it was during the summer and therefore light at night; her mother was wondering if everyone was dead because there were no people anywhere. he weather – be it snow, or light nights – and afective conditions such as feelings of bodily strangeness were repeated in the memories of the arrival of the refugees (see also Huttunen 2002, 60, 82). How, then, can video art and experimental ilm describe such visceral memories and the transitions from one time, place and space to another? How can art communicate these often non-linguistic experiences that are not easily transmitted through research and language alone? Laura U. Marks has analysed how intercultural experimental ilms might deal with topics such as displacement, migration and diaspora. According to Marks, ilm can inluence senses and emotions because it is not primarily linguistic, and does not follow the same principles as written research. Film can, in itself, take the form of a sophisticated argument that subtly and fully conveys people’s experiences in and of the world. It can ofer the viewer an experience that is simultaneously intellectual, emotional and afective (Marks 2000, xiv – xvi; see also Sobchack 2004). Marks points out that the distribution channels of intercultural experimental ilms difer from the places where mainstream ilms are typically shown. Angles of Incidence, as well as our other video installation works, could be said to be located somewhere in the space between documentary, video art, and experimental ilm. However, in recent years the boundaries between these art forms have become increasingly blurred: video art is no longer only shown in museums or galleries, but also at festivals, cinemas and on television. Conversely, short ilms and documentaries are frequently shown in art exhibitions, in addition to cinemas, festivals and television. Many ilm- and documentary-makers create video art versions of their 45 Northern Insights works to be shown in galleries and museums, and many works by video artists are technically high-quality ilms, professionally produced, scripted, directed. For example traditional documentary makers and directors such as Chris Marker and Jean-Luc Godard have recently shown their video art in museums and galleries. Other examples of artists negotiating the boundaries of ilm and video art are Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Matthew Barney, and Chantal Akerman, to name but a few. In addition to distribution channels, the formal deinitions of the works have also become increasingly incorporated and blurred. Film in-between cultures he intercultural ilms that Laura U. Marks discusses are typically made by people with an immigrant background living in Western countries, often as cultural minorities.2 he common characteristic among these ilms is their experimentalism, meaning that they in some way break the conventions and rules of traditional ilm narrative. he ilms also deal with immigration and people’s diasporic experiences in their subject matter. he starting point of these ilms is often found in the silences and erasures committed in the writing of oicial histories, and they aim to highlight the forgotten and often ignored personal and collective memories of minority cultures living in the West. hese memories are not only visual or linguistic, but often also multisensory experiences; memories buried in the body, in, for example, touch, scent or taste (Marks 2000, 2, 6-7). Marks deines interculturality in these ilms as a context that can not be tied to just one culture. It refers to the bilateral movement between diferent cultures, and takes into consideration the possibility for change 2. While Angles of Incidence and our other artworks were made by Finnish and English artists, I don’t consider them as intercultural through the artwork’s authorship. Rather, I see Marks’s arguments as relevant to our works in that the installations deal with globalisation, borders and immigration through the lived experiences of people who have transitioned from one country, place or identity into another, and live on the thresholds of diferent cultures. I therefore deine our works as intercultural through their topics. 46 “We were in the air” (Huddart 2007, 67-68; Brah 2007, 85). Interculturality can also depict the interaction between two minority cultures, and therefore the relationship is not always only taking place between the majority and minority cultures (Marks 2000, 6-7). he concept of interculturality does not assume that cultures are separate entities with clearly deined boundaries, but takes into consideration that they are always already ambiguous and hybrid. No culture is ever “pure” (Huddart 2007, 67) or isolated from outside inluences (Said 2007). Our starting point in making Angels of Incidence was our critical attitude towards Finnish immigration policy, and public discourse surrounding immigration issues. One of the reasons a decision was taken to deal with this topic was probably also inluenced by the fact that I have lived in England, and that my husband Mark Roberts, who I collaborated with, is British. When we moved to Finland we began to see Finnish immigration politics and the quietly accepted racist attitudes of the nation especially clearly. With our artwork we wanted to make visible some of the experiences of refugees in Finland, and point out that these people are living amongst us, that they are part of Finnish society, and that their memories and experiences now form part of Finland’s collective past and histories. It is paramount to also remember that Finnish culture is heterogenic, shaped by processes of globalisation, colonialism and post-colonialism, and inluenced by various cultures (Lehtonen and Löytty 2007, 110,116; see also Leitzinger 2008). In Any Spaces Whatever he narratives in Angels of Incidence move back and forth in time and space: the refugees’ memories of their homelands and their journeys are juxtaposed with the sterile and mundane spaces they and others pass through when entering Finland. hese are spaces of power, in-between spaces, and spaces of waiting; they are interviewed in the rooms of the border control stations and police stations; they live in the reception centres, walking through the corridors, waiting in uncertainty to face 47 Northern Insights a decision made behind the closed doors of the Finnish Immigration Service about their future. In one scene, the Afghan woman relates how her father disappeared in Kabul, and recollects her traumatic escape from Afghanistan. As she tells this story, the images show the empty rooms in the police station in Rovaniemi where refugees are photographed, measured and have their ingerprints taken. Later, the Somali man expresses his wish that Finland would give him a new life, a new beginning, while his words are juxtaposed with images of the exterior of the Finnish Immigration Service oices – the impenetrable walls beyond which decisions about the man’s future and the direction of his life are very slowly being made. he refugees interviewed did not necessarily pass through the exact spaces ilmed. Instead, the spaces seen in the installation become symbolic and abstract cultural in-between spaces through which the refugees’ experiences are relected. Following Laura U. Marks and Gilles Deleuze, these spaces could be called any-spaces-whatever. Marks writes that these are “[--] not only the disjunctive spaces of postmodernism, but also the disruptive spaces of postcolonialism, where non-Western cultures erupt into Western metropolises, and repressed cultural memories return to destabilize national histories” (Marks 2000, 27). Any-spaces-whatever is an apt description of the real, lived circumstances around migration and diaspora, especially in Europe and North-America. he visuality of Angles of Incidence is uneventful and unembellished. Nothing really happens in the images; the shots are long, static images of empty rooms. he installation is instead deined by silence, slowness and absence. Marks has written that many intercultural ilms share a certain kind of suspicion and hesitation towards representations and easy narratives. his might partially be rooted in the historical and complicated relationship of photography and ilm to power, anthropological classiication and colonialist practices. On the other hand, this suspicion towards the representational power relects awareness of the limits of images and narratives. Images are not neutral relections of the world, but always 48 “We were in the air” representations from a certain point of view. Seeing, then, is always partial, because it is located and embodied in a particular viewer. It is tied to a certain situation and is always changing. Nothing is ever seen in its entirety, but only from the angles that interest the viewer (Marks 2000, 41). Silent and uneventful images do not ofer the viewer easy explanations. Instead, they are reminders of the inevitable gaps, silences and amnesia that form part of history and the relationship between majority and minority cultures. he viewer ills in the space between the image and language by drawing on their own experiences and memories. his holistic afective experience has the potential to stay with the spectator for a long time. Marks describes this process as participatory spectatorship, which might also have political potential – and perhaps that is where the power of art lies. (Marks 2000, 48; see also von Bonsdorf 2005, 32, 34–35). Between Image and Sound If we want to understand an event, we must not show it. (Marks 2000, 29) he relationship between image and sound in Angles of Incidence is not straightforward. he image and the narrative do not correlate. he image does not tell the whole story, nor does the sound and the narrative in isolation from the imagery. Each is dependent on the other, and at the same time they both reveal the limits of the other (Marks 2000, 30). As the refugees interviewed for Angles of Incidence are not shown and the audience hears only their voice, the viewer is not ofered an opportunity to categorise or deine these people according to their appearance. In other words, the installation discourages the practice of ethnic othering. hat makes it more diicult for the viewer to categorise people into “us” and “them”, as the unseen narrator could be any of “us”? Iiris Ruoho has pointed out that “[- -] the central categories of diference and classiication are sexuality, gender and race – they privilege others and diferentiate other bodies. he obsession to measure and classify people according to exterior, especially visual observations, is also directly aimed towards 49 Northern Insights the category of nationality.” (Ruoho 2006, 39). However, the invisibility of the refugees in Angles of Incidence could also be interpreted as referring to their invisibility in the Finnish society (Uimonen 2006, C2). he spaces that refugees encounter and the places they live are invisible to most Finnish people, who never have to pass through the interview rooms of border crossing stations. Nor are their ingerprints taken in police stations, and they never see the rooms and corridors of reception centres where refugees might spend years of their lives. Our video installations combine elements from the traditions of documentary ilm and video art. We have interviewed refugees and use the edited versions of original audio interviews in the installation. However, documentary ilms are traditionally expected to show the physical presence of the human face and body in their imagery; the visual appearance of central characters is rarely left to the viewers’ imagination.3 It is often assumed that images of “talking heads” add to the truth value of the ilm. According to Bill Nichols, ilms that don’t show their central characters leave an empty space at the core. his space “[--] becomes illed by those who speak about that absence; it is their perceptions and values, their attitudes and assumptions which become the subject of our scrutiny” (Nichols 1991, 292). Even though many experimental and intercultural ilms use documentary methods in their narratives, they also frequently question the traditions of documentary.4 he topics of these ilms may somehow escape visual representation: their visuality is often uneventful, silent and 3. An illuminating example of this is when we applied for funding for one of our earlier video installations “Borderlands”, which, similarly, did not show the interviewees, but used only their audio interviews. he documentary funders did not accept our artistic choice, emphasising the point that the audience must see the people to be able to form a connection with them. However, the project was funded by media art foundations. 4. Of course, the genre of documentary ilm is so broad and heterogeneous that it is not possible to talk about “one tradition” in documentary ilm, but many. Many documentary makers are very aware of the blurred line between fact and iction, and use methods of iction ilm in their documentaries (see Helke 2006). 50 “We were in the air” ambiguous. What takes place is not necessarily shown, and sometimes the viewer only hears a voice or sounds without any image at all. Marks writes that “[t]he moments of thinness, suspension, and waiting in these ilms are not encounters with a dreadful void but with a full and fertile emptiness.” (Marks 2000, 29). On this threshold between sound and image, a new understanding may open up, as the viewer has to listen and look for the gaps, and seek what is not shown by interpreting the absences (Marks 2000, 30-31). Each audio interview in Angles of Incidence has been edited with a slightly diferent emphasis: the Afghan woman speaks about leaving her home country; the Afghan man recollects the journey and waiting; the Somali man talks about arriving in Finland, his life there, and his uncertainty and hopes for the future. he images of the empty spaces do not illustrate these stories, nor do the extracts from the interviews aim to create a coherent narrative. he stories that the refugees tell are fragmentary and inconclusive. hese personal recollections are juxtaposed with the administrative spaces in which the Finnish state enacts its immigration policies, simultaneously creating its oicial history. his contradiction between image and sound emphasises how diferent histories can be articulated in the same geographical and psychological space (Brah 2007,73). he themes and content of Angles of Incidence are relected in the way we use the installation space. he projection walls are placed so that the viewer has to move through the installation space and “travel” with the refugees from one stage of the journey to the next. he work attempts to force the viewer to stop, look and listen by making the spectator enter the installation space, instead of just walking by and glancing at the video. With the spatial arrangement we want to challenge the spectator to have an afective encounter with the people in the work and to take an ethical position. he viewer becomes part of the physical space of the installation in the same way that she or he is part of the same society where these people live. he aim of the work is to create a spatial, physical and visceral experience in which sound plays a central part. 51 Northern Insights Settling in/between cultures I say that I am an Afghan, but that my home is Finland. I was born in Afghanistan, but my home is Finland. I feel that Finland is my best second home country. hat’s how I feel. It is diicult to say where I am from. I say that I am originally from Afghanistan, but I am from two or three cultures. I was born in Afghanistan, but I also have the culture of Cuba. And now I live in Finland. It is diicult to say – normally I say that I’m from Afghanistan, but sometimes that I’m from Cuba. It’s diicult to say. he refugees interviewed for Angles of Incidence found it hard to answer the question “where are you from?”. hey did not feel that they were from any one place and, at the same time, they did not seem to long to be back in one particular place. heir cultural and national identity is not tied to one country, but to two or even three. However, these multiple locations of home did not necessarily mean rootlessness (Brah 2007, 88) as some of them already felt irmly rooted in Finland, or were imagining and hoping for a future for themselves in Finland. Avtar Brah has written about the multiple locations of home in the contemporary globalised world. Brah’s concept of diasporic spaces takes into consideration the concept of homing – the desire to feel at home in the context of migration. he experience of diaspora is not always attached to a desire to return, even though diasporic journeys mean settling down and making roots somewhere (Brah 2007, 74). Although the experience of exile always encompasses traumatic separations, it also includes the possibility of new beginnings and the potential for hope (Brah 2007, 85). Diasporic spaces, however, are not inhabited only by those who have left, but also by those who are at home – typically the native people of the country (Brah 2007, 74, 99; Marks 2000, 123). When refugees arrive in a new country they are inluenced by the new place, its way of life, and its rituals. But at the same time their new homeland will be impacted by 52 “We were in the air” their lives, histories and experiences (Rainio & Roberts 2006). he people migrating from one country to another not only bring a part of their own culture and background to the new place, but they also make the familiar in the new country seem strange, revealing the cultural hybridity that already exists there (Marks 2000, 124). Diasporic spaces could be described as transnational spaces; the emotional and familial ties of refugees exist across traditional national borders. In this case borders not only represent borders between nation states, but all those psychical and cultural boundaries and border crossings that are negotiated in everyday life (Hirsiaho et al 2005, 12-13; Huttunen 2004, 138). It is exactly these boundaries and in-between spaces that become the locations where new cultural forms are created. Homi Bhabha uses the concept of liminality to describe these boundaries. Liminality dismantles the idea of solid cultures that interact with each other, and emphasises that culture is often located precisely in between these cultural processes. For Bhabha, the location of culture “means [--] temporality and spatiality: liminal is often found in certain postcolonial social spaces, but the existence of liminality is also a sign that the creation of new identities is an on-going process – that they are open and becoming.” (Huddart 2007, 68 see also Marks 2000, 24). At the intersection of images and words, thoughts and emotions he video installation Angles of Incidence crosses various thresholds through its themes and medium: it deals with people’s transitions from one country to another in the globalised world and their settling in new places. As an artistic work the installation is located somewhere between documentary, photography, experimental ilm and video art. Art exists in the tension between observing and understanding, and in combining intellectual and emotional experience (Sakari 2000, 9). According to Marks, “[--] intercultural cinema works at the edge of an unthought, slowly building a language with which to think it. What can 53 Northern Insights already be thought and said threatens to stile the potential emerging new thoughts. he already sayable against which intercultural cinema struggles is not only oicial history but often also identity politics, with their tendency toward categorization.” (Marks 2000, 29). Intercultural ilms can bring up new cultural and personal memories as alternatives to the numbing silences and erasures of oicially written history. Perhaps intercultural art – and in some ways our video installations – could create spaces where “personal and collective memories collide, get reorganised and reformed” (Brah 2007, 85). Spaces that would remind the viewers that cultures and nation states are, and have always been, connected, diverse, changing, and historical phenomena. he installation space of Angles of Incidence could be imagined as one kind of liminal diasporic space where viewers, at the intersection of images, sounds and words, not only encounter refugees and their stories, but at the same time encounter something in themselves. he article is based on an article originally published in Finnish in Lähikuva magazine 3/2008 References Brah, Avtar 2007: Diaspora, raja ja transnationaaliset identiteetit. In Kuortti, Joel, Lehtonen, Mikko & Löytty, Olli (eds.) Kolonialismin jäljet. Keskustat, periferieat ja Suomi. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 71–102. Helke, Susanna 2006: Nanookin jälki. Tyyli ja metodi dokumentaarisen ja iktiivisen elokuvan rajalla. Taideteollisen korkeakoulun julkaisusarja A 65. Taideteollinen korkeakoulu, Helsinki. Hirsiaho, Anu, Korpela, Mari & Rantalaiho, Liisa (eds.) 2005: Kohtaamisia rajoilla. Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, Helsinki. Huddart, David 2007: Homi K. Bhabha - Missä kulttuuri sijaitsee? In Kuortti, Joel, Lehtonen, Mikko & Löytty, Olli (ed.) Kolonialismin jäljet. Keskustat, periferieat ja Suomi. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 62–70. 54 “We were in the air” Huttunen, Laura 2004: Kasvoton ulkomaalainen ja kokonainen ihminen: marginalisoiva kategorisointi ja maahanmuuttajien vastastrategiat. In Jokinen, Arja, Huttunen, Laura & Kulmala, Anna (eds.) Puhua vastaan ja vaieta. Neuvottelu kulttuurisista marginaaleista. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 70–75. Huttunen, Laura 2002: Kotona, maanpaossa, matkalla. Kodin merkitykset maahanmuuttajien omaelämäkerroissa. Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, Helsinki, 134–154. Lehtonen, Mikko ja Löytty, Olli 2007: Suomiko toista maata? In Kuortti, Joel, Lehtonen, Mikko & Löytty, Olli (eds.) Kolonialismin jäljet. Keskustat, periferieat ja Suomi. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 105–118. Leitzinger, Arto 2008: Ulkomaalaiset Suomessa 1812–1972. East-West Books Helsinki . Marks, Laura U. 2000: he Skin of the Film. Intercultural Cinema, Embodiment and the Senses. Duke University Press, Durham and London. Naskali, Päivi 2007: Yliopistollinen opetus ja lahja. Niin & Näin 1/2007, 61–69. Nichols, Bill 1991: Representing Reality. Issues and Concepts in Documentary. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis. Rainio, Minna and Roberts Mark 2006: Kohtaamiskulmia. In Talvimaa/Winterland. Suomalaisen valokuvataiteen kolmivuotisnäyttely. Exhibition catalogue. Salon taidemuseo, Musta Taide, Helsinki, 70–75. Ruoho, Iiris 2006: Mihin luokka katosi? In Herkman, Juha, Hiidenmaa, Pirjo, Kivimäki, Sanna & Löytty, Olli (eds.) Tutkimusten maailma. Suomalaista kulttuurintutkimusta kartoittamassa. Nykykulttuurin tutkimuskeskus, Jyväskylä, 33–43. Said, Edward 2007: Mikään ei tapahdu eristyksissä. In Kuortti, Joel, Lehtonen, Mikko & Löytty, Olli (eds.) Kolonialismin jäljet. Keskustat, periferieat ja Suomi. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 27–38. Sakari, Marja 2000: Käsitetaiteen etiikkaa. Suomalaisen käsitetaiteen postmodernia ja fenomenologista tulkintaa. Dimensio 4. Valtion taidemuseon tieteellinen sarja. Sobchack, Vivian 2004: Carnal houghts. Embodiment and Moving Image Culture. University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles & London. Uimonen, Anu 2006: Talvimaan tarinoita kertovat myös pakolaiset. Valokuvataiteen triennaalissa kohtaavat realismi ja fantasia. s. C2, Helsingin Sanomat 4.11.2006. Von Bonsdorf, Pauline 2005: Beauty and Truth in he 3 Rooms of Melancholia. In Claes Entzenberg & Simo Säätelä (eds.), Perspectives on Aesthetics, Art and Culture. hales, Stockholm, 20–40. 55 Northern Insights Mari Mäkiranta & Outi Ylitapio-Mäntylä Care and emotional looking in memory-based photographs Introduction Looking at one’s personal photographs can evoke a wide range of feelings and emotions, and even nostalgia for the past. At the same time, the absence of some personal photographs can also help in the process of forgetting: some events are not appropriate or possible to be photographed and preserved in family archives. When we organised and supervised the “Memory-work and Photography Workshop” at the Iceland Academy of the Arts in 2011, we noticed that personal photographs re-establish the past in the present, in a lively and visual manner: photographs open up cultures new and familiar, afecting and alienating. We also noticed that places, locations and spaces are socially and culturally shaped; they are constantly being constructed and reconstructed through diferent visual performances – for example the photographs, narratives and memories relating to people’s everyday lives. Our goal in this article is to consider how the living environment, gender and photography are interwoven in complex and constitutive ways, and to investigate what kinds of gendered memories are attached to certain places. In this article we analyse two pairs of photographs and stories produced by two women – Ásahlin and Rósa – who were participating in our workshop (igure 1, igure 2, igure 3, igure 4). he data analysed here is part of the larger base of photographs and stories produced in Iceland. 56 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs he theme of the workshop was “place”; during the workshop the participants selected photographs from their personal collections and photographed new ones. he workshop consisted of photo-related stories, examining photographs from participants’ personal collections and the images produced during the workshop. he whole data consists of 46 photographs, which demonstrate the diferent kinds of places like homes, buildings, playgrounds and landscapes. After becoming familiar with the data as whole, we selected two pairs of photographs as the material for this article. We chose these four photographs for analysis because they were visually interesting to both of us; we were fascinated by the composition, content and impressions these photos evoked. he photos and themes represented in them are also closely linked to our earlier studies (Mäkiranta 2008; Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2009), as well as to themes such the mother-daughter relationship, and ways of photographing the places of childhood – subjects that we are both keen to study and further develop. In the article we ask: How is place produced in the photographs and what kinds of positions of place are told? Our focus is not only on the private meanings attached to a certain person’s pictures, but on the wider socio-cultural context. Our research draws on feminist post-structural thinking and the memory-work method (Berg 2008; Haug et al. 1987; Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2009; Ylitapio-Mäntylä & Mäkiranta, 2010) in an examination of the kind of gendered meanings that are constructed in certain photographed places, and of the memories provoked by diferent daily situations and socio-cultural contexts. he theme of the workshop – place – inspired us to consider the ways in which gender and place are interwoven, as demonstrated by research concerning the geographies of gender and space (Hughes 2002; hien 2005). Place is an important context for gendered experience; for example, feminist geography addresses how the understanding of place may difer according to the cultural history of the community, and whether or not the men, women, girls and boys feel they have a voice in decisions afecting their communities (hien & Hanlon 2009, 157). In this sense, 57 Northern Insights using post-structural theories means looking at the actions and meanings of gendered people, at their personal histories, identities and biographies, at the meanings they give to places, and at the diferent ways in which spaces are gendered and how this afects people’s understanding of themselves (see McDowell 1997, 382). Place can be understood as particular moments in intersecting social relations, the networks of which have, over time, been constructed, intertwined, destroyed and renewed. Place can be explained by positioning locality within a broader context (Massey 1999, 129). In this article we consider place as a concrete living environment. However, we also understand place to be part of a person’s mental state when we use the concept of space to depict personal experience. Photo-related memory-work as method Our research draws on earlier studies using the memory-work method as one way to understand the cultural and social aspects of lived practices, gendered experiences and living environments (see Jansson, Wendt & Åse, 2008, 228–230; Kaufman, Ewing, Hyle, Montgomery & Self 2001; Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2009). he memory-work method was developed by Frigga Haug and the collective group of researchers who studied female sexuality and corporeality in collective memory-work sessions (Haug et al. 1987). Kiran D. Purohit and Christopher Walsh (2003) explored the issue of heteronormative school environments and gender. Subjective stories and gender were topics covered in Karin Widenberg’s (1998) research in which she examined the teaching perspective. Also, in Anne-Jorunn Berg’s (2008) studies, the memory-work method was used to examine whiteness and racialization. hat the lived environment, gender and photography are complexly and constitutively interwoven is established by examining gendering processes in everyday practices. In photography studies, personal family photographs have been investigated in the context of identity construction and memory shaping (Doy 2005; Hirch 1997; Kuhn 2002; Mäkiranta 2008; Spence 1986; Ulkuniemi 2007). In diferent visual and narrative 58 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs studies, photographs have generally been used to stimulate storytelling, open discussion, provide a thematic introduction for the interviewee, or deepen the conversation between researcher and subject (Emmison & Smith 2000, 27–30). Mervi Autti (1996) has combined photographs with memory-work, and Rosy Martin and Jo Spence (1985) have been re-photographing their family albums to construct new narratives. Martin’s and Spence’s work has a strong connection to photo therapy and the use of photography and memory-work as a method of empowerment (Savolainen 2009; Mitchell 2011). In the context of family photographs, the topics of gender and the memory-work method have been juxtaposed in many visual and feminist studies. Drawing on these studies, we have developed our methodology further. We address the importance of producing new images by considering the photographs in personal archives, memories related to old photographs, and the discussions that arose in the memory-work groups. Our workshops provide a political framework that encourages awareness, creates a space to talk, and highlights the participants’ multiple voices (see also Merriam, Cafarella & Baumgartner 2007, 262–269). Using and discussing memories opens up the potential to challenge the perceived understanding of both place and gendered dichotomies and practices. By adopting the memory-work method, it is possible to render new knowledge and forms of understanding that reach beyond established discourses. It may also provide a way to challenge the cultural and social inluences afecting lived actions and experiences ( Jansson, Wendt & Åse, 2008). he memory-work method is seen as a collective method. Memories are always created in a participatory (or non-participatory) relationship with other people because they are both subjective and collective at the same time. In particular, if people have the same background, telling stories makes it possible to collectively formulate memories within speciic cultural and societal contexts; narrating and re-telling is a co-constructive procedure of making meaning, situated in certain place (Lenz Taguchi 2007, 277). 59 Northern Insights One methodological factor in photo-related memory-work is that the researcher chooses to participate in group discussions, recollecting and photographing actively with the other participants. his leads the researcher to probe the relationship between researcher and the researched, and it sustains the feminist post-structural idea of multi-voiced knowledge and truth (Mäkiranta & Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2011; Lather, 1992). To ind the multi-voiced knowledge in this workshop we have stressed both the diferences and the similarities present in the photographs and memories. Special attention was paid to ethical questions throughout the workshop and study because of the vulnerability of the participants and the personal nature of the photographs and narratives. Due to the fact that the photographs might represent the participants’ themselves (or other recognisable people) the anonymity of the participants could not be guaranteed. his is why we informed and advised participants about the ethical dilemmas that these kinds of images and stories might raise, and ensured that they understood they might be recognised in the images and narratives represented through the photographs. Description of the workshop he aim of the workshop was to make students aware of the socially constructed, everyday practices that shape the knowledge of the world and afect meanings associated with gender and lived environments. he workshop consisted of examining 46 photographs; 23 pairs of images presenting signiicant locations from the participants’ past and present. Twenty-two of the participants were women and one was a man, and their ages fell between 25–55. All of the students had bachelors or masters degrees in the ield of art and design, and the workshop was carried out as part of their art pedagogy studies. During the workshop, we produced images and discussed our memories together with the participants. We also noted the stories told about every photograph, and observed and photographed the process of working with the images. 60 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs In the workshop, the participants were irst asked to bring one personal photo representing “place” – a speciic event or situation concerning their living environments. he primary idea of the workshop was that participants would discuss a particular theme – the signiicance of place to them – and the shared memories and photographs from their youth and childhood surroundings. he aim of the workshop was to construct concrete, site-oriented photographs by narrating and producing images in collaboration. After selecting a photograph, the participants wrote down memories associated with the image and the theme. he participants were divided into small groups, in which they shared and discussed the memories that the images had evoked in them individually; this inspired the participants to relect upon their living environments and critical aspects of society. By using memory as an instrument, the participants were able to deepen the discussion and move towards more detailed descriptions of place. Following the group session, the participants worked individually and shot new photographs that in some way related to the photographs discussed earlier. After the participants took the photos, they gathered again in a group to talk about the pictures they had produced. he discussions covered the earlier photographs, the new images, and the working process in which they had been engaged. he focus for the last part of the course was to produce an exhibition of the photographs and the narratives evoked by them. he photographs were exhibited at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, in the Traces/Places exhibition. The analysis of the photographs Data assessing processes was to read the participants’ photographs and our observation notes of the stories and photographs. We analysed the data in the context of photography studies and narrative research (Alvarado 1980; Cartier-Bresson 1983), and multifunctional models of visual language (Kress & Van Leeuwen 1996). A critical reading of the data also guided our reading. he reading was carried out using feminist post-structural 61 Northern Insights strategies, which made it possible to discover invisible and previously unheard information about the participants’ experiences of gender and place (e.g. Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2011). he analysis of the workshop led to the notion of a narrative unconscious – by which we mean the workshop revealed, through the participants’ narration, an aspect of the unconscious which was (at least in some ways) deined by a cultural dimension (see Freeman 2004). Working with photographs and memories widens our viewpoint to include elements and activities unseen in the images, and posits new questions about the ways place afect our lives and selves. One of the core aspects of analysis in the memory-work method is that participants analyse their individual memories together. We emphasise that the analysis presented in this article is conducted by us as researchers. Nevertheless, while we also recognise that we have shared our knowledge and made our own interpretations together with the participants, our focus in this article is not on collective interpretation, but on the researchers’ reading of the data. Our model of reading and interpretations provided frameworks for analysing photographs using multifunctional, narrative approaches in which two kinds of meaning associated with gender and place are identiied: those located in the past (childhood photographs), and those occurring in present (the new photographs produced in the workshop). he tensions between the old and new photographs create the narrative space in which the narrator perceives her life events. Shifting position from carer to being-cared-for Ásahlin brought a photograph to the memory-work session in which three children pose neatly in line. In the background, beautiful old buildings from Reykjavík city centre can be seen. he girls in the image wear woollen cloth coats, white stockings, and shining shoes. he boy, positioned between the girls, wears a white shirt and black tie. he children are dressed in their Sunday best. he photograph was taken by Ásahlin’s mother. he second photograph Ásahlin brought shows a narrow, empty 62 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs street, bounded by barren trees and yellowed grass. here are no people in the image – only the quiet surroundings. Áshalin’s irst photograph (igure 1) is a typically representative example of a family album photo: it features children. he photograph relects the tendency to fulil social and cultural norms by “properly” representing childhood (Holland, 1997, 105–128); Ásahlin remembered how, as children, they had to behave obediently and wear itchy woollen coats just to look pretty. he children are signiiers of the community’s social space: the photograph represents each child’s status, gender, and place within the community, as well as emphasising the group’s internal solidarity (see Mäkiranta 2012). he situation in which the image was taken could be seen as a way to help children develop their ability to learn how to act in society (see Engster, 2005, 52). When adult is educating children to behave in proper way it includes the idea of care. Care can be deined through the concepts of responsiveness, respect and attentiveness. It is a form of attentiveness – a caring one – that notices others’ needs and responds to those needs appropriately with empathy. Responsiveness means facing the other and discerning what care is needed, and ensures that the needs are met (Engster, 2005, 54−55). he deinition of care includes the cluster concepts; responsibility, dependency and independence. he person who is giving care feels responsibility towards the person being cared for. his is the focal point of care requests; guiding, educating, counselling and helping others in their lives. he care receiver – the one who needs care – is in a situation of dependency; when one needs care it is a threat to one’s sense of autonomy (Hughes 2002, 110 –120). Áshalin’s memories and stories relect and reveal her beliefs about everyday practices and what traditional habits should be (see McKamey 2011) – how we should teach our children, and how they should behave. Caring – present both in a photograph’s original shooting situation as well as in the resulting photograph itself – relects an efort to do very best for the other in the relationship between carer and cared-for, such as that between an adult and child. he notion of doing the best for another 63 Northern Insights includes providing and receiving, and in this way, power is present in any caring situation. It encircles everything, and extends everywhere, to all relations (Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2011). Ásahlin’s irst photograph describes how the good and caring mother is assumed to be educating her children. Mothers’ lives include material and moral orientations that involve an idea of responsibility for care (see Hughes 2002, 119). When three children pose neatly on line, the photograph depicts not only well behaving children, but also a caring mother. he picture illustrates that a caring person considers the material and moral perspectives; the viewer of the photo recognises that the mother of these two children was a caring person. Ásahlin’s second photograph (igure 2) shows a road she used to walk along with her elderly mother. When Ásahlin told the story related to the picture, she explained why the road was such a signiicant place in her everyday life. Remembering the experiences she shared with her mother moved her deeply because her mother had recently passed away. She describes the path as a road to somewhere, I used to walk there with my mother. Now my mother passed away. (Note of observations 1). Place – for example, the empty road in the picture – can be understood as a moment in intersecting social relations, nets of which have, over time, been constructed, become intertwined with one another, perished, and been renewed (see Massey 1999, 129). Social space is a product of social relations which are embedded in material practices, and is always in the process of becoming. Space can be imagined as the simultaneity of narratives-so-far (Massey 2005, 9). he two photographs represent a signiicant place for the narrator, where the place achieves meaning through the caring relationship between mother and daughter. he photographs and narratives form a gendered space based on caring that is culturally described as feminine. From the symbolic meanings of the empty road and the children depicted in town, and the clearly gendered messages transmitted through the images, it is possible to see that spaces and places are not only themselves gendered, but that they both relect and afect the ways in which gender is constructed and understood (Massey 1999, 188). 64 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs When considering the concept of caring, our focus falls on the shifting relationship between mother and daughter: in the childhood picture the children are the people being cared-for; conversely, the photograph of the road illustrates how the daughter has become the carer of the mother. Mother and daughter relations might be understood as traditionally gendered identity constructions for women who are seen as primary care givers. Women usually take responsibility for the physical and emotional work of care-giving both at home and at work. (Hughes 2002, 107–119). So, care is located within normative gendered contexts, especially in relation to family (Alsop, Gonzalez-Arnal & Kilkey 2008, 625), and family photographs. Caring signiies the idea that the other is worthy of attention in certain situations and places. Caring includes everything that helps the other to develop and sustain her abilities in an attentive, responsive and respectful way (Engster, 2005, 54−55; Ylitapio-Mäntylä 2011). he photograph of the empty road symbolises loss, and the passing of a caring relationship. Caring is also linked to the concept of worry, or care-as-worry (van Manen, 2002, 262). Care-as-worry might usher in “care conlicts” when a focus on diiculties arises in situations where someone is caring and another person is cared-for (Hughes 2002, 111). he narrator’s shifting position between childhood memories and the present moment moves her, suggesting a conceptualisation of care that may be experienced as a complex emotional relation of responsibility. In these photographs, and through the process of making new images, place is seen as something a person engages in; something she or he does when she or he is in a relationship with another. From Iceland to Great Britain – Looking emotionally at a childhood living environment Rósa’s photograph (igure 3) represents a gateway and the steps leading into her childhood home. In the photograph she sits on the steps with three other children. It is a bright and warm summer day, as revealed by the children’s bare feet and light clothing. he children look happy, 65 Northern Insights squinting in the sunlight. In the new photograph (igure 4), Rósa depicted the same gate and pathway leading to the steps where she sat in the picture from her childhood. he living environment has not changed much in Rósa’s pictures. However, her emotional reaction has: when she looked at and narrated her photographs, she was moved by sentimentality and nostalgia. She also explained how her childhood home – and especially the steps – seemed much smaller from an adult’s perspective. his is quite typical when looking at childhood photographs: our childhood places are often remembered from a nostalgic, child-like perspective; we tend to re-construct a happy and coherent past for ourselves through our family photographs. here is no doubt that photographs and emotion afect one another. When Rósa talks about her photographs, the pictures are an example of placing a memory (see Cresswell 2004, 85) and evoking emotions. his might manifest itself as a sudden, deep understanding of how a place, like home, has afected one’s life; one’s perception of a place undergoes an unexpected transformation, bringing the past into the present, and creating a form of monument to memory (Freeman 2004, 292–293). Rósa expresses her emotions and nostalgia by saying that behind the gate there is now the diferent life (note of observations 2). his notion refers to her childhood experiences from an adult’s perspective: she recalls how her life had changed drastically when her family moved to London after the childhood picture was taken. he photograph of the children on the steps illustrates a shared communal space, which forms an emotional event for the narrator. he photographs demonstrate the change experienced in the narrator’s life, illustrating her experiences of alienation from an important childhood place, and implying the cultural change that the child was experiencing. From this viewpoint, the gate in Rósa’s new photograph symbolises non-admittance to the narrator’s childhood home; a “lost happiness”. he situation is a good example of Doreen Massey’s (2008, 211) concept of shifting spaces and the emotions related to them. Space is a product which the narrator uses to describe 66 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs being in a certain place, thus reconstructing it and changing its meaning through appropriation. Emotions are relational; they move us and attach us to others and they involve reactions or relations of towardness and awayness (Ahmed 2004, 8). hey are also intentional, and not only located within subjects as a possession of the self, or without as something afecting the self. Instead emotions are located in movement, circulating between images, narrators, and moments of telling (Moreno Figueroa 2008, 81). Photographs ofer a space for emotional looking and intimate storytelling. In Rósa’s case, her photographs, places, memories, and emotions are constantly shifting; they are being rearranged in the process of looking and narrating. When Rósa describes her photographs she constructs a subjective knowledge of the world and a certain place. An emotional subject ofers an inter-subjective means of negotiating our place in the community, coproduced through cultural discourses of emotion (hien 2005, according to Sharp 2009). his is not only a subjective act; rather, it can be seen as a description of cultural meanings attached to place and social events, such as moving away from the childhood home. hus, emotions are essential in understanding changing social and cultural environments, and can be acknowledged as relevant knowledge. According to Joanne Sharp (2009, 75–76), the established structures of knowledge in the world locate emotion on the side of the feminine, in opposition to the enlightenment ideal of a rational, masculine knowledge. Rather than viewing emotions as the internal expression of subjective identity, feminist conceptions of emotion have tended to focus upon the interconnections present in the understanding of emotions. As Linda McDowell (1997, 381) claims, it is important to relect the narrator’s position in constructing, transmitting, and transforming knowledge. Rósa’s story and her pictures lead us to emphasise the connection of post-structural feminist thinking to the recognition that knowledge is always situated. In our workshop we tried to recognize diferent kind of knowledge and the same time we constructed new situated knowledge. So, this means that it is possible to theorise the constructedness of women 67 Northern Insights in diferent times, places and cultural representations. By rethinking and reviewing practices, pictures, and memories, it is possible to move beyond everyday activities and work against dominant binary divisions. he intention is to develop diferent understandings of the cultural and social activities in life, and understand the activities as discursively inscribed, various, and lowing (see Lenz Taguchi, 2010, 14). Conclusion Our post-structural approach stresses that we should not be forced into accepting pre-existing cultural dichotomies, and thus, as we analysed our data, we wanted to challenge the cultural assumption of women as primary care givers, and of them being perceived and described as emotional. However, both pairs of photographs, and the narrated memories that accompany them, express caring and emotion – which may seem obvious when considering the role of femininity in our culture. he gendered dichotomies afect our daily lives, and are implicit in our data as static and stable, but also guiding the daily practices and understanding of self. he expressions of care and emotions are also possible in certain time and place and providing the empowering experience for the narrators. Our irst point is that care-giving, emotional looking, and femininity should not be seen as cultural stereotypes, and should be valued more in our culture and society. Narratives, photographs, and certain places are central to the development of subjectivities, and one of our main arguments in this article has been that subjectivity is varied and process-based. Nevertheless, our culture places emotion on the side of the feminine, in opposition to rationalism and reason. he knowing, emotional subject takes part in a continuous process of being constructed and constituted through discursive practices. his process becomes visible in the photograph of the children on the steps, and in the photograph of the empty pathway and gate. he narrator’s emotional perspective in looking at her images demonstrates how signiicant certain places are, and how they carry strong emotional 68 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs bonds. he second point of this study is that emotional looking, and the production of photographs, can be understood as one way of gaining a knowledge and understanding of places, societies, and the self. When applying the photo-related memory-work method, it is possible to reveal and relect diferent kinds of often-unrecognised life experiences and less-valued cultural attributes. herefore, investigating photographs and memories challenges us to assess the values of life. Our third point, then, is that through studying the interwoven complexity of place, gender and memory it is possible to highlight the feminist epistemology of situated knowledge. Figures Figure 1. 69 Northern Insights Figure 2. Figure 3. 70 Care and Emotional Looking in Memory-based Photographs Figure 4. References Ahmed, Sara 2008: Sociable Happiness. Emotion, Space and Society. 1, 10–13. Ahmed, Sara 2004: he Cultural Politics of Emotion. Edinburgh University Press. Alsop, Rachel, Gonzalez-Arnal, Stella & Kilkey Majella 2008: he widening participation agenda: the marginal place of care. Gender and Education 20: 6, 623—637. Alvarado, Manuel 1980: Photographs and Narrativity. Screen Education 32&33, 5–17. 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Jan Kochanowski University of Humanities and Sciences, Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Kielce, 119–126. 74 II women’s agenCy in everyday life past and present New Women at the Arctic Circle Mervi Autti new women at the arCtiC CirCle Two Photographer Sisters at the Beginning of the 1900s Introduction On the Arctic Circle in Finland there is a small, but rapidly-growing city called Rovaniemi.1 At the beginning of the 1900s it was just a tiny village, but as a sign of its modernity there existed the Rovaniemi Photographic Studio. he studio was owned by Lyyli Aleksandra Autti (1898–1950), who worked as a photographer, assisted by her younger sister Hanna (1901–1996). he rapidly developing ield of photography provided work for skilful and artistic craftswomen. In this article, I will discuss the position and agency of women in 1920’s Lapland via the unmarried sisters Lyyli and Hanna Autti, who were called the Misses Autti. How was the modern expressed in their lives? Can they be called “New Women”? My intention is to ind answers using a microhistorical approach to photographs and other documents. What kind of activities were taking place in Lyyli’s and Hanna’s2 home village, which was situated at the conluence of two huge rivers, and surrounded by bluish fells? At the beginning of the 1900s there was a church, 1. In 2013 there were 60,000 inhabitants in Rovaniemi (according to Rovaniemi city websites). 2. I am aware of the gendered connotations resulting from use of irst names. I use them here for readability and textual low. 77 Northern Insights a school, shops, a doctor, telephones, cinemas and other services such as local newspapers, all easily accessible. In addition to reindeer- and horsedriven transport, and the riverboats, there were also new vehicles – cars – in Lapland, and in 1909 the irst train chugged its way to Rovaniemi. Many new people moved into the village – the population growth rate was the highest in Finland: in 1920, 2,800 inhabitants lived in the village centre, and 13,000 in the surrounding municipality. By 1930, the population had increased by 35 per cent (Enbuske 1997, 137–180). he village served as the region’s governmental and commercial centre, and also hosted a famous marketplace. he function of the market was not only economical; it was also social. here were the inhabitants of the north, as well as market traders from the south, foreign customers, a large amount of reindeer products, spirits, and market dances – and Sami products. he Sami is the ethnic group recognised as the indigenous people of the region. he markets were not just opportunities for trading, but also for carnivalesque enjoyment. (Enbuske 1997, 205; Heinonen 1984, 346–349; Niemelä 2008, 20; see Lehtola 2002). In 1928, a journalist wrote in the popular magazine Suomen Kuvalehti of a jazz trio from Helsinki which was playing in a restaurant during the Rovaniemi Market: “All the tables were crowded, and what a mixture of Gypsies, Jews, Englishmen, Germans, Swedes, Sami people, and local inhabitants. he customers formed a very cosmopolitan group with the most peculiar languages.” It took only one day and night by train to travel the 800 km between the Arctic Circle and Helsinki. In the years between the two world wars Rovaniemi was lourishing. he inhabitants of Rovaniemi were not modest; they proudly called their community the Paris of the North (Helsingin Kaiku 15.10.1909; Kansan kuvalehti 14/1928). 78 New Women at the Arctic Circle Microhistory reveals agency Figure 1. Hanna and Lyyli Autti in front of their photography studio. Rovaniemi Photographic Studio / Provincial Museum of Lapland, Rovaniemi. In this article I use a microhistorical approach to study family album photographs and text sources. he family album moves between the private and the public in an interesting way. Its meanings are social as well as personal, as Patricia Holland (1991, 3) argues. It is private because of its very personal content – with people and places associated with emotion and memories. Albums include their own – often secret – meanings. For example, this album photograph of Lyyli and Hanna Autti may have had a special meaning for them, which we, the future viewers, can only guess at. Did they discuss which of them would sit on the fence, higher up – but on a precarious seat? Can the insecurity of the posing situation be seen in Lyyli’s slightly tensed ingers? Or is it just a relection of the assistant’s anxiety at her skills behind a camera? As a whole, I assume that the Misses planned the composition and their positions; the photograph of a summer moment is their self-portrait. 79 Northern Insights However, a family album is also public; it is meant to be shown to others, and even to strangers. his has a powerful efect; according to Kaja Silverman “we feel the social gaze focused upon us, we feel photographically ‘framed’”. When a camera is trained upon us, we feel ourselves subjectively constituted, as if the resulting photograph could somehow determine “who” we are (Silverman 1996, 135). It shares a connection with the photograph’s ideological existence, “its coalescence and codiication of value-illed meanings with its existence as a material object, whose ‘currency’ and ‘value’ arise in certain distinct and historically speciic social practices”, as John Tagg (1993, 188) puts it. In this picture there are a lot of signs representing prosperity. It can be seen in the Misses’ postures, gestures and fashionable dresses – in capturing their “ideal-me”, the carefully tended lower garden, and the sign for Rovaniemi Photographic Studio. his photograph fulils the required norms of society and culture: to be decent. According to Johanna Frigård (2008, 27) photographic representations produce idealised images that appear life-like, with the reality efect of photography ofering an illusion of truth. Such idealised images – which are ideologically meaningful – reveal what was appreciated, good and desirable at the time they were taken. All in all, “[a]s sources of microhistorical research, album photographs – with their implicit meanings of privacy and publicity – expose past societies, cultures and epochs” (Autti 2011, 231). According to Giovanni Levi (2001, 99), “[m]icrohistory as a practise is essentially based on the reduction of the scale of observations, on a mircoscopic analysis and an intensive study of the documentary material.” his photograph reveals gaps in knowledge that open a new window to the past. It shows the modern lifestyle of upper-class women living on the Arctic Circle, despite the long distance from “the centre points of the mental maps” and the old, cultural centres of Europe (see Tuominen 2011, 45). Microhistory and women’s history have raised up ordinary people to become active participants in writing history. In addition to biographical research, we are interested in individuals. However, a microhistorical approach also takes in communities and societies, namely in the interaction 80 New Women at the Arctic Circle between the micro and macro levels. he meaning of microhistory is not to add chapters to the grand narrative, but to disentangle and call into question that narrative, and write a new history. It has even been suggested to write series of short stories instead of novels and grandiose dramas (Tuominen 2005, 9; Ollila 1995, 8; Ollila 2001, 83; Elomaa 2001, 59). Details take centre stage in microhistory. he concreteness of research has the advantage of focusing on ine details, not simply on the micro level itself (Peltonen 1999, 38). his can be seen clearly in the materiality, visibility – and even smell – of photographs. For example, Carlo Ginzburg has argued that the work of the historian belongs to a paradigm of sign-reading, and the interpreting of clues. Details can open up new perspectives and ofer insights into particular cases and periods of time, expanding the minute into vast scenes (Ginzburg 1990, 96–125). And now, with the help of digital technology in enlargements we are able to see details that people at the time could not see, or perhaps were not meaningful for them. A microhistorical approach leads to a wider analysis of women’s agency in the past, and connects with more recent research made into women’s history since the 1990s. he gender-sensitive approach to reading makes it possible to perceive women’s lives more clearly and make them visible, to give faces – or voices – to them. In general, historians talk about giving a voice to those who have remained on the margins of historical narrative. Women are written into history because of themselves, their acts, and their agency. hus, conceptions of historically remarkable issues will change (e.g. Tuomaala 2005, 358–360; Kaartinen in Kaartinen & Korhonen 2005, 45). Among American historian Joan Scott’s most notable publications is the fundamental article Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis. Cultural patterns, practices and systems can be thought of as normative concepts or statements, which are expressed in religious, educational, scientiic, legal, and political doctrines, and typically take the form of a ixed binary opposition, categorically and unequivocally asserting the meaning of male and female, masculine and feminine (Scott 1986, 1067). What 81 Northern Insights is the freedom of actors then in diferent periods of time? For example, Anu Lahtinen, in her research of nobelwomen in premodern Finland, examines the basic question: how can the agency of women in the past be studied in relation to the structures and discourses of their time? his is particularly tricky when studying an era when the hierarchies and the community identify individual modes in diferent ways than today (Lahtinen 2007, 13–15). According to Scott (1992, 34), the agency of the subjects is created through situations and statuses conferred on them. Subjects are constituted discursively but not conined to a ixed order of meaning. Since discourse is by deinition shared, experience is collective as well as individual. Agency can also be conceptualised as a form of relations. As Suvi Ronkainen (2006, 531–532) puts it, agency is dependent on resources, and surrounding possibilities and limitations. An individual’s skills and attributes are relative to, say, the place of residence or class status in their eforts to lead a life of their own. Simona Cerutti (2004, 31) emphasizes how it is also necessary to examine the processes of selection which intellectual traditions are subjected to in particular times and places. In her study of noblewomen, Anu Lahtinen reaches an interpretation that they were goal-oriented actors seeking to inluence their own lives within the limits imposed by the culture. hey tended, however, to negotiate the appropriate modes of operation in relation to cultural expectations (Lahtinen 2007, 26). Reaching independence: Lyyli and Hanna as photographers Women were able to channel their creativity and skills – to have a job – in a socially acceptable manner by taking or printing photographs. It was especially common for them to work as assistants and employees in studios. Apprenticeships ofered impoverished women the opportunity to learn a career and raise their social status. Lyyli herself had become an apprentice in order to study photography under the supervi- 82 New Women at the Arctic Circle sion of Viktor Barsokevitsch, in Kuopio, Central Finland (Autti 2010, 160; Kukkonen 1987, 9). At the age of 18, Lyyli Autti began working as photographer, with the help of Hanna. hey “inherited” a studio from Hildur Larsson, which was located in merchant Juho Autti’s yard. Before moving away, Larsson had inspired in Lyyli a fascination with the profession. Lyyli’s and Hanna’s work focused on taking, printing and retouching portraits and cartes-de-visites. hey also illed their workdays with wide range of work from photographing weddings and funerals. People wanted to have photographs of themselves and the ritualistic events of their lives to place in their albums. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, photographs as objects had become more and more popular, but as an experience – to sit in front of the camera – photography was still rare. Portraits were extraordinary for customers, and this elevated people’s respect for photographers (Autti 2010, 160). Lyyli Autti joined the Association of Finnish Professional Photographers among with other female studio owners and photographers. Between 1923 and 1930 approximately half of the members were women. hus, in view of the number of women working as assistants – most of them were women – it is safe to say that many more than half of the people working in the ield of photography were women. he large number of women can be explained by the perception of photography as a handicraft, and the cheap labour of women. (Autti 2010, 161; Frigård 2004, 55). Female photographers were very present also in illustrations and advertising imagery in the Finnish Photographer’s Union Magazine. he Eastman Kodak Company launched their Kodak girl advert in 1901, and variations on these themes were used by other camera manufacturers. he sporty young woman with the wind in her tasteful hair, holding a hand-held camera appeared for over forty years in Kodak’s advertising. She stood for independence, style and carefree consumerism, and she was intended to represent the polar opposite of photography’s technology- and masculine-centric past (Nickel 1998, 10). 83 Northern Insights Images of women are always producing meanings of women’s visibility, as Liz Conor argues in her study of the feminine visibility in the 1920s. he conditions of modernity constituted certain visually typed subject positions – e.g. Business Girl, Flapper, Beauty Contestant – which she calls types of the “modern appearing woman”. Women were invited to articulate themselves as modern subjects by constituting themselves as spectacles (Conor 2004, xv). In the 1920s, the competition in the profession was hard (Frigård 2004, 55). It was not easy for all men to face the fact that through such a masculine apparatus – the camera – women could gain economic independence. his, for instance, led to a public attack against female photographers in the associaton’s magazine. he large number of women in the ield had got under one male photographer’s skin. According to his writing in the Finnish Photographer’s Union Magazine 8/1923 women had no ‘serious ambitions’ in the business. Even those women, who had apprentices were ineicient, careless, hesitant, irresponsible, incompetent, and lacking in independence. Especially unmarried women were worse, because “women by their own live only for themselves”, as he wrote. However, women were shattering gender limitations in critical ways all over Finland. It is remarkable that in the beginning of 1900s, almost all the studios in Lapland were owned by women (Autti 2010, 160–164). Clothing and short hair as ields of contradiction It was possible to buy fashionable clothing in Rovaniemi at the time – depending on one’s wealth of course. In 1908 two ladies, Greeta Hummastenniemi and Johanna Kutila, founded the irst clothing store in the village, and in 1922 Anna Johansson opened a shop called Fashion Store. Liisa Manno owned the Hat Shop, and “beautiful and stylish summer hats” were also sold in the Farikof Fashion Store. (OMA; Rovaniemi 31.12.1921 and 5.5.1923). In the Rovaniemi Market, itinerant traders brought the latest fashions to be admired and sold. However, the market was not the only reason to visit Rovaniemi. For example, in 1923, according to Rovaniemi 84 New Women at the Arctic Circle press, at least six tradesmen began selling their products in J. A. Autti’s motel – he Old Autti House – in which Lyyli and Hanna also lived. heir home was one of the “fashion centres” in the village. Women were also able to sew their own clothes or pay for a dressmaker if the ready-made clothes in the shops were not to their liking. For example, in the 1923 Rovaniemi press there was a running advertisement for a seamstress named Anna Siponen. In he Old Autti House there was also a Singer Sewing Machine Shop, and all kind of fabrics were available there: “airy blousette and dress fabrics”, wool muslin, and “crepe de ‘chine’” – a fabricated silk (Rovaniemi 16.6.1923, 23.6.1923). In the magazine Kotiliesi (Home Fire) there were sewing patterns of French and American origin. However, there was an opinion that people especially in cities were lucky to have access to fashionable clothes (Kopisto 1997, 17–18). All in all, Rovaniemi’s intellectual atmosphere, skilled women, and readilyavailable fabrics made it possible. Indeed, not everyone were so permissive or ready to accept the arrival of fashion and style. In the magazine Naisten ääni (Women’s Voice) published by the Finnish Union for Women, a woman writing under the pseudonym Lookout reveals I have become saddened for years at how, for example, all the silly Paris fashions spread into the countryside and replace our beautiful national costumes. he rags worn by the Parisian demi-monde make a mockery of the farmer’s wives and daughters. (Naisten Ääni 16/1924) In the quotation, Lookout, who considers herself as a sufragette, wants to treasure tradition. Lewd dresses are not suitable, even for wealthy country girls. In another quotation from Women’s Voice, the argument concerning women’s clothing is diferent. According to the anonymous writer, her husband gave her condemning feedback about women’s clothing. He had stated her that: [Dressing] is nowadays so obscene, and fashions mirror the primitive people’s way of dressing, so that we males have to wonder, and even sometimes 85 Northern Insights be ashamed about it. He then described how the women have a great desire to present themselves as naked as the law permits. Fabrics are thin, like a spider’s web, so that all shapes and body parts appear clearly through it, and, moreover, the arms, half of the back and breasts are very naked. [-] Women do that to curry favour, to awake the lowest instincts in men. But he asserts that many men do not like it at all, and many husbands have had to use harsh words to make their wives give up such nonsense. (Naisten Ääni 5/1924) he writer, who also describes herself as a sufragette, hopes that the majority of men would think the same as her “reasonable husband”, “so we don’t have to gaze at those half naked, lewd women”. She backs up her opinion with the help of the man’s words, and states that there are a lot of “serious, enlightened, thinking” people among women, too. hey look down at their sisters’ – the New Women – topsy-turvy, vulgar and inappropriate ways of dressing. According to her, the New Women are immoral. Kaisa Vehkalahti, who studied the Finnish Women’s Magazines of the 1920s, argues that the key concept of the era’s representations is chasteness. his does not refer only to young women’s sexuality, but to a comprehensive morality of living in a decent way – with sexuality included as an essential element (Vehkalahti 2000, 160). “he modernappearing women” caused controversy. he changes occurring in women’s lives could be said to have crystallised in the changing length of hair. In the photograph of Hanna taken in 1926 she had short hair. Lyyli had her hair cut the next year. he hairdressing salon was located nearby: in he Old Autti House there was hairdresser Elina Halvari, one of the irst in Rovaniemi, as Jouko Murama mentioned in the interview. Maybe Rovaniemi’s modernity can be measured by the amount of hairdressers; in 1930 there were as many as eleven hairdressers and barbers (Hapuli et al. 1992, 107; Immonen et al. 2000, 8; Enbuske 1997, 206). 86 New Women at the Arctic Circle Cutting one’s hair often aroused strong opinions and even conlicts. For example, a friend of the Autti sisters from Rovaniemi had been working during the summer in Åland (a Swedish-speaking archipelago of the south-west coast of Finland) where she went to study the language. She had her hair cut there, and in order to prepare her father for the shock, she sent him a photograph of herself in advance. he father, who easily lost his temper, shouted, “Short hair is a mark of a whore!” (Interview of Jouko Murama 2.10.2002). his utterance shows the grim lip side of modernity’s coin: the lows of modern change were condemned. Lyyli and Hanna may also have felt themselves to be suspicious women. Why was short hair such a strong sign of moral evil? Was there truly a possibility for women to get wild and abandon their traditional task – motherhood – to reach out for something new? (see Hapuli et al. 1992, 107). On 15 December 1926, Lyyli received a postcard on which there appeared gentlemen and stylish women with bob haircuts dancing quickly to a “negro band”3 consisting of a drummer, violinist and saxophone player. On the back of the card an unknown admirer has written: “Can I have the irst waltz?” (Esko Autti’s archive). So, it would seem that the Misses Autti had fun at dances, perhaps in the Rovaniemi Market. In the Fire Brigade House there were also what might be called “shift dances”, taking place in two-hour shifts (Heinonen 1984, 217). he winds of modernity in the form of another kind of visual culture than photographs were also blowing in the Northern village. heir effects were somewhat dramatic: Finnish, French, American, Danish and German ilms were being screened in two cinemas. he cultural centre of Lapland was about to turn and face the modern, and tear down its “gloominess” – something which the ilm he Rose of Nizza promised, at least according to its advertisements: It gives us a breeze of the world, where the sky is brighter than here, where people are happier and more vivid. (Rovaniemi 13.4.1923 and 10.3.1923). 3. I am aware of the racist connotation that the expression has today. Nevertheless, this was the expression used to describe the band of black musicians at that time. 87 Northern Insights Travels to Petsamo and Paris In the autumn of 1921, Lyyli and Hanna travelled to Petsamo, “Finland by the Arctic Ocean”, to see both the mythical place and their brother, Captain Aleksanteri Autti, who was the commander of the border guards. hat year Finland had taken over Petsamo from Bolshevik Russia, and the area was now a part of Finland. he Treaty of Tartu between Finland and Soviet Russia was signed on 14 October 1920: Finland received Petsamo. Even in the irst “Finnish” summer, photographers, writers and journalists, researchers, oicials and travellers strove to reach this unexceptional area of Finland (Kaarninen 1999, 73–74; Hirvelä 1999, 334). In a letter, which is the only preserved one of the 1920s written by the sisters, Lyyli wrote to her sister Olga: It was he Trip. We saw and experienced so ininitely much.” However, travelling to Petsamo was extremely burdensome. First, one had to take a bus – which was actually a truck. People sat on the wooden seats under the open sky. he “irst class” travellers had the luxury of the soft sack on the seat. he journey lasted one day and night, because the car stopped in every village on the way (Hirvelä 1999, 331–335). Moreover, there was also a hundred-kilometre stretch by boat. hey had been on the journey for about a week, when the inal ifty kilometres hiking over the fells to Petsamo began. his inal part of the journey was probably a relief for Lyyli and Hanna, as the guest houses were full of vermin (see Lampio & Hannikainen 1921, 87; Hirvelä 1999, 331). heir travel companions were exhausted, and they made the inal hike alone: We came to Petsamo by ourselves. Imagine: it was reckless to come by ourselves, which we understood later. In the uninhabited wilderness, over high mountains and threatening fells we wandered, two defenceless girls along a crummy bridlebath. We kept an eye on the telegraph poles so that we wouldn’t get lost. But we were afraid of nothing. We were so happy that we got to be alone in the middle of such magniicent nature. Imagine: the snowy fells shining all over, and lovely fell lakes here and there. 88 New Women at the Arctic Circle here we just yelled, thanked the Lord, the Creator of all, for His great deeds. (Lyyli’s letter to Olga 11.10.1921) Was it the memory of the vast northern spaces which led Lyyli, when back home in Rovaniemi, to say to her sister Olga in her letter: “It is nice that you begin to enjoy your life there in the south, where I cannot survive.” She describes her own state of mind even more: I do not regret the trip to Petsamo. I would always like to go on such treks. hey give life a meaning. Many times you have to face full reality; you have make an efort. I think it is nothing to sit on a train and to have everything always ready. No – there has to be more to travel, something to be remembered and common to real-life. he visitor to Lapland knows it, and we tasted it a bit. I long for a new journey. I admire Lapland so much. Lovely Patsjoki, I long for your river banks. It feels like it was right there that I found myself perfectly happy. (Lyyli’s letter to Olga 11.10.1921) On a journey to Petsamo, the travelling itself was a signiicant part of the experience, writes Anne Hirvelä (1999, 335), who has studied tourism of the area. he Misses Autti had strength and courage, and they had to struggle to get there. hey were not the only women who made the trip to Petsamo in the early 1920s, but there were not many. According to Hirvelä the amount of women passengers increased during the 1920s and 1930s. By 1932, half of the travellers were women. Bus traic increased from four tours in a week in 1921, to 16 in 1928. Passengers no longer had to sit on wooden seats on an open truck, but in a bus with electricity and seats furnished with “the inest leather”. hese conveniences had a positive efect on those wanting to travel to Petsamo: in the late 1920s there were some thousand passengers (Hirvelä 1999, 107, 331–336). In her letter describing the Petsamo journey, Lyyli yearned to break new trail. In 1928, her desired destination was Paris, whose “blinding lights [--] cast their rays even to the end of Lapland”, as Finnish journalist Irja Spira put it – Spira had moved to the metropolis of France in the 1920s 89 Northern Insights (Hapuli 2003, 70). In Rovaniemi Hanna had fallen in love with a journalist – Erkki Ilmari – and they got engaged. Her iancé had studied art in the Fine Art School of the Art Society of Finland in 1921–1923, and he had studied art also in Berlin and Paris. When the betrothed couple travelled by train to Paris, they went with Lyyli; the unmarried couple would not have been able to travel on their own, and Lyyli was needed as a chaperone (Suomen sana… 1964, 124; interviews of Marjatta Autio 26.3.2000 and 17.12.2006; Eila Kontas 3.7.2000). After the long journey by train, the youngsters arrived in the vibrant society of Paris with its cafés, department stores, museums, crowded streets – and Métro. It is a long way, in more than one sense, from the Arctic Circleto the Paris Métro. In 1928, Elsa Enäjärvi (in Hapuli 2003, 175) described the Métro as having: damp cave corridors, walls with dripping water, stufy air, stinking, shouting and impolite people packed together; sweat, which made women’s makeup run, and lewd women and foul men kissing in track curves. However, of Paris in general, she adds, Can there exist a more beautiful sight as the light, pink, violet rows of lanterns, which relect on the shining roads of the Paris boulevards; the green and red lanterns of cars draw vanishing, surreal lines on the road. (Ibid.) According to Anna Kortelainen (2005, 15–17) women were enchanted by the department stores of Paris, which were their “paradise”. Stores had served as public spaces for women since the 1800s. hey ofered multisensual, dynamic experiences, a space in which to stay or move freely without worries – and without a chaperone. his viewpoint is reinforced in Finnish women’s descriptions of department stores, writes Ritva Hapuli (2003, 191), who has studied women’s travelogues. Stores gave women both a peaceful place to stay and the “delights of gazing and ingering items”. 90 New Women at the Arctic Circle I imagine the Misses Autti took many pictures capturing views of the city. At that time the sisters already had a convenient box camera that they could travel easily with. Päivi Inkeri Setälä (2002, 28), who has analysed female adventurer photographers, examines how the camera can be seen as a tool that gives new meanings to gender. For women, photography was more than just mapping and documenting new places. It made it possible to access masculine spaces, and provided opportunities to observe, to perceive, to stop, and to make contact. According to her taking photographs was part of the adventure in journeying. It was evidence of being able to use modern tools; a sign of being modern. However, such photographs – with one exception – are not to be found in the archives or relatives’ albums. It is paradoxical that Lyyli and Hanna Autti’s personal photo albums have not been preserved. he reason is that during the Second World War Lyyli had sent them security to Hanna, who lived in southern Finland in those days. She had taken the albums as security at the barn with the other items of value, and this barn was destroyed by bombs (Interview of Marjatta Autio 29.11.2007). Maidens of Rovaniemi Nine maidens of Rovaniemi are posing for a photo in front of the sauna. On the back of the photo is the handwritten text: “In a sooty sauna, having lovely steam. 1925.” he girls in the front row are covered with white towels, and the nudity of the girls behind is obscured by the girls in front of them. Two of them wear only large vihta (a bundle of birch twigs traditionally used in the sauna). White clothes and towels are strewn in a deliberately disorganised way on the lawn and on a pile of rocks. Two of the sisters are in the foreground leaning on each other, Hanna prudishly wrapped in her towel, and Olga with bare shoulders. Lyyli stands with her vihta, her hair lowing freely, on the left. he other maidens are friends of the Autti sisters. 91 Northern Insights Figure 2. he Maidens of Rovaniemi - the Misses Autti with their friends. Rovaniemi Photographic Studio / Collection of he Provincial Museum of Lapland. his unique photo was found in the old suitcase, and the same picture also appeared in two albums. In the context of nude photography, it is essential to know that this picture is an album photograph. he starting point for the interpretation of historical photographs is their representativeness; what is there in the picture, what is its context – the time and the place – and where is the image itself physically located: in an album, or hidden away; a private photograph. he fact that the picture of young Rovaniemi women going to sauna was found at least in two albums, negates any air of secrecy surrounding it. he sensitivity, aesthetics and relaxed feeling of the image charm us when viewing it today. he photograph of the girls has clearly been taken with intention and consideration, as revealed by the large format negative (it is not a snapshot). In many of the photographs taken by the Autti sisters and their female friends in the early 1920s, we see friendship, and delightful whimsy – and this is also true of this image. he photographs 92 New Women at the Arctic Circle reveal the women’s complex tradition of friendship (see Leskelä-Kärki 2006, 627), and lead one to relect on women’s relationships during the strongly gendered period of time. he Autti sisters were used to take pictures of each others and their friends. Johanna Frigård (2008) has studied nude photographs published in Finland between 1900–1940. According to her, the images of German gymnastics and that country’s physical culture were models for Finnish photographers and photography enthusiasts (Frigård 2008, 110). he Maidens of Rovaniemi and the Autti sister’s other beach pictures were taken in the beginnig of 1920s, earlier than many examples Frigård draws on in her book. he images Frigård studies look like they are from another world in their construction, atmosphere and artistry compared to the photographs of the Autti sisters. Is this attributable to the diference between published photographs and album pictures? he intentions and motives of the Misses Autti could be seen as being completely diferent from the more illustrious nude photographers. hrough a microhistorical analysis, the speciic character of the Maidens of Rovaniemi opens a new perspective on Rovaniemi in the 1920s. It is an album photograph and I interpret the nudity presented in it within the context of the sauna. Young women had their own physical and mental states, of which they wanted to retain a memory. I can only guess at the intentional starting point of the picture – the purpose for which it was taken – however, I can be certain of that the taking of the photograph was a ground-breaking and brave act. Conclusion In the 1920s, journalists and writers in women’s magazines experienced living in an exceptional period of time, and they frequently described the diferences between the past and present in their columns. Often, the Civil War or the First World War were seen as signiicant interruptions between a “harmonic” past, and the unstable now (Vehkalahti 2000, 132–133). he editors of the book he Fear and Enchantment of the 93 Northern Insights Modern (2000) argue that the roots of women’s actions and their feelings of “abandonedness” at the beginning of 1900s were signiiers of a fear of change. It was easier to think of women as an abstract problem considering the future of society (Immonen et al. 2000, 10). he relationship to the modern in Finland was especially restless: on the one hand people were worried of being culturally marginalised and old-fashioned, while on the other people were cautious of international issues which represented an unknown “tomorrow” (Kalha 2008, 92). he glimpsed fragments of the lives of the Misses Autti visible in the photographs shed light on women’s lives in general, and also on the possibilities existing in Northern Finnish culture at the beginning of 1900s. By interpreting their snapshots I will join the tradition of re-representing individuals and making them visible. Lyyli and Hanna Autti appeared to be somewhat distinct from the surrounding community, and they left traces of themselves in the form of a broad and multifaceted collection of photographs. However, even with their apparent separation, they also represent their community through their own opinions, values and ways of life (see Tuominen 1999, 45). I looked at the Misses Autti’s lives through photographs and texts using a microhistorical approach. Part of a microhistorical interpretation is contextualisation, especially when interpreting photographs (see Autti 2011); I opened the period of time and place using research and other textual documents. In this article, my interest is in the agency of women in 1920’s Lapland. When viewing the Autti sister’s photographs, many of them seem to include visions of the “New Women” evoked in the advertisements of the 1920s. According the abovementioned deinition by Suvi Ronkainen (2006, 531–532), agency is dependent on resources and the surrounding possibilities and limitations. Lyyli and Hanna were born at the turn of nineteenth century, when especially women of the upper classes had the possibility to make decisions concerning their own life. he Misses Autti’s father was a merchant, who could ofer an economical starting point to forge a career, but they were also inluenced by chance – by photographer Hildur 94 New Women at the Arctic Circle Larsson. he sisters were skilful young women, and they had social abilities, too. Lyyli especially was a very extroverted and positive person. Photography was a fast developing ield, and open to both sexes. In spite of the amount of women active in the ield, photography has traditionally been seen as a masculine domain (Knape 2004, 10). All in all, working in the diferent ields of photography gave women the space to withdraw from conventional social roles, and to emancipate themselves by moving with the times. Regardless of the resistance from male photographers, the ield provided economic and intellectual opportunities, as well as enhancing women’s self-esteem. My intention has been to look at the possibilities photography ofered women, and speciically to consider it as one of the female professions. Photography, as other paid work, was a way to achieve an independent lifestyle. he increasing presence of women in factories, oices and various service jobs (such as female photographers in Rovaniemi), made it possible for women to live an unmarried, “bachelorette lifestyle” in the 1920s. It was perceived as a so-called “New Woman’s” way of life, symbolised by characters such as a bachelorette, or jazz girl – a girl who likes dancing – all of which broke away from the traditional roles of Finnish women. Women’s modernity was seen as having an immediate impact on the public arena through their work, but also in the long term through education and social participation (Hapuli et al. 1992, 107; Immonen et al. 2000, 8). he concrete widening of life – namely the possibility to travel – was one of the social and cultural breakthroughs women experienced in the 1920s (Hirvelä 1999, 107). Travelling was remarkable also for the Misses Autti. hey found new perspectives and “mental landscapes” from the various places they visited. While travelling itself was burdensome, overcoming adversity and coping with the diiculties must have increased their self-conidence. In general, masculine experiences dominated the deinitions of travelling, whereas the place of women was seen as the home. A journey meant a metaphorical and literal separation, both from the home, and from its associated values connected to womanhood (Hapuli 2003, 16). In the letter, Lyyli described in a very expressive way the feeling 95 Northern Insights of freedom that the sisters experienced while wandering over the fells to Petsamo. he letters themselves ofered a space for self-relection – the concept used by Maarit Leskelä-Kärki (2006, 66). Moreover, letters also participate in constructing the idea of self and one’s identity, through relection on past experiences. he railway to Rovaniemi was built in 1909. After that trade became livelier, and specialised shops were established. Women were somewhat privileged with their fancy clothes – and in many ways this was true. Providing one could aford it, it was possible to appear quite fashionable as the Autti sisters did. Despite that fact that the unconventional “modern woman” was concerned about appearances in contradictory ways, women were able to move around outside their homes “as independent and sensual beings, focusing on their outlook”, as Ritva Hapuli puts it. In the 1920s, short hair was a sign of a modern woman, too. It was often interpreted as blending female and masculine attributes, as prior to this period of change long hair was a sign of traditional femininity (Frigård 2008, 130). Certainly short hair is one of techniques of appearing – the manner and means of execution of one’s visual efect and status (Conor 2004, 2). It was no wonder that women with short hair and fancy clothes aroused strong emotions among people of conservative and traditional lifestyles. he concepts of agency and emancipatory progress belong to diferent sides of the same coin. By studying female photographers and taking into account womens’ singleness I create a link to the broader research ield of women’s agency. “he New Woman” had much in common with the single woman: both were categories that provided alternative identities for women (Conor 2004, 47). I see Lyyli and Hanna Autti representing all these deinitions and views. In highlighting these individual, microhistorial fragments, the possibilities available to women in general are also revealed. By emphasising the breaks, borders and edges, microhistory sheds light on entities (Peltonen 1999, 67–68, 130). he Misses Autti’s agency was also tied to place: in this case, the lively, developing village of Rovaniemi, where the winds of change occasionally blew quite strongly. “Neither a village nor a town”, Rovaniemi was 96 New Women at the Arctic Circle itself undergoing modernisation. It was an international village with its continual markets, market dances, and many new-comers. he place and its duality as a village and urban centre ofered the Misses Autti possibilities to take many unconventional and rare photographs. hrough the Maidens of Rovaniemi photograph, the shining joy of life, spontaneity and courage are manifest. he young women “appeared” to each other in the landscapes of the countryside, as well as in their own homespun lifestyle. However, the uniqueness of this photograph, which opens up a fascinating peephole into the past of Northern Finland, is dependent on Lyyli and Hanna Autti’s professional skills. heir photographs call into question the perception of Lapland as a peripheral and backward area, and their pictures both challenge and complement the images and ideas of what a regional centre in the distant north might have been in the early twentieth century. References Archives Provincial Archive of Oulu (OMA). CIVg:4. Arcives of the Crown bailif of he Hundred Kemi. Provincial Museum of Lapland. Photograph of Lyyli and Hanna Autti (Figure 1, 2). Private holdings Marjatta Autio, Rovaniemi. Lyyli Autti’s letter to Hanna Autti, 11 October 1921. Esko Autti, Helsinki. Postcard addressed to Lyyli Autti 15 December 1926. Interviews Interviews by Mervi Autti. Marjatta Autio, Rovaniemi. 26 March 2000, 17 December 2006. Eila Kontas, Helsinki. 3 July 2000. Jouko Murama, Rovaniemi. 2 October 2002. 97 Northern Insights Literature Autti, Mervi 2010: Women Behind the Camera in the Early Twentieth Century at the Arctic Circle: A Step Towards Independence. In Progress or Perish Northern Perspectives on Social Change, edited by Aini Linjakumpu & Sandra WalleniusKorkalo. Ashgate, London, 155–169. Autti, Mervi 2011: he Photograph as a Source of Cultural History – Reaching out for the invisible, in hey do things diferently there. Essays in Cultural History, edited by Bruce Johnson & Harri Kiiskinen. Cultural History (k&h), Turku, 211–234. Cerutti, Simona 2004: Microhistory: Social Relations versus Cultural Models? In Between Sociology and History: Essays on Microhistory, Collective Action, and Nation-Building, edited by Anna-Maija Castrén, Markku Lonkila and Matti Peltonen. SKS / Finnish Literature Society, Helsinki, 17–40. Conor, Liz 2004: he Spectacular Modern Woman. Feminine Visibility in the 1920s. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis. Elomaa, Hanna 2001: Mikrohistoria johtolankojen jäljillä, in Kulttuurihistoria. Johdatus tutkimukseen, edited by Kari Immonen & Maarit Leskelä-Kärki, SKS, Helsinki, 59–74. Enbuske, Matti 1997: Peräpohjolan keskusseudulla 1909–1939, in Rovaniemen historia. Jokivarsien kasvatit ja junantuomat 1721–1990, edited by Rovaniemi History Committee and Matti Enbuske et al. Rovaniemi, Municipality of Rovaniemi, Parish of Rovaniemi, 173–302. Frigård, Johanna 2004: Emmi Fock – Valokuvauksen ammattinainen. Naistutkimus Kvinnoforskning 2/2004, 54–59. Frigård, Johanna 2008: Alastomuuden oikeutus. Julkistettujen alastonvalokuvien moderneja ideaaleja Suomessa 1900–1940. Bibliotheka Historica 114, Publications of the Finnish Museum of Photography 23, SKS, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki. Ginzburg, Carlo 1990 (1986). Myths, Emblems, Clues. Originally published as Miti emblemi spie: morfologia e storia (1986). Hutchinson Radius. Hapuli, Ritva, Koivunen, Anu, Lappalainen, Päivi & Rojola Lea 1992: Uutta naista etsimässä, in Vampyyrinainen ja Kenkkuinniemen sauna. Suomalainen kaksikymmenluku ja modernin mahdollisuus, edited by Tapio Onnela. SKS, Helsinki, 98–112. 98 New Women at the Arctic Circle Hapuli, Ritva 2003: Ulkomailla. Maailmansotien välinen maailma suomalaisnaisten silmin. SKS, Helsinki. Heinonen, Jouko 1984: Rovaniemen markkinat. Publications of the Provincial Museum of Lapland 1, Rovaniemi. Helsingin Kaiku 15.10.1909. Hirvelä, Anne 1999: Petsamon matkailu, in Turjanmeren maa. Petsamon historia 1920– 1944, edited by Jouko Vahtola & Samuli Onnela, image editor Veikko Aitamurto. Petsamo-Seura r.y., Rovaniemi, 329–346. Holland, Patricia 1991: History, Memory and the Family Album, in Family Snaps. he Meanings of Domestic Photography, edited by Jo Spence & Patricia Holland. Virago Press, London, 1–14. Kaarninen, Pekka 1999: Petsamon liittäminen Suomeen, in in Turjanmeren maa. Petsamon historia 1920–1944, edited by Jouko Vahtola & Samuli Onnela, image editor Veikko Aitamurto. Petsamo-Seura r.y., Rovaniemi, 59–84. Kaartinen, Marjo & Korhonen, Anu 2005: Historian kirjoittamisesta. Kirja-Aurora, Turku. Kalha, Harri 2008: Tapaus Havis Amanda. Siveellisyys ja sukupuoli vuoden 1908 suihkulähdekiistassa. SKS, Helsinki. Kansan kuvalehti 14/1928. Knape, Gunilla 2004: Some notes. Some notes. In Women photographers – European experience, edited by Lena Johannesson & Gunilla Knape. Acta Univeristas Gothoburgensis, Göteborg. Kopisto, Sirkka 1997: Moderni chic-nainen: muodin vuosikymmenet 1920–1960. Finland’s National Board of Antiquities, Helsinki. Kortelainen, Anna 2002: Albert Edelfeltin fantasmagoria: nainen, ”Japani”, tavaratalo. SKS, Helsinki. Kortelainen, Anna 2005: Päivä naisten paratiisissa. WSOY, Helsinki. Kukkonen, Jukka 1987: Viktor Barsokevitsch. Valokuvia 1893–1927. Kustannuskiila, Kuopio. Lahtinen, Anu 2007: Sopeutuvat, neuvottelevat, kapinalliset. Naiset toimijoina Flemingin sukupiirissä 1470–1620. SKS, Helsinki. Lampio, Eero & Hannikainen, Lauri 1921: Petsamon opas. Otava, Helsinki. Lehtola, Veli-Pekka 2002: he Sami People. Traditions in Transition. Publisher Kustannus-Puntsi, Aanaar – Inari. 99 Northern Insights Leskelä-Kärki, Maarit 2006: Kirjoittaen maailmassa. Krohnin sisaret ja kirjallinen elämä. SKS, Helsinki. Levi, Giovanni 2001: On Microhistory, in New Perspectives on Historical Writing, edited by Peter Burke. Polity Press, Cambridge, 97–119. Modernin lumo ja pelko. Kymmenen kirjoitusta 1800–1900 -lukujen vaihteen sukupuolisuudesta 2000, edited by Kari Immonen, Ritva Hapuli & Maarit Leskelä. SKS, Helsinki. Naisten Ääni 5/1924, 16/1924. Nickel, Douglas R. 1998: Snapshots. In he Photography of Everyday Life 1888 to the Present, edited by Nickel, Douglas R. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco. Niemelä, Marko 2008: Rovaniemen markkinoiden historiallinen äänimaisema, in Raito 2008. Provincial museum of Lapland, 20–27. Ollila, Anne 1995: Mitä mikrohistoria on?, in Rakkautta, ihanteita ja todellisuutta. Retkiä suomalaiseen mikrohistoriaan, edited by Katriina Mäkinen & Leena Rossi. University of Turku, Centre for Training, culture history, Turku, 7–14. Ollila, Anne 2001: Naishistoria ja sukupuolijärjestelmä, in Kulttuurihistoria. Johdatus tutkimukseen, edited by Kari Immonen & Maarit Leskelä-Kärki. SKS, Helsinki, 75–90. Peltonen, Matti 1999: Mikrohistoriasta. Hanki ja Jää, Gaudeamus. Ronkainen, Suvi 2006: Haavoittunut kansakunta ja väkivallan toimijuus. In Väkivalta. Seuraamukset ja haavoittuvuus. Terttu Utriaisen juhlakirja, edited by Mirva Lohiniva-Kerkelä. Talentum, Helsinki, 531–550. Rovaniemi 31.12.1921, 10.3.1923, 13.4.1923, 24.4.1923, 3.5.1923, 5.5.1923, 2.6.1923, 14.6.1923, 16.6.1923, 23.6.1923. Rovaniemi websites. http://www.rovaniemi.i. Scott, Joan 1986: Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis, in he American Historical Review. Vol 91, No.5, 1053–1075. Scott, Joan 1992: “Experience”, in Feminists heorize the Political, edited by Judith Butler and Joan W. Scott. Routledge, New Yourk, London. 22–40. Setälä, Päivi Inkeri 2002: Seikkailijakuvaajat – uusi nainen ja kamera, in Naistutkimus – Kvinnoforskning 3, 18–29. Silverman, Kaja 2001: he Treshold of the Visible World. Routledge. 100 New Women at the Arctic Circle Suomen sana. Kansalliskirjallisuutemme valiolukemisto osa 8 1963–1967 1964, edited by Yrjö Jäntti. WSOY, Porvoo. Suomen Kuvalehti 1928. Tagg, John 1993: Burden of Representation. Essays on Photographies and Histories. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. Tuomaala, Saara 2005: Yhteiskunnallisesta äitiydestä naisten elämänhistorioihin. Suomen naishistorian suuntaviivoja 1970-luvulta 2000-luvulle, in Oma pöytä. Naiset historiankirjoittajina Suomessa, edited by Elina Katainen, Tiina Kinnunen, Eva Packalén & Saara Tuomaala. SKS, Helsinki, 357–380. Tuominen, Marja 1999: Lukkari poikineen. Mikrohistoriallinen katsaus Kittilän seurakunnan vaiheisiin, in Pohjoiset identiteetit ja mentaliteetit Osa 2 Tunturista tupaan, edited by Marja Tuominen, Seija Tuulentie, Veli-Pekka Lehtola & Mervi Autti. Publications of the Faculty of Art and Media, University of Lapland C 17 ja 33, Rovaniemi, 45–73. Tuominen, Marja 2005: Lukijalle, in Suuret herrat susia, pienet herratpiruja: kahdeksan näkökulmaa elettyyn elämään, edited by Mervi Autti & Marja Tuominen. Publications of the Faculty of Art and Media, University of Lapland C, Rovaniemi, 9–13. Tuominen, Marja 2011: Where the world ends? he places and challenges of northern cultural history. In Bruce Johnson & Harri Kiiskinen (eds.) hey do things diferently there. Essays in Cultural History. Cultural History (k&h), Turku, 43–80. Vehkalahti, Kaisa 2000: Jazz-tyttö ja naistenlehtien siveä katse, in Modernin lumo ja pelko. Kymmenen kirjoitusta 1800–1900 -lukujen vaihteen sukupuolisuudesta 2000, edited by Kari Immonen, Ritva Hapuli & Maarit Leskelä. SKS, Helsinki, 130–168. 101 Northern Insights Pälvi Rantala näskämatiC – a sami spinning Jenny? Sami handicraft, the gender system, and the transition of culture Introduction In spring of 2011 I received an email from the Sami Education Institute. he business consultant for the Sami region, Virpi Jääskö, wrote: he Näskämatic has been in active use in our leather factory, and next summer we’ll add an extension to the tannery so we’ll have a dedicated space for reining leather from the leg. he committee of village activities of the Village Angel and the Duodjisociety from Karasjok, Norway plan to get the latest Näskämatic for themselves – so, everything’s going well! (Email 28.4.2011) What on earth, then, is a Näskämatic? What is it used for, and who uses it? And what has duodji – traditional Sami handicraft – to do with machines? “Soft” handicrafts – such as working leather – have traditionally been women’s work, and each part of the handicraft process has been made by hand. Machines have not been used, and the pride and value of the product has much to do with the fact that every small phase of the process is handmade. In this article I shall consider new Sami handicraft from the perspective of gender, taking into account especially women’s 102 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? work. he focus of this article will be on women’s handicrafts, although men in Sami culture also produce handicraft artefacts. he starting point of this article is a machine called the Näskämatic, which has been produced to ease one harsh phase of working the reindeer skin. he cleaning of reindeer hide is very hard work, usually done by women. he machine, its produce, and deployment may seem trivial in a worldwide context. However, the use of a machine that assists women’s work in the reindeer produce industry in which traditional ways of working remain important, creates a potential for new ways of thinking and acting. From the perspective of an analytical, feminist study of gender, the machine – the Näskämatic – is a point from which a woman’s place in Sami culture both now and in the future can be examined in a manageable way. he aim of this article is to relect on new ways of making Sami handicraft from the perspective of women – both their position and their work. Research about work, education, and the choices concerning the future that take gender as a central focus have not yet been plentiful in Lapland (see, however, Heikkilä 2004; Keskitalo-Foley 2011; Kuulumisia 2007; Rantala 2011; Veni, vidi, turbavi 2008). In intention of this article is to look at the future of Lapland through the themes of work, the gender system, and the choices of women in one particular cultural situation. In the light of one example, the analysis will ofer possibilities to see the places of action for women in the North – both today, and in the future. Locations he wider context of this article is the gender system in Lapland (see e.g. Julkunen 2010, 15 – 21). he gender system, or gendered culture, exists in the details and in the lives of individuals, both women and men. Examples are many and varied: the division of labour, segregation in work and education, the traditional and modern roles of women and men in everyday life and politics. In Lapland, the divisions and roles of the two sexes can be seen to be more deined than in the rest of Finland. For 103 Northern Insights example, the gendered culture of Lapland does not recognise woman as agents in matters of economy (e.g. Kontsas 2007, 340). I will return into this subject later in this article. My approach in this article is microhistorical.1 hrough examining one case, in this context the machine, the wider phenomenon (which includes the norms concerning women’s work and their place in Sami culture) opens into consideration. Historical time, place and cultural meaning surround the use of the machine, but they can also be changed. he Näskämatic is a part of a certain progress in time, culture and history. Many aspects could be said to crystallise through the use of the machine: irst, the traditions that deine duodji. Second, the division of labor between the sexes, and the position of women in Sami culture become visible. hird, the microhistorical perspective highlights the economical and administrative development and the power relations present in the whole of society. When we talk about women’s work, and especially making handicraft in Sami culture, it is not only a question of tradition and identity – although they are, of course, meaningful. Structural aspects are also present: taxation, the education system, and other elements of the Finnish society. he concrete place – the geographical location – of this article is Northern Finland: Finnish Lapland. he larger area of Sápmi, where the Sami live, is divided between four diferent countries: Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. I shall concentrate on the production of Sami handicraft in Finnish society. he reason for this is because the legislation, cultural atmosphere, historical background and the contemporary situation differs quite much in the other countries. In this article it is not possible, because of the space, to examine conditions in all countries simultane- 1. A microhistorical approach ofers the researcher a possibility to focus the gaze on certain individuals and communities, prevailing norms, interrelations, social hierarchies and power systems in a manageable scale (Autti 2010; Ginzburg 1997; Levi 2001; Rantala 2009; Suoninen 2001). Microhistory not only examines the past, but also the present; the continuities and changes in people’s life. 104 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? ously. Also, the microhistorical viewpoint – placing the Näskämatic at the centre – deines the limits of the geographical context. he data examined in the article consists of research literature and two interviews. During the TaikaLappi project2, I and two other researchers interviewed administrative personnel, project workers, teachers and students in the Sami Education Institute. he main sources of this article are the interview with the leader of the Nutukas3 project, Virpi Jääskö, in autumn 2009 and a group interview conducted with the headmaster Liisa Holmberg, project worker Kikka Laakso, development manager Janne Näkkäläjärvi, and Virpi Jääskö also in autumn 2009. I have also used a group interview for the students in SAKK, made during the same visit in autumn 2009. In these interviews, the interviewees raised issues that are crucial to Sami tradition and to mass-produced handicraft – issues such as the means of production, taxation problems, economical subsistence, and the relation between reindeer husbandry and handicrafts were discussed. When one takes part in discussions about indigenous people, it is important to identify the researcher’s position in relation to the group and its culture. he themes and discussions concerning Sami culture are often loaded and politically sensitive in nature. For example, one crucial question frequently raised is “who has the right to write about and study the Sami and their culture?”his question was raised in the University of Lapland’s newsletter, Kide (Latitude), in Spring 2011, in a volume where issues concerning Sami research were under discussion ( Junka-Aikio 2011; Pääkkönen 2011). My point of view is to look at the subject from the position of a Finnish researcher who is interested in Northern cultures, history and society. My roots are in Southern Finland – Helsinki 2. TaikaLappi was part of a national TAIKA project, carried out between 2008–2011. he aim of TaikaLappi was to consider the possibilities of art and culture to act as the catalyst of social and local well-being in Lapland. Rantala et al. 2010. 3. Nutukas is a fur boot made of skin from the leg of reindeer. 105 Northern Insights – and my experiences with Sami culture and lifestyle are very limited.4 I have no idea how to make Sami handicrafts (or any handicrafts at all). I have never had anything to do with reindeer. I have no practical experience in either the Näskämatic, or the traditional way to handle reindeer skin. I am, as a matter of fact, a complete outsider when it comes to the practical contents of the article: Sami handicraft and culture. Sami culture and duodji are, however, a signiicant part of the Northern way of life – its past, present and future. hus, it is an important subject of study. My interest in the topic rises from scientiic, cultural and historical curiosity. I am also interested in understanding the cultural atmosphere and society of Lapland, in which I myself live, and which surrounds us in Northern Finland. Furthermore, I believe knowledge about this cultural phenomenon is of use to researchers and readers from other cultures, too. he analysis of the Sami handicraft trade from a gender perspective ofers a chance to see how tradition and culture can be used in new ways. For example, in the context I examine, they are used in a socially and ethically sustainable way so that they can create ways to earn a living in a society where the economic preconditions are very limited. Yet, they can also be seen as ways to create identity and head towards the future.5 A microhistorical study of Sami handicraft from the perspective of women’s work and agency opens possibilities to consider more widely the progress and future of Northern communities. Do tradition and culture ofer equal possibilities for each person, group or sex? I will return to these questions at the end of this article. he key concepts of this article are duodji (the Sami word for traditional handicraft), industrial handicraft (that is in many ways based on traditional Sami handicraft), and new Sami design. In the Sami language the word duodji refers to both the making (the active process of creating the handicraft object) and the inal product. It is usually understood to be a concrete artefact made by hand (Nuorgam & Karhu 2010, 172). Trade 4. I have lived in the town of Rovaniemi for fourteen years, since 1997. 5. For more about the subject, see Linjakumpu 2011 and Rantala et al. 2010. 106 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? handicraft has its roots in duodji, but the central aspects of the ideology and production are work and making a living, and thus the relationship to the process is diferent. New Sami design is based in duodji, too, but it combines the materials, practices and ways of thinking of contemporary design to traditional Sami handicraft (Kivelä 2007). he duodji of men and women have traditionally been quite distinct from each other in Sami culture. While many women use “hard” materials in their handicraft, few men are known to create “soft” duodji. A man doing something traditionally seen as women’s work is thus an exception. he making of clothes has been, and still is, dominated by women. Young girls are taught the skills by their mothers, grandmothers, aunts and other women in the family. hey also learn the special features that are common in the clothes of their own family (Lukkari & Aikio 1993, 72–73; Nuorgam 2009, 40–42). he structure of this article follows a typical microhistorical approach: moving from the singular to the general. At the centre is the Näskämatic machine and its connections to the duodji and women’s work in Sami culture. his leads to an examination of women’s positions in Sami culture, the division of labour, and power structures. he next topic looks at ways handicraft can create possibilities for young women to earn a living. At the end of the article I will open up discussions concerning the future of Lapland: how the perspective of women’s work can reveal in a wider context the progress in the region. The Näskämatic and Sami handicraft he Nutukas project that took place at the Sami Education Institute (SAKK6) in years 2008–2009 aimed to “survey, develop and test the equipment that would be the most suitable for the scraping, cutting and sewing of reindeer fur. Another aim was to produce a prototype of a scraping- 6. In Finnish, Saamelaisalueen koulutuskeskus. 107 Northern Insights machine.” 7 he project was funded by the district development fund of the European Union. he most important requirement for the machine was to speed up and ease the scraping and shaping work compared to the work made by hand. Safety at work was another aspect (Nutukas-uutiset 1/2008; Nutukas-uutiset 5/2010). As a result of the project, a prototype machine was built that was intended to assist in the process of scraping the leather of the reindeer’s leg. he prototype was in test use in winter 2009 at the SAKK tannery in Toivoniemi Following comments from users, the machine was modiied, and the usability was improved. hose who were interested in using the machine were taught how to operate it. In the training programme there were twelve women and three men. After the project ended, the machine was made available for use when hiring the tannery or at the courses organised by SAKK (Nutukas-uutiset 4/2009; Nutukas-uutiset 5/2010). he background of the Nutukas project began with the Sisna project.8 In the Sisna project, a scraping machine suitable for reindeer skin was produced and developed. he machines were taken into use, to assist in the physically harsh work. Both Finnish- and Sami-speaking advisors were educated to help artisans use the machine. It was, however, impossible to scrape the leather from the leg of reindeer with this machine as the material is very diferent; the leather from the leg is narrow, and the fur is thicker on one side than on the other. It is also uneven, and the machine did not take this into account. A new project was needed in SAKK, and the personnel started to apply for funding to achieve two purposes: irst, to create a machine that would be suitable for the shaping of the leather of the leg. Secondly, to create a project in which the people who were educated to shape the leather could learn to design new products. With the help of the machine there would be more material – more leather to use – and in turn that would enable the creation of new kinds of prod7. http://www.boazu.i/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=77. 8. Sisna means a reindeer skin that is produced so that it can be used to make e.g. clothes. 108 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? ucts. hus, two new projects were initiated, Nutukas and Poro muotiin9 (from the interview with Virpi Jääskö). At this point it is necessary to say some words to deine the methods and tradition of duodji. Duodji is closely linked to self-deinition, and among the Sami it is understood to be part of their cultural tradition and cultural heritage. From the point of self-deinition it is essential to see how traditional handicraft – duodji – is discussed and how it is understood to be part of the artistic presentation of the Sami (Guttorm 2011, 369). In Sami culture, everyday necessities such as shoes and clothes were not made by specialised professionals. he requisite knowledge was to be found in each family (Lehtola 2006, 64). his knowledge was also gendered: mothers taught their daughters the skills necessary in the Sami community. A girl was not a proper Sami and a suitable wife until she learned the skills that were needed. With the learning of duodji skills, the daughter stepped into Sami culture and adopted its values (Hirvonen 1999, 181). Duodji is considered to comprise utility articles that are made by hand, such as clothes, tools, houseware, ishing tackle, and jewellery. he handicrafts have a long tradition. Furthermore, the traditions of today’s handicrafts are rooted in natural materials. Sami Duodji is produced according to the old traditions, but applied to new methods of working and new regional usage (Kivelä 2007b, 65). he traditional skills of the Sami have very much to do with livelihood. Traditional skills include knowledge about why one method of doing a thing is better than another. Furthermore, that knowledge also consists of the skill to assess when the accepted way of doing something should be reconsidered. According to Gunvor Guttorm, the people themselves have to have the right to give meanings to old, traditional knowledge and skills, and the traditional ways to do things should not be assessed with the same criteria as contemporary methods. New generations interpret their contemporary situation and the future in their own way, and traditions are not necessarily repeated verbatim (Guttorm 2011, 374, 377). 9. Poro muotiin means “reindeer into fashion”. 109 Northern Insights he requirements of duodji have been deined according to strict criteria. he association of Sami artisans, Sábmelaš Duoddjárat, was established in 1975, and its successor, Sami Duodji, was established in 1997 when the association began operating as a small business. he limitations for members of the association have been strict from the beginning. he members must be Sami as deined in the enactment of the Sami parliament: a person with one parent or grandparent who speaks Sami as their mother tongue (Lehtola 2006, 14). During the irst years, there were broad discussions about the authenticity of duodji among the members of the association: what is it, and who has the right to deine it? For example, industrially shaped leather was despised, and, in 1978, the board prohibited handicrafts made of it from being ofered for sale. According Ilmari Laiti, one of the founders of the association, the reason for this was the question of quality. he priority was to make the tradition stronger and maintain good quality, and after that to create something new (Lehtola 2006, 21). In the interviews made by Gunvor Guttorm, Sami artisans argued that the making of duodji can be thought of as a process, and it can be one that retains diferent aspects and levels of the culture. According to the artisans, the working process is based in traditional Sami handicrafts. hus, if the artisan makes a handicraft product that has its meaning and place in the traditional community, the process itself is self-evidently traditional. However, Sami handicrafts can also be modern, and feature a modern design. he tradition does not mean that one should be limited to one way of doing things. Old traditions can be interpreted through contemporary eyes, giving them new forms (Guttorm 2011, 382–383, 388). he relation of duodji and new design is clear, but not without conlict. For example, the study program planned in cooperation with the University of Lapland and the Sami Education Institute was based on the questions “What has duodji been over the years? What is it now? Can duodji change? Can it be changed? How can it be changed? What could duodji-based design be in the future?” According to the organisers of the study program, it was important that the Sami community 110 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? could accept the new courses and the whole program as their own, and also that the courses would support the activity of Sami artisans already working in the ield. However, the aim of the study program was to combine modern design and traditional duodji and see what happens. thus, the aim was not to develo duodji itself (Kivelä 2007b, 52; Valkeapää 2007, 18 – 19). In Sweden and Norway the term Samisk Design (Sami design) is commonly used to refer to duodji-based design. he spirit of duodji is present in the design planning, for example the colours and shapes used in traditional Sami handicraft. he usability of items is also considered important – that the product communicates with the user. he products can nevertheless still be of a new kind (Magga 2007, 105–109). As mentioned earlier, the aim of the Nutukas and Poro muotiin projects was to make people aware of the existence of the frame and facilities for shaping materials and making handicraft items, and to show that they stand up to use. he machines created during the projects remain in SAKK, and they are also used in SAKK’s basic education courses. hey can also be rented by artisan entrepreneurs. he intention was to support new design and products alongside traditional duodji. With the help of the new machines, the materials for duodji can be shaped, but they can also help to extend the product range to suit trade handicraft and everyday usage – for example, for city conditions. he expectations for the machines created during the Nutukas project are high: Virpi Jääskö explained that many artisans asked if the machines were ready, and if they could already use them to shape leather. Jääskö believes that today, young girls especially are not ready to work in the traditional way, or at least not more than a couple of times. he one or two pairs of shoes they make at school may be the only ones they ever make, and no artisan can shape a large amount of leather during her career because of the harsh work. he machine makes the work a lot easier, and enables access to the usable and ine material. It also reduces the workload of many women. he signiicance is considerable, especially for young women (from the interview with Virpi Jääskö). 111 Northern Insights Petri Kivelä, the leader of the project From Sami Handicraft to Design, writes that A highly developed design and production process as such is unfamiliar in duodji. Duodji masters are great designers and producers, but they do not have actual organised designing systematics in the way that is known in industrial design today. his is typical in the handicrafts industry in a larger scale. he spirit in the conversations with the duodji makers has been that machines can be used to ease the production. (Kivelä 2007b, 69–70) In Kivelä’s text we cannot discern the gender of those duodji makers who are ready to accept machines as a part of the production. Is this acceptance shared both among the women and the men who make duodji? A snowmobile is a perfectly acceptable tool in reindeer husbandry, and used mostly by men. Is it so that women want to maintain hands-on control in every phase of duodji production themselves, at least as much as possible? Virpi Jääskö says: -- women, willingly stick to the traditional way, they do not experiment so much. hey are not the Gyro Gearlooses, who think: “Hey, would there be a machine I could create to make this easier?” Women always things the same way, the way they are used to. Really.” (from the interview with Virpi Jääskö) he Näskämatic, however, has been mostly used by women, and only a couple of men. Jääskö says that the Näskämatic can be used both by the Sami and other artisans. For many years there has been a discussion about who is allowed to make Sami handicraft, and whether handicraft made by a non-Sami can be called Sami handicraft at all.10 10. See Nuorgam 2009. Piia Nuorgam (2009, 79) writes that “a situation in which someone other than a Sami makes duodji for commercial use is problematic for the Sami. Even if the consumer would not know the origin of the product, the Sami would not have any proit for the use of the duodji-knowledge, which is a non-material property.” 112 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? For instance, when the Sami Education Institute began educational courses for Sami artisans, the Sami of the region sent an objection to the Ministry of Education. he key point outlined in the objection was that outsiders should not be allowed to be trained in Sami tradition (Lehtola 2006, 39). In SAKK, this problem has also been discussed. Anyhow,the leaders of the Nutukas and Poro muotiin projects, Virpi Jääskö and Kikka Laakso, emphasised that the aim of the projects was to widen the selection of reindeer skin products, to create new kinds of products, and to search for new markets. he traditional Sami duodji has its place, and it will continue to do so, for certain. he students of Sami duodji in SAKK also mentioned in the interview that it is important to know the traditional way to make duodji irst: by oneself, and by hand. After that, you can start to adapt and create something new. The Sami gender system, tradition and culture Women are often seen as the bearers of tradition. What, then, is the role of women in Sami culture? he making of handicrafts is one part of the socialisation of gender roles. Gender roles are clear: girls can learn the skills “of the boys”, but the boys very rarely learn “girls’ skills” (MaggaLukkari & Aikio 1991, 72). he skills involved in making handicrafts have deined women both as a women and as Sami. Sami duodji has a major role in the culture because it has shaped gender identity. Vuokko Hirvonen interprets Rauni Magga Lukkari’s poem11 from the perspective of socialisation. In the poem, the duodji maker – a girl – must remember, must remember certain things; she takes her orders from the community’s women, who are for their part ruled by patriarchal duties. he women must remain in a role that has its roots in history and tradition. he women thus reairm power relations and oppression when they educate their daughters into traditional gender dichotomies (Hirvonen 1999, 184, 912). 11. Mu gonagasa goileboktasat, 28. poem. Reference: Hirvonen 1999. 113 Northern Insights Rauna Kuokkanen, a political scientist, explains that it is often said that feminism and gender studies do not have much signiicance for the Sami and their cultural and political aims. Neither are they important to research concerning the Sami, writes Kuokkanen, referring to conversations among the Sami people. She claims that this point of view is often expressed even by women. he criticism towards feminism presented by many indigenous women encompasses the idea of one-sided feminism. hey emphasise that it is insuicient to pay attention to only one side of inequality: the inequality between the sexes. he other aspects of inequality that are closely linked to each other are thus left without attention (Kuokkanen 2004, 143, 149). he male-centric reindeer legislation and state politics have afected the possibilities for women to participate in their traditional way of life. Many Sami women have become marginalised in their livelihoods where they earlier played a central role. Reindeer herding is nowadays quite often considered a man’s profession, both among the Sami and in the dominant culture. However, the women’s position in reindeer husbandry families has been essential. If reindeer herding is understood only as meat production, the role of women is often made invisible. Kuokkanen also points out that many Sami reindeer herding associations have absorbed the kind of views of reindeer husbandry that do not consider the special tasks of women as an essential part of the reindeer industry (Kuokkanen 2004, 145–146). Researcher Helena Ruotsala, who was raised in a reindeer holder’s community, points out that the opinions of decision makers and planners difer from that of the Sami themselves. heir views about lived space and livelihood can be very diferent. Also, researchers of Sami law Antti Aikio and Piia Nuorgam state in Marjo Laukkanen’s interview that Finnish laws are written from the perspective of dominant Finnish and Western culture. For example, the laws concerning reindeer herding are categorised as agriculture livelihood, emphasising production demands over maintaining the life and livelihood of an indigenous people’s culture. After World Wars I and II, ideology in Finland promoted the idea that the Sami should be assimilated into the dominant population of Finnish 114 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? people. Although ideas of cultural assimilation might seem controversial today, at the oicial, state administrative level some residual traces of such ideology still remain (Laukkanen 2011, 15). As Outi Jääskö states, reindeer herding is seen as a masculine profession. he course of history has led to a situation in which governmental power is in the hands of men. But as is the case in other household work, the amount of so-called invisible work carried out by women is large ( Jääskö 1998, 1). Reindeer herding is not simply the profession and afair of the man who oicially owns the reindeer. It is a matter for the whole family. Helena Ruotsala mentions the fact that each member of the family – spouses, children and grandparents – have taken part in reindeer herding and the work it demands. In particular, seasonal jobs such as the reindeer round-up and the tasks which needed somebody to stay at home have been women’s responsibility. he division of labour between the sexes has been the prerequisite to maintaining and managing reindeer herding as a livelihood. It was more important to simply get the tasks done – certainly more important than deciding who does what and whether the one doing the task is a man or a woman (Ruotsala 2007, 156–157). Both men and women were responsible for their own tasks, but each helped the other when needed. he tasks were lexible from one situation into another. Men and women also had their own special skills (such as handicraft). When the reindeer herding jobs permitted, there was time to do these other things (Ruotsala 2007, 156–157). he tradition of working together, side-by-side, can be seen in many texts, such as biographies, novels, documents, movies and so on (e.g. Siiri Magga-Miettunen’s biographical books Siirin kirja [Siiri’s book] and Siirin elämä [Siiri’s life], and Nils Gaup’s ilm he Rebellion of Kautokeino). Ruotsala wonders, with good reason, why in so many studies about reindeer herding as a living, the role of the family is neglected? Is this because of the sex of the researchers or writers, who have mostly been men? Maybe the researchers didn’t ask these questions in the interviews – and of course the reindeer herding men cannot answer questions that were never asked (Ruotsala 2004, 156). 115 Northern Insights An asymmetrical division of labour has also been the case in Finnish primary production. Men have seldom done the “women’s work”, whereas women have actively taken on men’s duties when needed (Östman 2007, 37). hus, the notion of people working “side-by-side” is probably more myth than reality. We can also consider the myth of equal community, which works alongside the belief in women’s equal opportunities: if she, for example, experiences violence, how can she escape or even talk about it? (Markkola 2003, 60). Neither the Sami nor the Finnish community at large easily confesses to inequality; the ideal of an equal society remains strong and yet out of reach. Women still take part in many tasks – for example, the reindeer roundup and the marking of the reindeer – but their role remains in most cases statistically invisible. he statistics do not tell the whole truth. If studies and statistics misrepresent the truth about the male dominance of reindeer herding, the power – particularly the economic power – stays in the hands of men. he reindeer that women own often form part of the reindeer husbandry unit that is ultimately owned by a man. hus the income, and also the social beneits, of the women who work with reindeer remain invisible (Ruotsala 2007, 158, 175). he statistical invisibility of women’s work is a factor in many other sectors, too ( Jokinen 2005, 101 – 105; Keskitalo-Foley 2011, 36; Kinnunen 2000). Reindeer herding is commonly thought of as the most important Sami livelihood, and when it is assumed to be an area dominated by men, the idea of Sami culture as male-dominant becomes even stronger. In this way, men and men’s culture deine for the most part the public image of reindeer herding. he perceptions of the Sami are strongly deined by men, also; men have the power, both publicly and in the public law, to deine what is and what is not legitimately Sami (Ruotsala 2007, 174–175). he spouses of the younger generation of reindeer herders work mostly outside the household, often in tourist centres or in the public sphere (e.g. as teachers). heir income from outside the household provides economic safety and stability for their families. Many families are economically dependent on the woman’s income, and thus her responsibility for the 116 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? sustenance of the family increases. In the interviews conducted by Helena Ruotsala, one woman describes reindeer herding as her husband’s hobby. She says the hobby is not economically worthwhile, and sometimes even unproitable. Despite that, it is a central part of their life, and neither the man nor his wife would give up keeping reindeer (Ruotsala 2007, 158, 177). Similar themes arose in the interviews we made in the TaikaLappi project. he woman in the family is often in regular work, and she is the one who supports the family economy. She may also earn more from her handicraft work than the income received from selling reindeer meat. he returns from handicraft items made of reindeer bone or skin are much higher than that from meat (Linjakumpu 2011, 61). Women and trade handicraft as work he making of Sami duodji has traditionally been a skill that mothers teach their daughter – or grandmothers teach to granddaughters. he grandmother – or áhkku – has been a central person in the chain of teaching and keeping up tradition. But who retains that position today? Are there any áhkkus left to teach the young girls? he headmaster of the Sami Education Institute, Liisa Holmberg, says that in a way the school takes the place of grandmothers: it teaches and provides the knowledge and skills to the new generations (from the interview in SAKK). You cannot learn a skill without the possibility to practice it again and again, and the school ofers the materials, tools and education for that. Many young Sami artisans, amateurs and potential professionals of the future have completed educational courses at SAKK. he materials used in Sami duodji come mostly from nature. One of the main characteristics of true duodji is the natural materials used, which in every phase of the project are also shaped by hand (Lehtola 2007, 22). In items constructed from leather and bone, reindeer is the main source of materials. Duodji would not exist without reindeer and reindeer herding (Kivelä 2007a, 9). Nowadays, duodji and reindeer herding are separate 117 Northern Insights from each other in the world of government, taxation and laws. hey are not handled as a coherent entirety, existing in a close relationship with each other. he Sami Duodji Association has fought for the rationalisation of taxation for a long time. he association states that VAT (23%) paralyses the development of the handicraft business. Value added tax has raised the prices of products, and thus also raised the purchase threshold. In Sami culture there are no distinctions between artefacts and utensils. In the taxation of the arts and design industry, the system does not take cultural characteristics into account. Jorma Lehtola has written about the history of Sami duodji. He takes an example from the 1990s: the tax deductibility of raw materials. If an artist bought raw materials from the primary producer – the neighbourhood reindeer herder – the costs were not deductible. But if the artist instead bought it from a shop in Rovaniemi or Helsinki, she or he could not only deduct the price but also the travel costs. Fuel costs, however, were not deductible – even though the artist needed to use a snowmobile to transport materials from the forest. he Sami Duodji Association noticed a clear connection between value added taxation and the desire to gravitate towards the ield of art. he tax break for primary production increased the will to try and to learn, writes Lehtola (2006, 48–49). he taxation system is also criticised by the staf of the Sami Education Institute. Taxation reporting and bookkeeping are seen as complicated and troublesome, and they take up a lot of the working time available to individual entrepreneurs. he taxation system for entrepreneurial artisans (YEL, yrittäjäeläke) is seen as expensive compared to the taxation system for agricultural entrepreneurs (MYEL, maatalousyrittäjien eläke) that applies to reindeer herders. Handicrafts, then, are not considered part of the reindeer-herding economy, even though the reindeer is a primary source of materials. his is also the case even when the materials come from reindeer owned by the artisan or their spouse (from the interview in SAKK; Linjakumpu 2011, 61). 118 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? One of the original members of the Sami Duodji Association, artist Petteri Laiti, pointed out (in Jorma Lehtola’s interview) that in the making of traditional handicrafts it is possible to see the makings of a signiicant livelihood in the Sami region – providing making handicraft artefacts is not punished through taxation. he association has strongly fought against the burden of sales tax and value added tax because they are a threat to the continuation of tradition. he taxman does not see Sami duodji as an individual art; it is seen as an industrial money-spinner. If the Sami in geographically peripheral areas were encouraged to educate themselves and practice traditional handicraft professions, they, too, could take part in constructing and developing their society. However, in the current situation, they sufer from an imposed, narrow view of art, and have to ind a balance between their own local folk traditions and a top-down bureaucracy. (Lehtola 2006, 65). Music, the visual- and media-arts, and duodji have in their own way proven important in the process of strengthening Sami identity and culture during the last couple of decades. hey have also created possibilities to work and make a living. More that the diferent forms of art can be thought of as an action that is essential in the process of creating possibilities for living in this region. Handicraft as work also has a wide social relevance. In Sami duodji, the quality of work and usability are important, and the quality also relects the artisan’s pride in the products she or he made. he pride in the work and its results also efects the experience of the work: the producer – the person who produced the artefact – is present in it. he work achieves a life beyond its mere form when a person can understand and experience it as being part of a larger context, linked to a wider community and culture. (Linjakumpu 2011, 59–60; Rantala & al. 2010, 29–30). Sami handicraft work can be deined as naistapainen – “of woman’s kind” or “habitually feminine”. he concept refers to the ways in which women and men are socialised to act and behave in society (Veijola & Jokinen 2001). In this case the “way to act like a woman” means that the worker is present, doing the work she does with her heart and soul, 119 Northern Insights knowing the process from beginning to end. She also transmits experiences and meaning through her work to the user of the product. Sami handicraft as trade handicraft also includes pride in the work and its products. Even though the products are not as unique as they are in duodji, the same kind of spirit is contained within it. Discussions about quality and pricing have been popular topics among the members of the Sàmi Duodji Association in recent times. Jorma Lehtola has interviewed active members of the Association for his book “30 vuotta käsityö sydämellä”, the history of the Sàmi Duodji Association. Marja Näkkäläjärvi, who has been a member from the beginning, tells how the áhkkus sold their works for a “ridiculously low price or free of charge.” Ilmari Laiti also mentions how artisans sold, for example, fur boots at just the cost of the materials, in the fear of that nobody would buy them because of a “too high price.”he model of supply and demand was presented to members of the association: sometimes it is better to make things you can sell rather than things you yourself might be interested in (Lehtola 2006, 22). he contrasts between what the buyers want and what the artist wants to make are probably present in every artisan’s life. Nevertheless, since the days when the Sami Duodji Association was founded, the appreciation of handicrafts has increased. Quality and individual design are, at least in some cases, very highly esteemed. It is another matter whether every product inds a buyer, even though there might be an interest towards the products. Marja Näkkäläjärvi wonders: “What parent here would recommend her child take up the profession of a Sami artisan? –– If you think about the costs today [of materials etc.] and how much there should be income, there are many easier ways to earn your living.” Petteri Laiti notes that when the older generations stop working, the younger ones are not so eager to continue duodji as a profession. It is a diicult job, and one would get a better salary and social security working as a salesperson in a shop. However, Marja Näkkäläjärvi believes the younger generation are interested in both making and wearing Sami clothing, and in making duodji – if not as a profession, at least at a hobby (Lehtola 2006, 65). 120 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? Some of the students – all of them young women – said in the interview in SAKK that they would consider a professional career as an artisan if they could remain living in the home district. If I understood correctly, they talked about making both traditional duodji, and trade handicraft. he buyers of traditional duodji products are mostly Sami people, whereas the market for trade handicraft is wider. he markets nowadays are mostly on the internet and at trade shows. Such events are quite accessible now because of the relatively good light connections even from northern Lapland. he gaze of young designers reaches places like Milan and Japan, as well as other parts of the world – that is, they look beyond the neighbouring areas in Lapland, or Helsinki. Reindeer-sourced design ofers the possibility to reach an international market, and to do so in a reasonably economic way. It represents ethically and socially sustainable work for those who have grown up in the region. When thinking of the young, well-educated women in the region, this is a bright outlook for the future. In northern Finland the possibilities available for female entrepreneurs have been somewhat limited, but Sami design and handicraft ofers one positive route to entrepreneurship (Linjakumpu 2011, 60; Rantala & al. 2010, 30). In the interviews we conducted at the Sami Education Institute, it was revealed that women make handicraft items mostly alone. hey also often have to complete the oicial tasks, such as taxation announcements, themselves, without any assistance or outside consultancy. One proposed solution to this was to create a “käsityöpaliskunta” – a kind of cooperative for handicraft entrepreneurs. Paliskunta is a basic union of reindeer herders, a cooperative of reindeer herdsmen administering a deined herding area. he käsityöpaliskunta could work as a means of communal entrepreneurship. One of the aims would be to ease the burden of taxation and other administrative tasks. he käsityöpaliskunta could also ofer a place to work, or at least carry out some phases of the artistic process. It would also ofer a social location to meet and talk. he village workshops that already exist ofer the machines, tools and working spaces for rent, but the käsityöpaliskunta would make the villages even more alive. 121 Northern Insights hey could also bring much-needed social activities to the villages, and provide a place for artisans to talk about the job with other professionals (Interview in SAKK; see Linjakumpu 2011, 62). At least in Rovaniemi there is a good precedent and experience in the co-operation existing between artisans, artists and other professionals in the cultural ield. he closeness of entrepreneurs in the creative ield creates synergy for all, brings more customers and makes the sector lively. he käsityöpaliskunta could take on a role of creating and strengthening a new kind of communality, and, at the same time, ofer women especially the possibility to ind employment. Women and the Future of Lapland he possibility to remain in one’s home region is largely dependent on living conditions and one’s inancial situation. Furthermore, it requires a social and cultural quality of life: friends, family, the possibility to act and make things. Swedish researchers claim that one reason women move from the countryside to the town, or from north to south, are the patriarchal social structures present in the region. hey feel that the positions and actions of men are more highly regarded and more visible than those of women. Women may feel outsiders in the community and leave the region, especially if they feel the value of their actions is underestmated (Ruotsala 2007, 175; original text Cullblom 1996). Seija Keskitalo-Foley, who has studied the biographies of women from Lapland, ofers similar conclusions. he masculine tradition of the North, and a culture that rates the masculine higher than the feminine, creates contradictions in women’s lives and experiences in the North (Keskitalo-Foley 2004; see also Ruotsala 2007). In the development plans for Lapland the future of the region is represented mainly as a golden opportunity for tourism and the mining industry. he sectors are divided strictly into men’s and women’s ields. Women work in the areas of social welfare and healthcare, or in the inancial sector. Men work in construction, agriculture, forestry, or information 122 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? technology. he biggest employers are predominantly in the female public sectors, such as services and trading (Kari-Björkbacka 2012, 7). Development funding is directed almost solely to the male-dominated areas such as the forestry industry (Merenheimo 2011). In the development plans, the actions of women – and women as a gender in general – have not been taken into account. Lapland, as an economic operational environment, is a ield of masculine action. Young women move away, and the “hustle and bustle” of women is not considered a valuable way to ind employment and move towards the future (Kari 2009, e.g. 54; Keskitalo-Foley 2011, 12, 22; Kontsas 2007, 328, 340). To generalise, it is thought that tourism employs women, and industry employs men. he creative sector is only a quaint surplus, with no economic signiicance from the perspective of growth and progress. In this context, the Sami source of livelihood appears to be marginal and small; Sami handicraft is just a curiosity, a relic from a tradition which is more of a hobby than a signiicant employer in Lapland’s future. “Progress”, however, is not predeined or self-evident. Its interpretation depends on who we ask, what perspective we choose, what political or ideological ways of thinking we represent – what is seen as the desirable and intended order and direction of progress (Rantala et al. 2010; Rantala 2010, 33). he development plans devised in the county direct the funding and deine the economic emphasis. hey thus afect the structure of entrepreneurship in the region. If the planning does not take cultural and social questions into account, the plans cannot comprehensively advance Lapland. Likewise, if the signiicance of gender is overlooked, as sadly happens quite often, a huge potential is ignored. he gender issue cannot be reduced to saying “tourism will employ women” either. Entrepreneurship is often seen as the way to save Lapland, and Finland in general. Seija Keskitalo-Foley has examined the combination of lifelong learning and its links to the concept of capitalist entrepreneurship as an ideology. An individual, in this way of thinking, is responsible for her own success, and constant education is seen as a way to fulil this need. hus, the problems inherent in regional structures become the 123 Northern Insights problems of the individual. Keskitalo-Foley, who interviewed several female entrepreneurs, criticises the overly-positive attitude towards entrepreneurship as a solution to all societal problems, and the tendency to see it as “the saviour” of Lapland. Also, the women she interviewed interpreted the ceremonial speeches celebrating female entrepreneurship as oppressive praise; merely talk without any basis in reality (KeskitaloFoley 2011, 13, 31, 71). Again: more multifaceted approach is needed, and the many faces of entrepreneurship must be taken into account. Sami handicrafts and women may seem diminutive and marginal from the perspective of progress, however, in combination they encompass many possibilities and opportunities, both from a cultural and economic viewpoint. If we dare to “think small”, or at least in a more “itting size”, the future could be considerably brighter and more achievable. Conclusions It is important to reassess the future of Lapland by putting gender into focus. As Seija Keskitalo-Foley (2011, 137) writes, it makes no sense for the region if women are continuously pushed towards the margins and told to wait their turn, or alternatively, expected to carry and maintain their communities, or have to ight for their rights again and again. Ultimately, it is time to see women as agents of a sustainable and positive future in Lapland. One example of this is the ethically, socially and ecologically sustainable entrepreneurship of women in Lapland (Keskitalo-Foley 2011, 87). In addition, I consider culturally- and historically-sustainable entrepreneurship as an objective for the future. Women’s roles in Sami culture have thus far been quite limited. Also, the possibilities of envisioning Sami handicrafts as having considerable potential to employ people have been scarce. By taking the Näskämatic machine as a starting point, it has been possible to see women’s work from another perspective, on a larger scale. Firstly, women’s work in handicraft encompasses an economic potential, and it should be seen as a means of employing young women especially in the region. Secondly, the analysis 124 Näskämatic – a Sami Spinning Jenny? of the machine’s development opens new ways to observe tradition and the possible changes that might afect Sami culture. he traditional ways of making things, doing so within modern culture and its values, and the acceptance of new kinds of methods and machines, are all crucial to the continuation of Sami culture. Should the women accept the use of a machine that makes work easier, even if it’s not seen as a part of the traditional methods used to create product? How does the relationship between the maker and the making of the handicraft, and between the maker and the inal artefact change when a job that is made “from the heart” is also economically proitable? (Keskitalo-Foley 2011, 29) Traditions are also deeply gendered. Men and women work side-byside, but they also live in somewhat separate worlds. Legislation and everyday customs are diferent for women and men. Making handicrafts has been a quite lonely job. he use of a machine can make the idea of shared work more attractive. If it would be possible to divide or share the work, it might be conceivable to create a more communal working environment. he idea of using the Näskämatic ofers possibilities to take a look at women’s work in a new way: it is a combination of tradition, making one’s living, a hobby, a way of life, and a part of culture. It also reveals the gender system; traditional and modern roles become more visible. We can also consider the machine from the perspective of change. Like the “spinning jenny”, which once changed the world of women’s work, the Näskämatic can be seen as one little piece of women’s work and its history, in a continuum of individual workers, duties, practices and larger structures. he machine is used in the practice of everyday work, but it can also change the attitudes and ideas about work, and the world at large. A small change can result in something bigger. 125 Northern Insights References Interviews Project leader of the Nutukas project Virpi Jääskö 7.10.2009 in Inari, SAKK. Liisa Holmberg, Virpi Jääskö, Kikka Laakso, Janne Näkkäläjärvi 5.10.2009 in Inari, SAKK. Students (group interview) in SAKK, 5.10.2009 in Inari, SAKK. Literature Autti, Mervi 2010: Etsimessä neitikulttuuri. Musta Taide, Helsinki. Gaup, Nils 2008: Kautokeinon kapina [Kautokeino-opprøret]. A ilm. Ginzburg, Carlo 1997: Johtolankoja. Kirjoituksia mikrohistoriasta ja historiallisesta metodista. Translated by A. Vuola. Gaudeamus, Helsinki. 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WSOY, Helsinki, 30–51. 129 Northern Insights Seija Keskitalo-Foley highly eduCated women in lapland looking for agenCy in the neoliberal era Introduction We have built up good educational systems here in Finland, and women’s position has always been good. We have been a model society in all ways (…) but now we are in a situation where our good structure is being dismantled. (Ella) here exists a prevailing faith in education in Finland. A good education is believed to prevent marginalisation by ofering opportunities to improve one’s social and economic position. In addition, education is also viewed as having clear economic consequences: for example, the success of comprehensive school pupils on the PISA1 tests has been considered a factor that predicts the growth of the gross national product (GNP) (OECD 2010). he number of highly educated women has been regarded as an indicator of women’s position in the society. However, the higher level of education of women is not relected in the labour market, for they do not beneit from their education as much as men in terms of salary, 1. “PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is a collaborative efort launched by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) in 1997. Its objective is to allow countries to monitor the outcomes of their education systems through internationally comparable evidence on student achievement.” (http:// www.pisa2006.helsinki.i/oecd_pisa/oecd_pisa.htm) 130 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era power or nature of their employment. Men in Finland are still paid better, hold more leading positions in management and enjoy more regular employment (Naumanen 2002; Kivinen & Nurmi 2009). In Lapland, while there was 11.3 % unemployment rate among highly educated men in 2008, among women in the same group the percentage value 19.9 % (Kari-Björkbacka 2012, 9). In this paper I examine the positions and agency of highly educated women in the regional and local labour market in Finnish Lapland. Nationally, Finnish women are better educated than men (Tilastokeskus 2007), holding higher academic degrees and also participating more often in adult education (see e.g. Pohjanpää et al. 2008). his trend applies in Lapland as well (Suikkanen et al. 2001). he broader context of my topic in this paper includes discussions of neoliberal ideology. his ideology is connected with the new economy, which was launched in Finnish society in the mid-1980s (Helne & Laatu 2007, 20). he new economy is often deined as a transition from a society of aluence to one of competitiveness governed by market-led mechanisms, acceptance of change and individualism (see Heiskala 2006). Promoting entrepreneurship has been a central theme in this discussion as well in neoliberalism. Connected to discussions of entrepreneurship is the neoliberal ethos that emphasises personal attitudes and performance over professional expertise and competence. For an individual, this has meant living up to the ideal of an autonomous subject “who negotiates, chooses and succeeds in the array of education” (Walkerdine 2003, 240). his kind of negotiation is applied also in labour market: personality is considered more important than vocational proiciency; you are required to “sell” yourself. he consequences of this ideal have become visible as a change in educational policy – particularly in the promotion of education for entrepreneurs (Komulainen et al. 2010) as a means of social-economic change for both Lapland and Finland as a whole. Budget cuts in the public sector that, for example, have reduced women’s employment, and replaced full-time jobs with part-time work and short-term contracts. In this article I am interested in examining the kinds of spaces available to 131 Northern Insights highly educated women in Lapland in the present political, economic, social, and cultural context. In this article my data consists of two interviews with unemployed women who hold university degrees2 (Ella and Jaana), as well as Ella’s latest email correspondence with me and two letters to the editor of the local newspaper written by academic women, under the pseudonyms “Worthless brains?” and “ Worthless education?”. I have chosen this data3 to make visible situations of highly educated women in Lapland. his issue has not been widely discussed in public, even though the phenomenon of women moving away from Lapland has been recognised as a problem in previously published research (see e.g. Keskitalo-Foley 2004). I read my data inspired by critical discourse analysis ( Jokinen & Juhila 1999, 87–89) and would describe my analysis as discursive reading. Drawing on a post-structural research paradigm, I will pay attention to both the constitutive force of discourse and discourse practices, while at the same time recognising that people are capable of exercising choices in relation to those practices (Davies & Harré 2008, 262). Alongside with discursive practises, my research draws on feminist materialism (see e.g. Gordon 2008) which pays attention to women’s position in society, participation and a precarious labour market. By ‘precarious’ I refer to discontinuation and uncertainty in the labour market (see e.g. Åkerblad 2011). I approach my data by asking what subject positions are available to women in local communities and the local labour market in Lapland, and examining what kinds of spaces of agency are constructed. By available subject positions I refer to those positions or places that are offered to, and taken by, women and interpret identity as an articulated 2. I am aware that it matters in labour market whether you are a medical doctor or have a degree in cultural studies. In some academic areas, such as art, culture and media, unemployment is higher than, for example, for such ields as medicine and social work (see e.g. Akavan työttömyystilastot 2013). 3. Ella’s and Jaana’s interviews are part of the data in my research (Keskitalo-Foley 2011). he letters to the editor form part of the data I have collected while researching academic women. 132 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era self-narrative (see Ronkainen 1999). I will use agency to refer mainly to opportunities to take the position of an active subject and ‘small agency’ to refer to tolerance and coping in certain situations (Honkasalo 2004). Here, the term ‘place’ can be understood in several ways: as a geographical place – Finnish Lapland – and a place as a subject position. Place is also connected with my own location as a feminist researcher, and to the feminist approaches of my study (see Naskali in this book). Tenacious faith in education In her letter, “Worthless brains?” suggests that she might ind hope by changing the ield of expertise and starting new studies: I would not like to leave my home town and my social life only to get a job. Maybe a third university degree will guarantee me a job here? he question can be interpreted also as an ironic comment on faith in education as a job provider. While irony here is possible, I tend to interpret the question as showing a tenacious faith in education because of the long-lasting trust in its power. Education has been seen as a collective narrative of enlightenment and progress in which Finnish society has developed itself as a modern welfare state. his national faith in Finnish education appears to have been maintained to this day, and belief in the importance of education in general seems to have spread throughout the globalised world ( Jauhiainen & Alho-Malmelin 2003). My interviewee, Jaana, was about to inish her studies in the 1990s when the economic depression struck in Finland. As a young student she had pictured herself working in an administrative job for a municipality or the state, because earlier students in her ield found work easily. Even before they had completed their degrees, students were hired, entering the labour market and even being ofered well-paid jobs. his situation changed quickly: But when some years went by - in the beginning of the 1990s - nobody was in a hurry to go anywhere (…) it was not worth inishing one’s degree, but 133 Northern Insights rather it was better to continue studying. I also went on an exchange programme and all that, because there were no jobs available.( Jaana) Here, I have interpreted Jaana adjusting her personal life in keeping with the changes and transitions in society: it was more rational for her to continue studying and hope for better times in the future labour market. In this case, studying can be interpreted as a means to strengthen one’s competence, and stay “safely” – and in a respectable 4position of a student – out of the labour market. My other interviewee, Ella, completed her vocational studies in the 1970s and found a regular job in her home region, Lapland, soon after she graduated. She was married and her husband changed his job often, meaning that they had to move around Finland, with Ella having to ind new employment with each change of residence. As Ella also had three children, her periods of employment were short. When the family moved back to Lapland in the 1980s, Ella could not ind regular employment but only short-term contracts at short notice. Her situation is a typical example of the phenomenon of women moving when their husbands change jobs, and then facing unemployment in the new location (Nivalainen 2010). Ella decided to start studying, and planned her studies so that her degree would include a broad spectrum of the expertise she imagined she would need in the future local labour market, following the logic: this way I can guarantee I will get a job. According my interpretation, Ella represents the generation that values stability in the labour market and a certain kind of economic safety that regular jobs provide for people. A lifelong job in a certain place may not be the ideal for people who are ambitious, aiming to climb the ladder of success in their specialised area. he other group that might not see eye-to-eye with Ella’s goals is a part of a younger generation who do not necessarily value economic success or the stability that a regular job demands. Although short-term contracts and part-time jobs can be interpreted as a wilful choice of some people, the consequences of such a 4. Of respectability, see Skeggs 1997. 134 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era position are a reduction in contributions to – and consequently beneits received from – national social security and pension schemes (Miettinen 2007, 76). Faith in education as a regular job provider seems to be strong in Ella’s narrative; as an adult student she started studying again in the late 1980s. Narratives in lifelong learning also rely on faith in education. According to Karin Filander, lifelong learning has emerged as a salvation programme and strategy for survival in the face of societal change and the uncertainties of the future (Filander 2007, 262). Faith in education is tenacious even though many experiences can be cited that might seemingly shake it. he higher level of education of women is not relected in the labour market, however, for they do not beneit from education as much as men in terms of salary, power or nature of employment. Indeed, men in Finland are paid better, hold more leading positions in management and enjoy more regular employment (Naumanen 2002; Kivinen & Nurmi 2009). Briefcase men and shut out women: the gendered labour market in Finnish Lapland So I wash dishes, clean, serve people as a shop assistant, pack, deliver newspapers, babysit and so on. I have collected a lot of job experience also during my studying years. But I lack job experience that is congruent with my education. (Worthless Education?) his woman with an academic degree, writing under the pen name “Worthless education?” worked in a broad range of short-term jobs for four years after completing her degree. hese jobs – child care, cleaning, delivering newspapers and so on – were outside of her educational competence. To gain experience in her own ield, she found a trainee position –a year-long post provided by the employment oice in cooperation with several employers in her ield of expertise. However, when more permanent jobs became available and were advertised, her application was 135 Northern Insights unsuccessful; the jobs were given to applicants with more experience or other competences. One of my former classmates, a man who had worked for years in leading positions, asked me in one gathering: “Jaana, in which municipality are you going to be a municipal manager?” I have many former student friends who are in leading positions in municipal administration and I did not even get interviewed when applying for the task. (…) How can the labour market be so unequal that those men with their briefcases make careers there and I get maybe a one-year post somewhere? ( Jaana) In the 2000s, the new economy has gained substantial ground in Finland. In the country’s gendered labour market this resulted in a rise in short-term contracts, especially for women, and even university-educated women (SVAL 2011). Jaana applied for several managerial positions in municipal administration and has not even been called for an interview. I describe this with Jaana’s words as the “detachment” or the shutting out of women, who are seemingly not given any chance to get a job. A report on leadership in Lapland (Sorro 2011, 5) shows that even though women are the majority of all employees in the municipalities (80%), the proportion of women in managerial positions is only 40%. Policy researchers in Finland (see e.g. Holli et al 2007) have argued that power in public administration, particularly in municipalities, has moved to ad hoc groups outside of the democratic decision-making process. Ad hoc groups need not follow the rules – for example those on gender equality – that are demanded of oicial bodies. Ella was also applying for jobs in educational administration in the 1990s and encountered episodes such as the following; her applications were not considered and she was given arguments such as: “Oh, girl, you are so young; you still have time to do just about anything!” And I was over thirty at time, but these are some of the comments those decision makers throw out. (Ella) 136 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era I interpret the episode as gender discrimination: Ella’s expertise and competence were disregarded because of her gender. Even though she was over thirty at the time, no matter what her education and competence she was a little girl to those making the decisions. Ella has sought work in her former vocational ield - health care - but at best been offered only temporary posts, where she also was called “a girl”: “Oh, we have a new girl here!” In temporary posts I have had to do relatively menial work. hey did not bother to teach me anything more complicated, because they thought that I would only be there for a short period of time, doing “a girl’s“ work. (Ella) Here, Ella was again steered into a girl’s position, which implies the status of a minor; one who is not an adult or a professional co-worker. But when she applied for regular jobs in health care – her former vocational ield – she was told she was “too well educated” for the task because of her university degree. Her expanded expertise was not welcomed by employers. A girl’s position can be read as that of a minor – one hired only as temporary help – as opposed to an adult, professional, responsible and respectable individual. In all the cases above female applicants were bypassed when recruiting people for positions congruent with their education. he reasons to bypass them were having too little working experience being too young or too old, or maybe only their gender. hey might also not be a part of the “right” networks, as inding employment via personal contact is common in Finland (http://yle.i/uutiset/tyota_saa_suhteilla_ja_netista/5304683). From a gender perspective, the old boy network can be seen to bypass women in recruiting. hese networks can be deined as a kind of social capital (see Bourdieu 1986) that women rarely achieve. As many researchers (Kivinen & Nurmi 2009; Naumanen 2002; Suikkanen et. al 2001) have pointed out: women do not beneit their education the way men do. 137 Northern Insights Entrepreneurship as an option for women in Lapland As all my contracts in paid work have been short, I also have had this idea of creating my own job. But I have not found anything that will pay of (…) Because if I start my own business, I should have to sell the knowledge in my head - experience and expertise. ( Jaana) It is challenging for academic women to transform their expertise into something that could be sold. Even though entrepreneurship has been ofered to all people in general, and especially to special groups such as “those in danger of becoming marginalised” (see Heinonen & Ruuskanen 1998), after taking courses in the entrepreneur education project, it was clear to Jaana that ofering entrepreneurship as an option for everybody is unrealistic: When I saw how many things one has to consider and how one has to calculate whether the business will turn a proit (…), I don’t think that just anybody can do it. ( Jaana) Contemporary neoliberal policies are largely supplanting the traditional goals of equity, participation, and social welfare, which are upheld in the Nordic countries in particular (see Gordon, Lahelma & Beach 2003). “In Finland, the promotion of entrepreneurship education is the latest manifestation of the restructuring of education in line with the neoliberal spirit” (Komulainen et al. 2011, 343). Although many European countries have a policy commitment to promoting entrepreneurship education, they have not adopted it throughout the school system as Finland has done (see Komulainen et al. 2011; European Commission 2006). Entrepreneurship is also ofered in adult education as a general solution for unemployment; encouraging women in particular to start their own businesses is a part of the present political agenda. Moreover, entrepreneurship has also been suggested as an option for groups that are thought to be marginal: women in rural areas, young people and immigrants (Naisyrittäjyys 2005) 138 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era and even as a form of emancipation for both women and regions, such as rural areas (see Ikonen 2008; Koski & Tedre 2004). Ella, who had taken courses similar to those that Jaana had taken, had worked for years as an entrepreneur in the 1990s. After inishing her degree and working in short-term posts in an educational institute, she was, in her words “persuaded to start her own business”. In this business she was supposed to sell and organise courses as a subcontractor for her former employer. Later on she started on her own: After several short contracts I started to think why is it that no matter how much I study, I have to take short contracts. I started to think what might be the ield that would sustain and employ people in Lapland. I igured out that it is tourism and that it might also be nice work (...) and thought that after studying the tourism business, with my vocational competence in health care and a university degree, I would make my living based on this combined competence. his business idea came to me because I was in a situation where I had no choice. (Ella) Trusting in education, Ella again started to study a new ield: tourism. Initially, starting her own business seemed to be an interesting option; later on it struck her as the only alternative: One is forced in a way to start one’s own business. his is also a statistical gimmick, because they (the employment administration) have plans whereby so and so many thousands of new businesses should be set up, for example this kind of one-woman small enterprise, just to make the statistics look better. (Ella) his is also part of employment policy in Finland; I read Ella’s narrative as part of a policy in which institutions and enterprises try to transfer uncertainty and risk to subcontractors (see Miettinen 2007, 113). he educational institute where Ella was working wanted to beneit from her competence, but also pass on responsibility and risk to her. his trend 139 Northern Insights is implemented globally in neoliberal society through several practices. For example, in the welfare policy in Germany and Great Britain people are required to utilise their individual skills and circumstances to maximise “their own ‘life chances’ while minimizing their cost to the state” (Tuschling and Engemann 2006, 452). Ella worked hard for seven years as an entrepreneur, making her living until she had to leave her business for family reasons5. She then started to apply for jobs based on her academic competence, now with two academic degrees, and also started post-graduate studies. She could not get a job, and in her latest message she said that she had started her own business again. Confessing and making oneself guilty Entrepreneurship education not only includes professional competences such as marketing and planning a budget, but also relects a neoliberal governance, which aims at transforming the passive citizens of a welfare society into active, enterprising selves6 . herefore this education “operates in terms of an ethic of the self that stresses the maximisation of the self-steering capacities of individuals as vital resources for achieving private proit, the nation’s economic competitiveness and social progress” (Komulainen et al. 2011, 5; Rose 1992). his trend redeines educational policy by combining excellence, eiciency, and proitability into an “ethos of excellence” (Simola 2001). Jaana was relecting on herself in terms of this ethos, estimating her ability to market and “sell” herself : I am not that self-conident that I would go sell somebody something I have done, that I would believe and trust myself that it is so excellent. 5. For ethical reasons I cannot describe this period in Ella’s life. 6. he term ‘enterprising self ’ refers to the ethos shaped in various institutions, such as the school, where an entrepreneur-like course of action and self-relationship is ofered as a model for citizens (Rose 1992; Komulainen et al. 2011) 140 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era he neoliberal ethos emphasises personal attitudes and performance over professional expertise and competence. For an individual, this has meant living up to the ideal of an autonomous subject “who negotiates, chooses and succeeds in the array of education” (Walkerdine 2003, 240). I am an entrepreneur again. I was forced to start my own business because I was not wanted in the job market. Running a small one-woman business I seem to have the same diiculties as I had in looking for a job - a credibility gap. I don’t know if this stems from my age, gender or if I am otherwise such an unlikable person. (Ella’s email) I have interpreted Ella’s latest message to me in summer 2011 as an analysis of one person’s situation in a neoliberal labour market. Judging her age and gender as negative features and even her whole personality as an unpleasant person follow the logic of neoliberal ideology, where individuals have to brand themselves, convince others of their capacities and market themselves (see e.g. Walkerdine 2003).he neoliberal ethos directs people to pay attention to their personalities and blame themselves for possible failures instead of analysing societal factors. “Worthless education?” also relects on her personality, using irony: I have to be cured of my vices, by which I mean being non-violent, nice, decent and dutiful; then I will be ready (to stage a demonstration, SKF). However, from a neoliberal perspective, becoming an entrepreneur is seen as taking a respectable place in labour market. In what follows, I will analyse the main subject positions that have been available for Ella, Jaana and the writers who signed their names “Worthless brains?” and “Worthless education?”. 141 Northern Insights Waiting… I have tried to ind a job with ive professional competences to ofer. For all of these I have studied, I have taken student loans and studied diligently. But I am always told, “Just wait!” And I am over ifty years old! (Ella) he commenters “Worthless brains?” and “Worthless education?” have also been left waiting for a job after applying for one job after another and not getting any, much the same as Ella. My research indicates that women with academic degrees have problems inding a job that corresponds to their competence. In the era of the new economy and precarious labour market people are seen to live in many ways in positions of waiting, trying all the time to achieve a better the future (see Holvas & Vähämäki 2005). Barbara Eichenreich (2006) has described middleclass American, white-collar workers’ life as existing in such a situation. According to Eichenreich, they are losers in the game where something great is promised for the future, but never given to them. Even though they have done everything “right”, including studying diligently many years to get a good education, there is no prize in store for them. In Finnish society, which believes strongly in education, many people live under such circumstances: they have their backs to the wall economically even though they have a good education. In the communities of Lapland, academic women might ind themselves situated in the position of “one who waits”. When young– but over thirty – Ella was overlooked when illing posts; she was called “a girl who still has time to do anything whatsoever in the world”. Now, when she is over ifty, she is still ofered the same “wait and see” position: Just wait until the big age groups7 retire, then there will be a lot of jobs. Or let’s see what kinds of new EU projects appear! 7. In Finland, the generations born after the war were large. In the years 1941-1950 there were about 100,000 babies born each year; in contrast, during the 2000s the number has been around 50,000-60,000 annually (Tilastokeskus 2011). 142 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era Ella talked of EU projects, which were mentioned to her as opportunities but never materialised. According to Ella, young people were recruited for these jobs, and Ella’s extensive educational or working competence was of no beneit. Although age discrimination is prohibited by law, in recruiting situations it is hard to prove; the employer can appeal on the grounds of “personal capacity” or other hard-to-deine criteria. Being left to wait for new opportunities can be interpreted as small, or minimalistic, agency, (see Honkasalo 2004) where patiently applying for one job after another or planning to study further sustains women from day to day. Hoping for a better future helps to tolerate the present and leaves space for other kinds of more active agency that may appear later. In this way small agency and traditional agency will not be positioned as opposites but rather as making each other possible. Waiting can be positioned in relation to a concept that Leena Åkerblad (2011, 25– 26) has crystallised: precarious agency. It is strongly related to a dimension of lexibility: you have to ponder over and over again your choices and be ready to orient yourself towards a new direction. Waiting is a part of this process: you must be ready when something appears, but you have hardly any means to hasten the appearance of this “something”. And because you cannot do much but wait, this may also make you vulnerable and dependent on those who deine what these new directions and demands might be. Support and resistance… I have been able to bring this community something that did not exist here, for example the knowledge of how to apply for funding; otherwise nobody would have known how to apply for it. Look, we have got funding for activities in the community and for repairing our village house and together we have organised all kinds of things. ( Jaana) Women are easily ofered positions as community maintainers, supporters and developers. Jaana has used her expertise and competence – without 143 Northern Insights salary – to beneit the local community. When considering prospects for the future in Lapland, women’s competences are seen as lying largely in the area of community and social relations (see Kontsas 2007); agency in political or economic issues is not accorded to them as readily as it is to men. he kind of volunteer work for one’s community that Jaana has been doing can also be interpreted as small agency (see Honkasalo 2004) where such everyday life ofers a respected place for oneself in the community, and helps women to tolerate the present. In my data, Ella and the pseudonym “Worthless education?” refer to preparing for, and taking a position of resistance. Ella has been ighting against the efects of male-dominated policy in job recruitment and the workplace. In her view, discrimination based on gender, disregard for the Equality Act, and short-term contracts are the worst problems faced by well-educated women in Lapland. “Worthless education?”, after completing two academic degrees, has been looking for a job that would correspond to her education, and has been working in short-term employment in other ields, such as child care and cleaning. After four years of doing this, she is fed up. She refers to the demonstrations in Greece and the riots in England in 2011, asking: Will the young people in Finland who have been marginalised and labelled as such – perhaps somewhat unintentionally – and who sufer from a low standard of living and lack of respect do the same? Here the writer equates her situation with that of her peers in Greece and England, even though Finland is often referred to as a model state for socio-economic welfare and gender equality. Here, she suggests that education is not an option, but social unrest is – perhaps even violent unrest –if one wants to get decision makers to listen to her and others in the same situation. It is a demand to be heard and respected as a citizen and an academic expert, and not left in the margin. Fighting for justice, raising questions, and highlighting problems can be interpreted as “talking back” (hooks 1989), which means acts, agency, protest and resistance (see 144 Highly Educated Women in Lapland Looking for Agency in the Neoliberal Era e.g. Juhila 2004). hese actions can be interpreted as traditional agency, which has certain aims (see Honkasalo 2004). Conclusions In this paper I have discussed the position and agency of academic women in the debates surrounding faith in education, the gendered, precarious labour market, a neo-liberal educational policy and the criticism of new economy. While looking at the spaces of agency and subject positions that are available for women in local communities and the labour market in Lapland, I have analysed “available subject positions” referring to those places or positions that are ofered to women and to those positions that women take. he positions I have examined here are those waiting for a better future, being a supporter of the community, and taking a role of resistance. While waiting and supporting the community means also staying in one’s home town, resistance ofers alternative solutions. In Finnish society, the new economy has already had an impact on people’s lives for many years. In Finnish Lapland, it has resulted in budget cuts and fewer public-sector jobs. Outright, or thinly veiled gender discrimination has also played a signiicant role, especially afecting women with academic degrees. In addition, I have interpreted the roles of student or entrepreneur as respectable positions in neoliberal culture and society. Although studying hard and getting a higher education did not beneit women, these positions were also the only ones available. Neoliberal ideology emphasises individual responsibility and has shifted societal problems to the level of the individual (see e.g. Julkunen 2008; Tett 2006). According to this ideology, individuals have to brand themselves, convince others of their capacities and market themselves. If a person fails to do this, the failure is assumed to be that person’s own fault (see e.g. Walkerdine 2003). Becoming a student or an entrepreneur also provided a space for agency where women could be represented and valued as active members of society, and where they could maintain hope for the future. Alternatively, 145 Northern Insights “Worthless education?” was looking for agency by strongly resisting local recruiting policies and a discriminatory labour market. I also view her actions as a desire to become respectable, to make herself and others in the same situation heard. Even though many studies (see e.g. Merrill 1999; Keskitalo-Foley 2004) have interpreted women’s experiences in adult education as empowering, my latest research indicates that for some women education in general and adult education in particular seem to ofer only small agency. I have identiied small, or minimalistic, agency, where patiently applying for one job after another, or undertaking new studies, sustains women on a day-to-day basis. Hoping for a better future helps people tolerate the present, and leaves space for other kinds of agency that may appear later. In this way small agency and traditional, ‘active’ agency will not be considered as opposites, but rather as mutually enabling. In my research ighting for justice, raising questions, and making problems visible can be interpreted as “talking back” (hooks 1989), which means acts, agency, and resisting to be labelled in a certain way (see e.g. Juhila 2004). 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Lesbians, Gay Men and Bisexuals Living in Rural Communities in Finnish Lapland Introduction In this article I will take part in the discussion about sexual minorities1 residing in rural areas. his paper was mostly inluenced by Emily Kazyak’s (2011) article about how lesbians and gay men construct their identities in rural locales in the Midwestern United States. In her study she focused on the question of how rural identity construction is afected by a cultural narrative that connects LGB2 people with urbanism. According to that narrative, rural areas are universally inhospitable to gay men, lesbians and bisexuals, forcing them to lee to cities in order to come out and ind a queer community (Kazyak 2011, 562). Kazyak points out a couple of key concepts which are central to rural living, and which should be 1. For the purposes of this study I deine sexual minorities as lesbians, gay men and bisexuals. I understand these categories exclude some people; those who have a non-heterosexual identity but who characterise themselves some other way (for example queer, pansexual) and those who have same sex experiences but who identify themselves as heterosexual – not to mention those who don’t deine their sexual orientation at all. I made the choice of adopting these categories while searching for interviewees because they are widely used and thus recognisable. 2. I use the abbreviation LGB to refer to lesbians, gay men and bisexuals as a group. 153 Northern Insights taken into account when considering LGB people’s lives in the countryside. hose concepts are family and familiarity, the latter of which includes, for example, people knowing each other’s business, and the “word travels fast” phenomenon. My aim is to examine those key concepts from a Finnish perspective, and also bring one more concept into the conversation: the ski resorts. I found the ski resorts to be an integral part of rural living in Finnish Lapland. he resorts are places where people can “escape” the close-knit village life, especially the family and familiarity. In this paper I will discuss how the cultural narrative which connects LGB people to urbanism can be seen in Finland and how the abovementioned key concepts could be seen as relevant factors also in the Finnish countryside. I approach these questions mostly through the interviews I have conducted as part of my dissertation work.3 he total number of interviews conducted is 154. I found the interviewees through public announcements (e.g. Lapin Kansa, Pohjolan Sanomat, local newspapers, internet discussion forums, email lists). Twelve of the interviewees were born in small villages5 in Finnish Lapland; two of them never left, and three of them returned after some years away. Two persons were born elsewhere, but have moved to Lapland as adults. One person moved to Lapland as a child with his family, lived there as a youth, but then moved away. Seven of those who were born in a rural area are now living in urban locales. 3. My doctoral dissertation Sexual Minorities in Finnish Rural Communities (currently in progress) focuses on the day-to-day interaction in small villages. he aim of my study is to examine the possibilities and restrictions of rural living in relation to sexual minorities. 4. For my dissertation work I will also carry out ethnographic observation in a few villages. My focus is on people’s experiences and interpretations of diferent social situations, and for that purpose the interviews and the observation are suicient. 5. here are several diferent deinitions for what makes a “village”. One way of deining it is a certain area, or community including the residents of that area (Uusitalo 1998,130). 154 The Only Gay in the Village? All of them visit their place of birth every now and then; some of them several times per month and one of them at least every summer. he interviews were mainly biographical, which gave a wide-ranging view of the community, as well as into the personal life and history of the interviewee (Flick 1998,172). At the beginning of the interview, I asked the interviewee to generally describe village life as they see it, with the aim of understanding the social relations and interactions taking place there. Rural areas are not for LGB people Central to Kazyak’s (2010, 2011) research is the cultural narrative that links LGB people with urbanism, and leaves rural areas as inhospitable for them. his narrative also seems to be the case in Finland – at least to some extent. An anonymous gentleman told me in a gay bar in Tampere in late 2008: “My ex-boyfriend was from Rovaniemi. He told me that it’s terrible to live there”. According to the gentleman his ex-boyfriend had moved to Helsinki and felt that living in Rovaniemi was quite agonizing. About half a year after this encounter the Finnish Broadcasting Company, Yleisradio, released a news item: “Lack of gay culture drives people from rural areas to Helsinki”.6 And then in 2010, the leading newspaper in the province of Lapland, Lapin Kansa, also wrote how “homosexuals from Lapland are escaping to the south”, pointing out that the term “sexual refugee is a common expression for homosexuals from Lapland”.7 hese three examples do not rule out the possibility that there might also be news stories about gay men, lesbians and bisexuals not leeing to cities, but instead expressing their happiness living in the countryside. But it still a clear sign of something that individuals, the national media and the local media all agree that life in the countryside in general, and 6. See ”Homokulttuurin puute ajaa maalta Helsinkiin” 7. See ”Haaveena kirkolliset homohäät. Homona eläminen on Lapissa joskus hankalaa. Uskovaiselle vielä hankalampaa.” 155 Northern Insights Lapland in particular, is not very pleasant for sexual minorities, and in order to have a better life the way to go is south. his negative association might be derived in part from images connected to gay culture, and is also partly due to the images associated with rural communities. People associate gay culture with consumerism, trendiness, clubs, and gay men searching for casual sexual encounters, whereas the people living in rural areas are often seen as “hillbillies”; undeveloped, uncivilized, uncouth and dumb (Apo 1996), and intolerant towards sexual minorities. However, rural areas are also considered places where the sense of community is still strong; people know their neighbours and trust each other, they keep in touch with relatives, and do things together (Paunikallio 2001, 38–41). What happens when a gay man yearns not for urban gay culture, but prefers to remain with his fellow country dwellers in their shared, supposedly tight community? here are no studies concerning the day-to-day lives of LGB people in the Finnish countryside.8 Instead in Finland we have historical knowl8. In Finland, quite a lot of research is made in the ield of queer studies, but it is mostly focused on the study of literature, philosophy, visual culture and history (e.g. Karkulehto 2007; Pulkkinen 1998; Vänskä 2006, Sorainen 2005; Juvonen 2002; Löfström 1999). Sexual minorities have also been studied in educational research, as a minority experiencing discrimination (e.g. Lehtonen 2003). Moreover, in studies concerning rural areas and small communities (or the north speciically) heterosexuality is often implicitly the norm (e.g. Knuuttila & Rannikko 2008) – seemingly without the researcher speciically acknowledging it – as heterosexuality often goes unrecognised as a form of sexuality (Little 2003, 405). For researching community life and interaction these studies deinitely have viewpoints to ofer also for queer studies. Internationally, the majority of research concerning sexual identities, communities, and gender roles has focused on urban residents (Halberstam 2005, 34). his fortunately started to change in the beginning of the 21st century (Brown & Knopp 2003, 317). he importance of the relationship between space and sexual identity has been argued at length by geographers (Little 2003, 401), but recently sociological and communicational research on the topic has also been done, a fact represented for example by the studies of Kazyak (2010, 2011) and Gray (2009). 156 The Only Gay in the Village? edge. Jan Löfström (1999) has studied homosexuality in Finland during the late 19th century and early 20th century. According to him, homosexuality was not a common theme because it had no relevancy back then. People were interested in other topics, and social status was earned by being a hard working man/woman, not by sexual conquests. Also the hierarchy between men and women was so clear that a singular feminine man or a masculine woman could not detract from that. Tuula Juvonen (2002) studied the construction of homosexuality in Tampere in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, homosexual behaviour resulted in criminal prosecution and homosexuality was considered a mental illness. Scandal and entertainment magazines in particular perpetuated negative imagery. While the image, jokes and rumours about “that kind” men and women existed, a more positive attitude would more likely be expressed towards those known personally. It is easier to relate negatively to things or people that are distant than to those close by (Kazyak 2011, 573). hese two studies are historical, and things have changed; for example, homosexuality is considered neither a crime nor illness any more, and extended marriage laws (same sex partners being able to marry) is now under discussion. Nevertheless these studies also describe the community life and especially the silence surrounding homosexuality, which could be seen as a negative issue, but which I see as a way of non-sexualising the person, leaving her/his sexuality aside, making social interaction possible between the person her/himself and the other members of the community. he silence surrounding LGB people is still typical of community life even today. Some clues about the present lives of gay men in the countryside can be found in Teppo Heikkinen’s (2002a, 2002b) master’s thesis. When Heikkinen studied gay men who were born and lived outside metropolitan areas and moved there later, he realised on how large a scale the social circumstances in small communities had inluenced those men’s willingness to move. he men experienced the social controls present in their communities as a limiting factor in their lives. In metropolitan areas they could choose their own social networks and live, if they so wished, 157 Northern Insights without getting to know their neighbours. heir working life and personal life could be more clearly separated compared to a small community where the same people knew each other from several diferent contexts. he men also felt it was easier, especially in Helsinki, to live a gay lifestyle and meet other gay men. Heikkinen’s study points out that the reasons for migrating are similar to those commonly assumed, and as the above mentioned media texts indicate; the lack of gay culture and too close-knit community. Because the perspective of his study was on the gay men who had migrated, it leaves open the question of those men and women who have not moved and who remain living in rural areas. Even though the cultural narrative links queer sexuality with urbanism, assumes that gays and lesbians who are able to leave rural areas will do so, and considers rural life “terrible”, rurality is not a monolithic concept.9 People living in rural areas understand the terms “rural” or “small town” in nuanced ways (Kazyak 2011, 562, 567–569). For instance, not all villages in Lapland are the same. he most notable diference stems from how near or far a village is located from a town or ski resort. Life in a geographically-isolated village is quite diferent from life in a village that can accommodate 23,500 visitors during the ski season.10 I will return to this issue later in this article. Some of the villages are quite international. For example, Inari shares a border with Norway and Russia, it is a waypoint on routes to the Arctic Ocean and Kola Peninsula, and has four oicial languages: Finnish, North Sami, Inari Sami and Skolt Sami.11 here is quite a broad spectrum of villages in Lapland, and the geographical location of a village has a signiicant impact on community life. To comprehend how it is possible for a person belonging to a sexual minority to live a fulilling life in a rural area, it is necessary to understand 9. In the same way, “urban” is not a monolithic concept either. 10. According to the website (http://www.levi.i/i/majoitus/keskusvaraamo.html), Levi – a ski resort in Sirkankylä – can accommodate 23 500 people. 11. Inari-info. www.inari.i/i/inari-info.html. Accessed 26th October 2012. 158 The Only Gay in the Village? the social dynamics of the countryside. Although Finnish Lapland is painted as being “terrible” for sexual minorities in the media, their everyday experiences and existence in small villages is not usually discussed. What kinds of lives do LGB people lead there? Is there something they can or cannot do there compared to others? Family and familiarity as key concepts “Now that we have been here for a month, I think if we lived here it would be more diicult, or we would have to think about it. In the grocery store, Anna12 – she’s from Helsinki – she doesn’t always remember that people might make a fuss if she strokes my back, or that the sales lady could get confused by it. In Helsinki, when you see it everywhere it’s not such a big thing, but here you have to think more.” (II, 2009)13 In the quotation above the interviewee makes her own analysis; people are not used to seeing same sex public displays of afection; they are ill at ease with it, so it must be avoided. Seeing same sex couples probably won’t shock urban residents, but it may be diferent when you see same sex public displays of afection for the irst time. As the interviewee and her partner have gone shopping together, it’s very likely that they share a trolley, so they can be seen as a couple, and they both are allowing that to happen, otherwise they would not visit the grocery store together. he relationship is allowed to be seen, but the sexuality is not. One might also consider that sexual conduct in a grocery store is not allowed for heterosexuals either. Yes, that is admittedly true to some extent. Impassioned kissing, and groping are not actions that are allowed during shopping. hat is our cultural norm. Stroking your partner’s back does not make for a very lascivious act, and had it been done by a heterosexual couple I suspect it would not have confused any salesperson. 12. he names of the persons have been changed. 13. I have numbered the interviews in chronological order. 159 Northern Insights But why it is important to avoid upsetting the sales lady? Would it be diferent if this had happened in Helsinki, Tampere, or even Berlin? I would suggest that in those cities, if the person in question is just a visitor or lives in diferent part of town or city – in other words is an unknown person in the grocery – a salesperson’s confusion would not bother her so much. But even in cities if the salesperson is a neighbour or an acquaintance the situation is diferent. If someone you know catches you doing something weird or non-normative, the embarrassment can be greater than with a complete stranger. here is always the fear that the person could at some point remind you of that incident. In a small village this becomes even more signiicant. In a village everybody knows each other, perhaps not well, but they know your name and your family if they live there (Pehkonen 2004, 101). Most people belong to a family of some kind or another (even if geographically or emotionally distant), and it is usually considered important not to let your family down. In a small community you not only represent yourself, you also represent your whole family. You are expected to be loyal to them and avoid excessive provocativeness (Gray 2009, 49) in order to be accepted into the community. In small communities it is very important to maintain good ties with the community. he fact that everyone knows each other helps to stay on friendly (or at least neutral) terms with others in everyday interaction. If you are known to be a good person, people trust you and you are more likely to hold a respectable position. You are part of the community by deinition if you have grown up in the same or nearby village (Kazyak 2011, 571). he importance of family became very clear in my interviews. In the north, the irst thing people want to know is “whose daughter/son are you?” and not “what do you do for a living?”, which is the more common question in the south (according to an interviewee who moved to Lapland from southern Finland). Membership in a known family makes you belong as ”one of us.” People know the other members of the family, 160 The Only Gay in the Village? the family’s history, where they usually pick berries14 etc. Also belonging to a respected family elevates one’s status to that of a “good person”, even among those who don’t know you personally. his also works the other way. A “bad” family name can give an individual a bad reputation. (Pehkonen 2004, 85). But if you move to a village from somewhere else and you do not have relatives there, you do not belong. It could take years to ind your own place within the community and it may never happen. In Lapland, there is even a speciic term for those who were not born here: junantuoma, literally “those brought by train”. It is very hard to get rid of this label and to become accepted as one of the villagers, as one of us. Women especially feel that if you are from somewhere else it is even more diicult to be seen and heard as a local. In Lapland, divisions are traditionally made by gender, ethnicity, and political or religious views, but it also seems that having moved to a village from somewhere else is nowadays another way of being an outsider (Keskitalo-Foley 2007). hings may be diferent if one manages to become, or is already seen as, one of the locals. One relates diferently to things or people that are near than to those that are distant. Kazyak (2011, 573) points out that one’s political views towards sexual minorities do not necessarily go hand-in-hand with how one treats one’s neighbours in everyday life. he interaction in a village is a combination of nearness, distance, inclusion, and exclusion (Simmel 1971, 143–149). he density of social bonds, as well as the signiicance of family and relatives, also plays an important role in the next quote, where the parents of the interviewee are ofering advice to their daughter. he daughter has just told them that she is attracted to girls as well. Her parents advise her: “Don’t be in public. Don’t walk in public – just don’t. And don’t talk to anybody.” (II, 2010) 14. he traditional Finnish legal concept of everyman’s right allows free right to collect natural products such as wild berries, no matter who owns the land. Regardless the everyman’s right, in rural Lapland communities, each family has their own area for picking berries. hese areas are not deined in oicial documents, but are inherited from generation to generation. 161 Northern Insights he parents are very eager to keep their daughter’s sexual orientation as an intra-family matter. his relects the fact that in small communities “coming out” is not just the revelation of a personal secret. At the same time the whole family “comes out of the closet”. Coming out not only concerns the person her/himself, it concerns a larger group of people. In small communities people know each other’s businesses, and word travels fast (Kazyak 2011, 575). If somebody’s daughter is seen kissing another girl in public, it is likely those who see it will know whose daughter that is, and they will not hesitate to tell others about it. At least, this is what the parents are afraid of. “Everybody knows each other’s business” is a very common phrase heard in my interviews. I tried to ask the interviewees how they know this, but the only answer given was, “I just know”. he same phenomenon was also noted by Aini Pehkonen in her research. Pehkonen (2004, 107) explains that one’s own suspicion and habits of rumour-spreading gives enough reason to suppose that people are talking about your business as well. he suspicion becomes reality if one is explicitly told she/ he is being talked about. here could also be another reason for keeping the daughter’s sexual orientation known only within the family. It also became clear in my interviews that some parents were worried about their daughter’s or son’s safety. he parents were aware of the negative jokes and rumours – maybe even violence, and discrimination – that some gay men, lesbians and bisexuals face. So, for the good of their daughter or son, they advise them to keep their sexual orientation hidden, and let heteronormative assumptions do the work. Regarding the quotation above, the daughter herself did not think that in her case the parents were worried about her safety. Her irm belief was that the parents were ashamed about the situation. he example about the daughter and her parents highlights the cultural narrative where coming out and being out can only happen in urban areas. As Kazyak (2011, 568) also points out, this is not always the case. Coming out requires drawing a line between one’s public and private life. In small communities this line is not always easy to draw. For 162 The Only Gay in the Village? example, in the small towns and villages of Finnish Lapland it is still common for people pay you a visit without an advance notice. Visiting is one way of showing one is accepted as being one of the villagers. he norm is that the visitor should be received. he visitor usually drinks a cup of cofee, chats a little bit, and then leaves. he host doesn’t let the visitor bother them too much; they continue doing what they were doing before the visitor came. You can’t hide your relationship – especially if you are living with your partner – in a community where visitors come to your door out of the blue. Your relationship becomes common knowledge in the community. I’ve described here aspects of the life in rural villages in Lapland. Life in a village near a ski resort is a quite diferent matter. Ski resorts as a meeting place Although in some ways it is still more narrow-minded, when you go to the ski resort there are so many diferent kinds of people there. It’s easier somehow; they’ve seen so much because so many tourists visit. It’s not a big deal for them. (II, 2009) he most important attraction (especially from a LGB person’s point of view) Lapland has to ofer compared to other rural areas in Finland are the ski resorts. During ski season they turn into pseudo-towns, populated by tourists and seasonal workers coming mostly from the metropolitan area (Kauppila 2004, 193–193, 206–207). Tourism is the most signiicant source of income in Lapland; according to statistics, in 2007 Lapland had the second-highest number of foreign overnights visitors, right after Uusimaa15 (Matkailufaktat 2007, 2). hese ski resorts are part of the global economy, and form an interaction network between diferent cultures. 15. Uusimaa is the most populated region in southern Finland. Foreign overnight visitors: Uusimaa 2 127 461 (of which Helsinki 1 707 829); Lapland 829 357; he Åland Islands 258 311. 163 Northern Insights Tourists demand the same services and familiarity they are used to at home, resulting in the resorts starting to resemble the tourists’ home areas; they become so-called placeless destinations. he ski resorts become similar to metropolitan areas, and to each other. his homogenization process occurs simultaneously with a process of diversiication. he resorts difer from their surroundings; instead of loss through migration, they gain population – and the population is relatively young with fewer senior citizens than “regular” villages (Kauppila 2004, 121, 193–194, 206–207). Lapland is often discussed using a mythological or misery discourse (Keskitalo-Foley 2007, 291). he mythical aspect is mostly a result of tourism, and the misery a result of politics (Rautio 2010, summary). he misery discourse is also produced through a hierarchical division based on the geographical diference between south and north16; typically manifested using the binary opposites of urban and rural, centre and periphery, culture and nature, rational and ludic, socially ordered and carnivalesque (Gorman-Murray et al. 2012, 77; Shields 1991, 260). he geographic division both expresses these social divisions metaphorically and makes the diferences tangible (Shields 1991, 260). Stereotyping the south and the north is very common, and it happens on both sides of the battle line. In reality, of course, neither Lapland nor “the South” form a compact and homogeneous cultural region, but instead there exist many Lapland and Southern regional identities (Tuominen 2011, 55). Ski resorts are a very visual example of how the mythical and the carnivalesque coalesce. Lapland’s resorts have become mythologised in much the same way as other resorts around the world; they have become behavioural “free zones”, embracing a mythologically carnivalesque reputation and place-image. Besides tourists, these resorts also ofer the residents of surrounding rural areas a space in which the traditional morality of rural life is contested. he place-image of these resorts is very strong. Mention a ski resort and people tend to immediately think of a particular kind of place with certain kinds of people and activities (Shields 1991, 16. he north/south division is common in many countries; for example in Canada and England (Shields 1991). 164 The Only Gay in the Village? 60, 256). Most people share an image of these resorts, be it a generalised image of activities (skiing, alcohol, dancing), or a particularised image of one speciic resort (for example, Levi). It is no coincidence that ski resorts are widely known as mythical and carnivalesque places. In today’s world, Lapland as a whole can be seen as ideal area for tourism. It has natural beauty, and is located far away from the economic centres; both factors that add to Lapland’s exotic value. Also, the natural phenomena occurring in the north – the midnight sun, the northern lights, the cold, the snow and the polar night – make it diferent from most tourists’ typical surroundings (Tuulentie & Sarkki 2009, 9). Much like the Niagara Falls in the US, which represents high culture (water, nature) for the Japanese and low culture (kitsch) for the Americans (Shields 1991, 256–257), ski resorts in Finnish Lapland also have diferent meanings for diferent people. Japanese tourists are interested in the area’s nature, and especially the northern lights, while snowboarders look for the best pipe, and cross-country skiers seek the best terrain. Tourists, especially those who have visited Lapland often, are able to make distinctions between the diferent ski resorts. To them, Pallas is associated with peacefulness, nature and the wild and empty landscapes. Ylläs, aside from its noteworthy ski centre, is regarded as an authentic Lapland village where tourism is not the only business, and where local people live all year round allowing tourists to see the local lifestyle during their vacation. Levi, by contrast, is seen as a place for downhill skiing and partying (Meriruoho & Rantala 2005, 21, 25). he tourist industry and local communities have also had their tensions over the efects that tourism has on a region’s history, tradition, and culture (Hakkarainen 2009, 132). For example, locals in Äkäslompolo see the Alpine houses at Levi as cautionary examples of what not to build in Ylläs ( Jokinen et al. 2009, 66). Of current interest is the question of how to best combine tourism and the use of natural resources. What will happen to the tourism industry when the fell tops are covered by wind farms? How can the mining industry and tourism work together? Tourism is a very signiicant business in Lapland, as is mining, forestry, 165 Northern Insights reindeer farming, agriculture and other natural sources of livelihood. hese are important questions, and the municipalities are trying to ensure that all these sources of livelihood can co-exist (Outila 2005, 257). he quotation at the start of this chapter demonstrates how people living in rural areas understand “rural” in nuanced ways. he interviewee makes her own analysis about the diferences between ski resorts and other rural areas in Lapland. My cousin, he works there, and he said that there are plenty of gays and lesbians among the workers. Jani said, “Every time I have a crush on somebody she tells me she likes girls”. It’s so common. (II, 2009) Due to the large amount of people staying at these ski resorts during the ski season, there are also many LGB people present, as workers as well as tourists: “I was playing music there at the resort and she always came to get drunk, so that’s where we met.” (III, 2009) Ski resorts ofer local LGB people a place to meet others and ind company, perhaps even a life partner. Compared to the “regular villages”, the resorts ofer a very diferent venue for meeting other LGB people. Last Saturday we were at the resort […] here was only one man there, younger than me. He came over and got a little bit excited when he found out Anna was with me. “hat’s not an impossible obstacle, it’s only a small problem – I know those kind of women, I’ve been in Helsinki”. But I ignored him; he wasn’t worth it and he was probably drunk too. I couldn’t take it so we left. (II, 2009) While resorts ofer LGB people a place and a space to meet each other, the space is also fragile. Heterosexuality is still the norm, and there is always the possibility that somebody from the “opposite sex” will come to make an acquaintance and not be very happy to ind rejection. his sort of incident is something that can happen in any bar implicitly aimed at heterosexuals. In small towns and rural areas, straight bars (often the 166 The Only Gay in the Village? only bar in town) are usually the only option if you fancy having a drink. By comparison, in Helsinki or a few other cities in Finland, LGB people can opt to visit bars or clubs that are aimed speciically at them. In these “gay bars”, non-heterosexuality is the norm. Of course a partner can be found almost anywhere, if you are lucky, but according to my interviews the ski resorts are one of the most common places. Reasons to stay or even come back So why would somebody stay or even return to the countryside? In Finland there have been no studies concerning this issue speciically from the point of view of sexual minorities. Instead there have been studies in which staying or returning to the countryside have been analysed in a more general way (in other words, from an implicitly heterosexual point of view). To understand staying it is also important to understand leaving. Seija Keskitalo-Foley’s (2004, 52) study shows that economic circumstances are one of the main reasons to leave a certain area, but also the life events of the person or her/his loved ones are important. For example, if one’s partner has found a job somewhere else, or if she/he has a great job in the home community, it is easier to make decisions based on that. Relationships, relatives, a partner, and the bond to the home district inluence the decision of staying or leaving. Nevertheless, as Anne K. Ollila (2008, 203–204) points out, for young people in Finnish Lapland, talking about moving is necessary to maintain a positive outlook for the future. hey ind their home places rather depressing, so talking about moving gives them conidence, and something to look forward to. For youngsters, moving is often something they simply have to do because of the limited educational possibilities in their native regions or the neighbouring area (also Paunikallio 2003, 19). Although people move to the cities, people also move back. his counter migration is less researched, but it is clear that the reasons to return include altered valuations, an emphasis placed on family or personal relationships, and afection for one’s place of origin (Pohjola 1989, 167 Northern Insights 28, Keskitalo-Foley 2004, 56). Comparable reasons are also common among LGB people as Emily Kazyak (2011, 567) points out in her study. he most common reasons shown in her research for returning to a rural area are caring for one’s ageing family members, inding a partner who lives in the area, or preferring to raise one’s children in the countryside. here might be other reasons as well: “Urban gay culture was quite unfamiliar to me. Of course, I’ve been there, danced, and had fun, but I never really got into it.” (I, 2009) A dislike of cities is the most common reason to return, as well as being the underlying reason for wanting to remain in the home district (Kazyak 2011, 568). he reality is that there are people who feel uncomfortable in urban areas. his becomes evident in the following reply after I asked my interviewee if she would ever like to move to Helsinki to live a “gay life”: “No, never. here are too many houses and traic lights, and people. Too much of everything.” (III, 2009) When one sees cities as having “too much”, it is obvious that one prefers to have less instead. he options Lapland has to ofer are also important. Tiina: Yeah, we go ishing a lot. Niina: Tiina ishes and now she has started to go camping with me. Myself, I go trekking and canoeing and everything. I hunt and go dog sledding. (III, 2009) Space and nature are culturally-shared values of rural life. Rural space ofers peace and privacy, the freedom to do whatever one chooses, and an opportunity to be alone. One does not necessarily have to do anything; one can just be and relax. here is no hurry, no noise. Nature ofers you aesthetic pleasure and opportunities for outdoor activities. he closeness to, and the abundance of nature are also appreciated in rural areas. Nature is near, safe, silent, and clean. Having fewer options also makes life much easier and more simple (Lüthje 2005, 227–228). 168 The Only Gay in the Village? Conclusion In this paper I have illustrated a few points concerning rural life in Lapland, how social life is constructed there, and what that might mean from a LGB person’s point of view. At the end of the article I also considered the reasons for wanting to stay in Lapland or to return there. his article is mostly inluenced by Emily Kazyak’s (2010, 2011) work, because it seemed the most relevant research available at a certain point of my own research project. In the media, life in the Finnish countryside in general, and in Lapland in particular, is in some cases painted as being terrible, forcing LGB peole to move to the metropolitan areas in the south. It is quite diicult to say what “terrible” really means in this case. According to the aforementioned media texts, it could be anything from a lack of gay culture, to, as Heikkinen’s study (2002) shows, overly strict social controls. It is undoubtedly true that urban areas ofer a wider selection of spaces aimed at sexual minorities than villages or even small towns – and this is what some people want. Nevertheless, some LGB people prefer a rural setting, building their identities and their own queer spaces within the village or small town communities they inhabit (Wilson 2000, 214, Marple 2005, 72). Some of them have never left their home village, and some have moved back after years in the south. Life in a rural village is very much deined by familiarity and membership in a known family. Belonging to a family gives you status and protection, but it also demands loyalty and consideration in order to not let your family down. his can limit public same-sex displays of afection, or even discussion about one’s sexual orientation. Alternatively, if you live with your partner, it is not easy to hide your relationship in a small community; it will soon become common knowledge. he villages in Lapland are all diferent, and the most notable factor in marking diference is their proximity to a ski resort. he resorts become pseudo-towns during the ski season; tourists from the metropolitan area come to ski and have fun, and there are also a lot of seasonal workers – so 169 Northern Insights these resorts ofer locals a place to meet new people. Many of my interviewees have found sexual liaisons or even a life partner from the resort, so they are remarkable arenas for locals as well. Some LGB people migrate to the metropolitan area, but so do also some heterosexuals. here are people who, regardless of their sexual orientation, feel uneasy in a small community or who long for something that a small community cannot ofer. Also among my interviewees there were young people who just wanted to see the world and who yearned for larger social circles, which is surely not uncommon for any young person. One’s priorities determine one’s place of residence. For one person it might be the opportunity to live a “gay life” in a city, or to have a respected career, for another it may be the opportunity to go downhill skiing whenever she/he feels like it, or to live near her/his ageing parents. Figuring out, or fulilling one’s sexual orientation can be the most important thing to consider when making a choice about one’s residence, inluencing the decision to move to a metropolitan area to ind oneself and others of the same orientation. For others, it is less important. hey might prefer the closeness to nature, outdoor activities, solitude, or a close-knit community. One’s priorities might also change, making for example a return to one’s birthplace more appealing. Even a small community can be a melting pot of diferent kinds of people who must communicate and live together. his is the thing I ind most interesting: what does it mean when members of sexual minorities are also involved. For example, under what circumstances can diferent sexual orientations be discussed, when are same sex partnerships allowed to be seen as relationships and when as sexuality? Also: when does visibility become a threat to the other members of the community? I will discuss these questions further in my doctoral thesis. 170 The Only Gay in the Village? References Apo, Satu 1996: Agraarinen suomalaisuus – rasite vai resurssi? In Laaksonen Pekka & Mettomäki Sirkka-Liisa (ed.): Olkaamme siis suomalaisia. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, Helsinki, 176–184. Brown, Michael & Knopp, Larry 2003: Queer Cultural Geographies – We’re Here! We’re Queer! We’re Over here, Too! In Anderson, Kay; Domosh, Mona; Pile, Steve & hrift, Nigel: Handbook of Cultural Geography. Sage, London. 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Vänskä, Annamari 2006: Vikuroivia vilkaisuja: ruumis, sukupuoli, seksuaalisuus ja visuaalisen kulttuurin tutkimus. Taidehistorian seura, Helsinki. Wilson, Angelica 2000: “Getting Your Kicks on Route 66! Stories of gay and lesbian life in rural America”, In: Phillips, Richard; Watt, Diane & Shuttleton, David (ed.): De-Centering Sexualities: Politics and Representations Beyond the Metropolis. Routledge, New York, 195–212. 173 Northern Insights Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo laestadian girls in FORBIDDEN FRUIT Representations of Gender, Place and Agency Representations and Forbidden Fruit In this article I study representations of young religious women through the Finnish ilm Forbidden Fruit. I take on a multidisciplinary approach to examining the portrayal of the revivalist movement called Laestadianism, and I trace how gender, place, and agency are represented in the ilm. he term representation is deined as portraying something in a particular way and from a certain perspective. To study representations in this context necessitates studying how the ilm depicts and typiies categories such as gender. Representation in a social constructionist understanding is, however, not seen as something that merely portrays things that already are; representations enter into the constitution of things – they participate in producing and constructing meanings. he representation of any given category has a relationship to, and an efect on, how we understand and make meaning of it. herefore an attempt to study representations should aim to not only describe the representations, but attempt a critical reading of them as well (see e.g. Koivunen 2004, 229– 230; Oinonen & Mähkä 2012, 287–288). he Laestadian revivalist movement is approached in this article as a social structure which – together with gender, place, and agency – is represented and (re)produced in the ilm. Gender, in this analysis, refers to socially constructed roles, behaviours, and attributes associated with 174 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit women and men – in this case especially women – while agency is understood as the possibilities available for an individual to act and make choices in a particular social and cultural context. Place in the article refers to physical and geographical places: concrete locations as well as mental, cultural and symbolic places, and places of agency (see Keskitalo-Foley 2004, 18–20; see also Ronkainen & Naskali 2007). Social and cultural categories are seen as deinitive and normative, and hence they are neither “innocent” nor “natural”, but rather the location of questions of power and order (see e.g. Valkonen 2010, 4–5). he images and imagined realities of young Nordic Laestadian women in the ilm Forbidden Fruit are studied as constructions that participate in the production of knowledge about revival movements and religiosity, and also about growing into womanhood in Finland in the 21st century. Forbidden Fruit (2009, directed by Dome Karukoski, written and produced by Aleksi Bardy) is a coming-of-age story about two Laestadian girls, Raakel (Marjut Maristo) and Maria (Amanda Pilke). In the movie, the Laestadian girls leave the shelter of their community one summer and go out into the city to “taste the forbidden fruit”. he description of the ilm provided by the Finnish Film Foundation characterizes it as a story about breaking boundaries and searching for freedom; about two young women experiencing the adventure of a lifetime, and encountering a world previously forbidden to them. he English language synopsis describes the ilm as follows: In the beginning of the ilm, two religious girls from the Finnish countryside are coming close to the marrying age. he story continues as one of the girls, Maria, escapes to work in Helsinki, the capital city of Finland, for the summer. At the request of the parish, her friend Raakel follows to look after her. At the end of the movie, and the summer, the two girls face the choice of either returning to their community or leaving it, and they arrive at opposite conclusions (he Finnish Film Foundation). Forbidden Fruit is a contemporary story, mainly targeted towards young audiences. he ilm participated in over ifty international ilm festivals between 2009–2011, and won more than ten prizes, such as the Gold 175 Northern Insights Dolphin for best ilm in Festroia International Film Festival, Portugal in 2009, and Special Mention of the Youth Jury in Gafa – 5th International Festival for Young People, Vienna, Austria in 2009 (he Finnish Film Foundation). As complementary material to the actual ilm, I will also look at some promotional texts, reviews and an interview with the director. he analysis of a ilm should not be entirely separated from the meanings attributed in public discussions, hence I am including some of these “public framings”, as Anu Koivunen calls them, in the analysis that will help to discuss, and contextualise the ilm. Reviews and advertisements also efect how the public perceives the ilm (see Koivunen 2006, 92; see also Oinonen & Mähkä 2012, 274, 291–292).1 Forbidden Fruit is a ictional ilm made by non-Laestadians. Questions then arise as to what such a ilm can reveal about Laestadian women or Laestadianism. In this article I am not asking how Laestadians, as a “genuine category”2, are represented in the ilm, but rather showing how Laestadianism is always saturated with representations (cf. Koivunen 2004, 229–230, 247–248). In Forbidden Fruit, the relationship between iction and reality is a complex one. When analysing iction one can compare the ictional world with reality, but the relevance does not primarily lie in arguing whether or not iction accurately portrays reality. 1. Often, in media and ilm research, the importance of analysing the audience or spectators is emphasised (see e.g. Mäkelä, Puustinen & Ruoho 2006; Koivunen 2006; OInonen & Mähkä 2012). As this article is not purely a ilm study, I rather concentrate on certain themes of Laestadianism seen in and through the ilm. he spectator’s perspective is generally excluded. It would, however, be an interesting topic of study to analyze the public discussion of, or reactions to the ilm. An especially pertinent note is that even though it is not generally acceptable for Laestadians to go to movies, some members of the community have apparently seen the movie, and there is conversation about the ilm in, for example, internet forums on Laestadianism, e.g. on Suomi24 (www.suomi24.i). 2. We would need to know what Laestadianism really is – an essentialist deinition of Laestadianism that is both impossible and irrelevant to achieve – in order to argue whether the portrayal of Laestadianism “matches reality”. C.f. e.g. discussions on portraying gender correctly (Mäkelä, Puustinen & Ruoho 2006, 30). 176 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit Representations are meaningful on their own. It is important to study and dissect ictional representations since, besides being highly afective, ilms may have a somewhat direct efect on our understanding of phenomena around us, in this case about the Laestadians (Oinonen & Mähkä 2012, 271–276, 286–287). Forbidden Fruit relects a popular interpretation of the Laestadian movement, and hence it is shaped by, and participates in public discussion about Laestadianism in Finland, and also partakes in constructing the image of Laestadianism. In addition to reading the ilm, I will discuss it in relation to research on Laestadianism and texts from within the movement itself. In the next chapter I will frame my study by situating myself as a researcher. I will then briely introduce the revival movement of Laestadianism and deine how religion is approached in this study, as well as discussing briely the characteristics of ilm, media, and revivalism in Finnish cinema. I will then follow this by analysing representations of Laestadian women by distinguishing three themes: tradition, control, and contact. In the concluding chapter I will bring these themes together in relation to the choices of the girls made in the ilm, and that of the continuity of Laestadianism. Frames – Situating the Analysis Films are always interpreted and given meaning in a historical, localised and cultural context (see e.g. Koivunen 2006, 86–87, 92). he background and position of the researcher also efects and directs the analytical gaze. he importance of situating not only the research, but also the researcher, is often emphasised in feminist readings (Ronkainen & Naskali 2007, 65). I am not a complete stranger to the setting of the ilm. What I share with the ilmmakers, and many Laestadians, on a very general level, is a Finnish cultural background. he places and scenery depicted in the movie are familiar to me, and, like a signiicant number of Finns, especially in the North of Finland, I have acquaintances, colleagues, and ancestors who are Laestadians. As a researcher I study the Laestadian movement – but 177 Northern Insights from the position of an outsider. While the ilm could be analysed, for example, as part of the genre of youth or romance movies, my focus is on the religious movement. he choice the girls make at the end of the ilm, leaving or staying in their community and the Laestadian revival movement, could be interpreted as a personal lifestyle choice at the verge of adulthood. From the perspective of the Laestadian movement though, it also reveals a possible, and actually real threat to the continuity of the movement – the loss of young members – and therefore ofers a possibility to examine the interpretations of this choice. he Laestadianism at the core of the ilm is a Lutheran revival movement. It is founded on the spiritual work of the Swedish-Sami botanist and preacher, Lars Levi Laestadius (1800–1861). Laestadians are generally known for their large families, conservative values, and exclusive social identity. Today, there are estimated ca. 200,000 Laestadians worldwide, most of them living in Finland, Sweden, Norway, and North America. he history of the movement is characterised by successful expansion, but also by several disputes and divisions. Laestadianism has split into numerous diferent branches; today there are 18 of them (see e.g. Talonen 2001, 11; Hepokoski 2002; Linjakumpu 2003, 97; Suolinna & Sinikara 1986, 156). he main branch of Laestadianism in Finland, with over 100,000 followers, is Conservative Laestadianism, and it is Conservative Laestadians that are portrayed in the ilm. What distinguishes Conservative Laestadians from the majority of (secular) Finns is that they live by rather strict moral codes and practices, and standards of religiosity. hey do not, for example, use alcohol, dance or listen to rhythmic music, watch television, use make-up, approve premarital sex or allow contraception.3 Instead, they participate very actively in their congregation, and emphasise strong personal religious conviction. Conservative Laestadians also believe that their Church represents Christianity in its purest form, and outside the church there is no salvation (see e.g. SRK 2005, Uljas 2000, Huotari 1981, Kutuniva 2007, 22–23; Kutuniva 2003, 63). Inside the 3. However, Laestadians today do use the internet, so they do not live in a complete cultural void. 178 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit Finnish Lutheran Church they form a type of “ecclesiolae in ecclesia” (see eg. McGuire 1997, 158–159). Laestadianism is a religious movement, but it can be also approached as a social structure; a system of “being and acting in the world”. Peter Berger connects religions to the human enterprise of world building. According to him, the “socially constructed world is, above all, an ordering of experience”. (Berger 1969/1990, 19) his order, or nomos, is often explained and legitimised by something beyond or “above” human that makes it appear as natural and even sacred. Religions have throughout history adopted similar rationalisations (Berger 1969/1990). Cliford Greetz’s (1986) classical deinition of religion as “a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence” is still useful, although somewhat general. Sociologist Meredith McGuire emphasises the social aspects of religion: “religion exists in a social context, is shaped by that social context, and, in turn, often inluences it” (McGuire 1997, xiii). It is quite apparent that the efects of religious conviction, thought, and actions are not limited to any religious institutions, but can extend to almost all aspects of society and life. his is especially true in Laestadianism, which is both a very communal and very comprehensive faith and lifestyle. By studying religion from the perspective of social science, themes such as the links between the individual, the collective and society, the organisation of a collective, power, ordering and legitimisation, and the impact of social change can be examined (McGuire 1997, 22; see also Pyysiäinen 2001, 236). Religion is a force of both cohesion and conlict. It constructs as well as divides collectives and groups (McGuire 1997, 186, 198–199, 226). As Berger (1969/1990, 100–101) puts it, it has both world-maintaining and world-shaking power. Feminist studies of religions have, since the 1960s, paid attention to the connections between religion and gender. Christianity has had, and still plays, an important role in shaping the position of women in society. he opposite is also true: women are pivotal to the fate and vitality of 179 Northern Insights Christianity. It has also been identiied that there are diferent modes of religiosity for men and women; generally – although not solely – women’s religiosity is unoicial and private while men control the public face of practicing religions. It is important to notice that the maintenance of prevailing gender roles is largely explained and legitimised via religious arguments, and this is especially true in religious communities such as Laestadianism (Hovi 1999, 12–14; Vuola 1999a, 111–112; Aune 2008, 278– 279; see also Mcguire 1997, 107–108). When looking at a ilm about a religious group, such as Forbidden Fruit, it is also necessary to consider the characteristics of that particular media and the tradition of ilm research. In ilm and media analysis, and in feminist and critical reading, it is often pointed out that the role of media is to act out shared beliefs. It relects, supports, and constructs our contemporary society. Communication and media are both practices that produce meaning (Mäkelä, Puustinen & Ruoho 2006, 25, 40–41). A ilm is not just images, but imagining, as ilm scholar Anu Koivunen emphasises. Movies participate in constructing understanding – of ourselves, others, and social relationships. According to De Laurentian thinking, a ilm, and the study of ilms, is not only about representation, but about the possibilities to perceive, categorise and experience – for example a gender – that it opens up and creates. A ilm, then, is a site and a system for the production of knowledge and power (Koivunen 2006, 80–83, 86–87). Gender is an example of a cultural system or structure that creates hierarchies or diferences between people. Gender, however, is not the only social category of this type that can be examined. An intersectional approach emphasises the multitude of factors that distinguish people from one another, such as ethnicity, age, or social class. hese diferences are manifested in the human body, and by studying the representations of bodies, the embodiment – as well as the social construction – of these categories can be examined (see e.g. Jokinen, Kaskisaari & Husso, 2004, 8; Kyrölä 2006, 125; Mäkelä, Puustinen & Ruoho 2006, 16; Ronkainen 180 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit & Naskali 2007, 65; Valkonen 2010, 4–5). For example, one’s position or movement in a space is a part of the public representation of these categories. he shaping and materialisation of these diferences is manifested in ilm “through poses and gestures, costumes, make-up, staging and generic storytelling” (Mäkelä, Puustinen & Ruoho 2006, 19–21). Religion and revivalism have appeared in Finnish cinema well before appearing in Forbidden Fruit. According to the theologian and media entrepreneur Teemu Kakkuri, however, Finnish cinema and revivalist movements have not been particularly well suited to each other, with each rejecting the other. Revivalist movements generally deem movies sinful, and very seldom do ilmmakers emerge from within such movements. For ilmmakers, revivalist movements might appear distant, strange, and even oppressive, and this is often manifested in the portrayal of such movements in ilms. he common visual imagery for revivalist movements seen in the history of Finnish ilm is of a serious-faced people dressed in black clothes, chanting slow hymns, or alternatively partaking in a religious fervour resembling a form of sexual ecstasy (Kakkuri 2011, 60–62). Quite often, religion in Finnish cinema appears in the background, as a characteristic of a society or a community. he other common way to represent religious themes in ilm is thorough the character of a priest, who typically sufers an inner conlict of some sort. here are very few Finnish ilms that focus on young people and their life choices, especially the kind where a religious life has been presented as a viable, or attractive choice.4 In this sense, Forbidden Fruit is quite a unique ilm. At an international level, Forbidden Fruit resembles to some extent American movies about the Amish or the Mennonites. Kakkuri claims that in Finland, Forbidden Fruit was the irst movie that focused as a whole on a revivalist movement, ofered a perspective from inside the movement, 4. he irst example of such a movie was probably Mona ja palavan rakkauden aika, 1983, by Mikko Niskanen. 181 Northern Insights and gave faces and personalities to followers of the movement5 (Kakkuri 2011, 62–65; see also Review 2009a; 2009b; 2009c). Tradition – Placed and Gendered Laestadianism Forbidden Fruit situates the Laestadian home community of Raakel and Maria in the landscapes of northern Finland.6 he movie opens with a scene portraying a serene morning in the countryside. he Laestadians in the ilm appear to be living in an agrarian community, and their surroundings and lifestyle are reminiscent of the past, even though the ilm is set in the 21st century. Laestadianism in the ilm appears static and seemingly untouched by the rest of the world. he representation of the Laestadian community in this manner is no surprise; it is actually typical for Finnish cinema to locate religiousness to agrarian, northern settings, and to small villages (Kakkuri 2011, 63–64). In the ilm, Laestadian tradition is geographically and mentally placed in the North, which is no coincidence. Laestadian religion and lifestyle in Finland represents a strong continuum of tradition, and especially a Northern tradition. Laestadianism can be seen as product of Northern culture. he movement originated from the northern parts of Finland and Sweden around mid-1800’s and rapidly spread in the North Calotte with the indigenous Sami population, as well as the Finns. Laestadianism has roots in pietistic and Herrnhutian thinking and the reader’s movement, but it also managed 5. Recent ilms related to Laestadianism include the Finnish documentary ilm Maailmassa by Pia Andell. he documentary tells the story of two Conservative Laestadian men that end up having to make a similar choice as that in Forbidden Fruit: one leaves and the other stays in the movement. 2011 also saw also the premiere of a biographical ilm about Lars Levi Laestadius, produced by Institute of Northern Culture (see also Kakkuri 2011). 6. It appears that the community is situated somewhere in North-Ostrobothnia, a strong area for Laestadians, rather than in the province of Lapland. hat is also where the director of Forbidden Fruit places the imaginary village (see the interview of Dome Karukoski 2009). Nonetheless, the location can be considered geographically northern Finland. 182 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit to interweave Sami tradition and believes into Lutheran teachings. he movement’s birth and widespread popularity can be linked to the living conditions and historical situation in the North. Laestadian rhetoric emphasises personal faith and, according to Tuominen (2011, 58), can be seen as an “emancipatory claiming of one’s own physical and mental space”. Laestadianism has had a profound religious, cultural, and social impact in the North, and the North has had an impact on the characteristics of Laestadianism as well (see Lohi 1997; Lohi 2000, 91–97; Pentikäinen & Pulkkinen 2011; Tuominen 2011, 56–59; see also Linjakumpu 2003, 106; Kutuniva 2003, 63–65). he connection between the North and Laestadianism is a strong one in even in contemporary public discussion.7 It could be questioned, however, whether the northern roots of Laestadianism are recognised today by the Laestadians themselves. Laestadians interviewed by Mervi Kutuniva in her research found the idea of Laestadianism as grounded in a speciically Northern culture somewhat strange and unfamiliar. Laestadianism has, after all, spread throughout the whole of Finland, and only a small portion of Laestadians live in the countryside today (Kutuniva 2003, 64–65). Forbidden Fruit still seems to utilise the popular imagination that locates Laestadianism in the North, and also draws on wider cultural constructions of the North as a mythical periphery and secluded haven (see e.g. Keskitalo-Foley 2004, 48–51; Tuominen 2011). Since Laestadians have throughout their history inhabited cities, and bearing in mind that the irst Laestadian Rauhanyhdistys8 was founded in Helsinki, placing Laestadian religiosity in a rural northern landscape is a stereotype that the ilm repeats (see Kakkuri 2011, 63–64; Lohi 1997). 7. To demonstrate, there is a Finnish saying that “in northern Finland, even the atheists are Laestadians” (Kutuniva 2003, 65). 8. Conservative Laestadians in Finland are organised around 184 local groups called Rauhanyhdistys, the central organization, Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten Keskusyhdistys (SRK), is situated in Oulu, in North-Ostrobothnia. 183 Northern Insights Compared to the northern setting of the religious community, the big city – the “world” where the girls head for their summer of adventure – is a sharp contrast. his “world” is represented by the capital city, Helsinki, which lies in the south of Finland. he imagery of Helsinki in Forbidden Fruit is that of busy people, shops and bars, neon signs, and backstreets. he Laestadian community seems to be the total opposite of the secular world. his drastic contrast was what the director of Forbidden Fruit says he was looking for in the ilm. In an interview, Karukoski states that he was especially interested in the meeting of two normative communities: liberal and secular Helsinki, with its vices and temptations, and the controlled and conservative, but also warm and innocent village-like community in the North (Interview of Dome Karukoski 2009). Suvi Ronkainen and Päivi Naskali have pointed out that the speciic thematisation of place usually happens when one is constructing diferences, otherness, or “us and them” divisions. (Ronkainen & Naskali 2007, 68) his is very clear and intentional choice made in the ilm. he opposition of the two localities is, however, critiqued by some reviews of the ilm. he sharp contrasts between the Laestadian community and Helsinki, and also the Laestadian girl’s childlike innocence, is not convincing (according to the critique made by Yle, review 2009c). Nevertheless, in the ilm, Laestadians and the “world” are located physically and mentally in diferent places. he representation of the Laestadian community in Forbidden Fruit resembles the classic characteristics of traditional communality. he community is very close and everyone seems to know everybody else. At the beginning of the movie, Raakel wakes up to a peaceful and happy morning. She prays in her bed for blessing, and then goes around the house to gently wake up her younger siblings, all eleven of them. After a little while the whole Laestadian community is gathered at their church; friends meet each other, people hug and shake hands with ministers and 184 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit preachers9. In addition to a brief title screen ofering some general information about the movement, this is how Laestadianism is introduced to the viewer. Emphasising the family as a central characteristic of the movement has a very good reason: Laestadianism is usually a continuing family tradition. Typically, Laestadians are born into Laestadian families, and grow up in the community. Laestadianism unites kith and kin, village communities and localities (Kutuniva 2007, 19; Kutuniva 2003, 66). Laestadianism is an inherited tradition that one carries with oneself. In that sense it shares certain comparable elements with another minority group in the north of Finland, the indigenous Sami people. As Sanna Valkonen (2010) has stated, in order to be recognised as a member of the group one needs to do more than be born into it. Sami identity is strongly linked to established traditional elements and practices, and being a Sami requires knowing and repeating these practices, otherwise the identity might be challenged. Similarly, being Laestadian requires following certain codes of conduct, and performing Laestadianism – for example participating in weekly revival meetings and staying clear of anything that is considered “worldly”. Laestadian tradition, as well as Sami-ness in some cases, is constructed on the diferences existing between “us and them” (Kutuniva 2007, 19–23; see also Valkonen 2010). Laestadian traditions are also present in the way that Laestadians, and especially Laestadian women, are represented in the ilm. One of Laestadianism’s conventions is the continued (re)production and legitimation of gender diferences. he unequal position and opportunities of the sexes is seen as the “natural” and unchanging order of things, or as God’s will (see e.g Hovi 1999, 13–14; Vuola 1999b, 151). Women cannot preach in Conservative Laestadian congregations, and there are no women in 9. All characters of Laestadian preachers in the ilm are men. Conservative Laestadian do not approve women ministers amongst themselves (see e.g. Kutuniva 2007, 28–30). Laestadians’ stand towards women preachers in general is an on-going discussion in Finland. Finnish state church, which Laestadians are a part of, accepts women ministers but male priests who wish not to work with women preachers are allowed to decline from working with them. 185 Northern Insights leading positions in the Church’s organization (see e.g. Kutuniva 2007, 28–30). his, however, has not always been the case. In the early history of Laestadianism during the 19th century, the role of women was more active. Laestadius himself saw women as special mediums of grace, and supported female prophets. Women preachers were not uncommon. In this sense, the movement today difers somewhat from its origins (Pentikäinen & Pulkkinen 2011, 8; see also Kutuniva 2003, 69–70). he primary role of women in Conservative Laestadianism is the role of the mother. he religiosity of a woman is tightly connected to her role as a listener, and to the role of raising new generations and taking care of mundane chores. While motherhood is highly valued in Conservative Laestadianism, womanhood is almost a taboo. Womanhood in Laestadianism becomes linked with sexuality and is therefore deemed sinful. Motherhood on the other hand is vital to the continuity of the movement, and a respected position10. Women in particular have therefore had, and still have, an important role in keeping and continuing Laestadian tradition (see Alasuutari 1992, 106, 112–113; Kutuniva 2003 71–73; Kutuniva 2007, 27–29; Kutuniva 2011, 37; Hovi 1999, 10; see also Suolinna & Sinikara 1986, 94–97; Snellman 2011). Due to birth control not being used within the movement, the number of children in a Laestadian family is typically a lot more than the two children born into average Finnish families. Children are seen as God’s gifts to their parents. Conservative Laestadians are well known for their large families, and this is visible in the ilm – especially in Raakel’s family. 10. Interestingly there are certain similarities to the expected role of women and the emphasis placed on motherhood in Latin American women’s religiosity, as studied by Elina Vuola. Women are expected to keep their virginity and, even in marriage, to remain virtuous and pure. he Virgin Mary embodies this ideal and is worshipped reverently, for example, in Mexico (Vuola 1999b). Despite similar ideals, there is no strong cult of the Virgin Mary in Laestadianism; perhaps one explanation being that the Virgin Mary is less prominent in protestant Christianity compared to Catholic or Orthodox Christianity. However in Laestadius’s conversion story, a Sami woman called “Lapin Maria” – Mary of Lapland – has an important role (see e.g. Pentikäinen & Pulkkinen 2011). 186 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit Interestingly Forbidden Fruit was released in cinemas around the same time that the Finnish League of Human Rights investigated and commented on the ban on contraception in Conservative Laestadianism.11 he public attention towards the “child issue”, as they call it, is felt within the movement as well (Uljas 2000, 105). he question of childbearing does not play a central role in the ilm, and perhaps that is why it did not generate extensive discussion. However, in the ilm, the future that awaits the two girls is most likely the future of a mother with multiple children. From the girls’ interaction with certain boys in the congregation, one can assume that husbands have already been chosen for them, and the tradition is expected to continue. Religion is very much embodied for Laestadian women. Repeated childbearing both leaves its marks on the body, as well as signiicantly dictates the life choices and opportunities, for example career-wise, that Laestadian women can make. A traditional gender system is constructed and maintained strongly in Laestadianism. In Forbidden Fruit, the hair and clothing styles, as well as the behaviour of the Laestadian girls, also represent the traditional and “naturally” modest appearance and role of women. he girls wear childlike, linen dresses and keep their hair long. he image of the tall, blond and slim woman is predominant in Western cinema (Kyrölä 2006, 115). he main character in Forbidden Fruit, Raakel embodies all of those traits. he ilm also conveys heteronormativity. In Laestadianism, homosexuality is considered a sin and an act against God (see SRK, Uljas 2000). However, there is an apparently homosexual character in Forbidden Fruit: Maria’s sister. he sister, Eeva, has left the Laestadian movement and lives in Helsinki. Her life is portrayed as rather chaotic and out of control; she drinks and parties, but doesn’t appear to be very happy. he review of the ilm 11. he Finnish League for Human Rights (FLHR) is a religiously and politically nonaligned human rights organization that monitors and aims to improve human rights in Finland (www.ihmisoikeusliitto.i). In their commentary, the FLHR condemned bans on contraception in cases where it appeared as a social norm, and where breaking the ban led to mental or religious punishment (www.ihmisoikeusliitto.i/images/ pdf_iles/ehkaisykileto2009.pdf ). 187 Northern Insights by Helsingin Sanomat (2009a) asks, with good reason, what the ilm is attempting to say through this image of a partying, hard drinking, possibly lesbian, ex-Laestadian. A study conducted by Kristin Aune (2008) on conservative evangelical Christianity showed that women’s commitment to their churches has diversiied. Whereas women who are willing to live by a traditional family ideals are likely to remain in the church, “women who work full-time, are not married, have feminist orientations or are not heterosexual” are most likely to disailiate themselves from their church (Aune 2008, 283). Eeva’s character its this typiication. One might still wonder why she seems so lost in the ilm; there are no “positive” examples of people who have left the movement until the end of the movie. Control – Laestadian Girls on the Borders of the Acceptable he story in Forbidden Fruit revolves around the choices that Laestadian girls make in relation to the norms that they have been taught, and the possibilities of agency open to the girls while living simultaneously in a Laestadian and secularised Finnish society. Hence the rules, order and norms of the Laestadian community represented in the ilm must form an essential element of the analysis. Even the name of the movie is revealing in this sense: tasting the forbidden fruit is at the core of the ilm. Control is exercised to prevent and punish undesirable behaviour. Laestadians have their own moral codes and practices that separate them from the majority of Finnish society, even though the rest of the society has its own rules and limitations for controlling young women’s sexuality. A strict and well-established social control is typical in Laestadianism. A lifestyle with clearly visible external characteristics and behaviour is an important aspect of being a Laestadian. It indicates one is following right doctrine and the right faith. It is a question of how to be Laestadian “the right way.” he diference between the “outside world” and the Laestadian community is manifested in the rules the Laestadians follow in their lives: right and wrong, and the correct behaviour of a believer is clearly stated in doctrine as well as visible in the way Laestadians 188 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit act and present themselves (see Kutuniva 2007, 20–23; see also SRK 2005, Uljas 2000). Why, then, is it so important to maintain control over the right lifestyle and determine whether one is truly Laestadian? One reason can be found in the exclusiveness of the Conservative Laestadian church: it is only within the group that one is considered truly Christian and eligible for salvation. Faith alone is not enough; membership in the Laestadian community is what matters. Particularistic religious groups such as Laestadianism are often highly concerned with following the “right” faith, and are intolerant of deviance (see e.g. McGuire 1997, 206–209). Kakkuri (2011, 64–65) describes the image of Laestadianism conveyed in the ilm: “the fence around their religious community is tall and boundaries are boldly drawn” between heaven and hell. According to him, the movement’s worldview appears very black and white. he stakes are high in deining the boundaries of the community – it is nothing less than a question of “eternal salvation, or damnation”. Women and their bodies are both symbols and concrete locations where the lines between the acceptable and unacceptable are drawn (see e.g. Hovi 1999; Vuola 1999b). he deinition of sins, or of what is considered sinful, is important here. In the ilm, the Laestadian girls try drinking alcohol, go to a nightclub to dance, make sexual advances and engage in intimate situations with the opposite sex. However common such behaviour might appear today, these are all considered sins from the point of view of a Laestadian community (see e.g. SRK, Uljas 2004). One sign of “worldly behaviour” that repeatedly appears in the ilm is the use of make-up. Make-up is an indicator of not being Laestadian which is visible especially on a female body. Make-up in Laestadianism is seen as a sin that is embodied and gendered. Kutuniva claims that prohibiting the use of make-up and fashionable, revealing clothing is an action that constructs and reinforces the border between Laestadians and others. In a way, not using make-up can also be seen as a protective mask – a process quite opposite to that of mainstream culture, where wearing make-up is considered a protective mask – a mark of belonging 189 Northern Insights to the community (Kutuniva 2007, 21; see also Utriainen 2006). Putting on make-up, then, represents a transformation, or signals a rupture from the community. In the ilm, as Raakel starts to question whether or not she wants to stay in the community, she puts on make-up before going to family dinner. he whole family is shocked by this act – even the baby starts crying in the scene. Following Raakel’s appearance at the dinner, the father tells her she can’t eat at his table looking like she does, and removes the rebellious daughter from the table. he social control of deviant behaviour is immediately exercised, noticeably by the man – the father, or “head of the family”. Controlling the behaviour of community members is a recurring theme in the ilm. It isn’t always primarily oppressive, and can appear to be loving and caring as well. Both oppression and tenderness are present in a scene in which the girls are visited by a group of community elders, all men, who have driven a long way to the city to ind out how the girls are doing. When the girls are confronted by the men, they become uneasy and lee inside their apartment. he men stay, and stand below their window for a while. he girls are clearly troubled by the arrival of the men. However, as Raakel looks out of the window, she contemplates their motives and says: “hey do it out of love”. he Laestadians are not represented as bad or intentionally mean people in the ilm, and even their strict discipline appears humane on a certain level (see Kakkuri 2011, 64–65). Similar experiences appear in the interviews of Conservative Laestadian women found in Mervi Kutuniva’s research. Control, and rules that might appear repressive are actually valued as a sign of caring. Parents look after their children in this manner (Kutuniva 2007, 20). he previous examples both entail older men controlling younger women. he other type of control seen in the movie is between the friends. Alongside the control exercised by the community, in the ilm there are also many examples of internalized control, which the Laestadian girls exercise on themselves. It doesn’t appear easy for Raakel and Maria to do anything they know is forbidden, or to go against what they have been taught and what they believe. In several scenes the girls even experience 190 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit physical symptoms, such as shaking hands and nausea, if they do something that breaks the rules; they feel like they have contaminated themselves. In Conservative Laestadian teaching, strong contrition, as well as asking for and receiving absolution, are central elements (Uljas 2000, 45–56; see also Kutuniva 2003, 68). In Conservative Laestadian rhetoric, to sin is to give up on God, and contrition is “a true horror of the conscience as man feels the wrath of God for his sins” (Uljas 2000, 45). Sinning is no small matter, and the shock displayed by the girls upon doing something they consider wrong is clearly felt. Contact – Laestadians in the “World” As the third theme present in Forbidden Fruit I look at the encounters of Laestadians and the “world”. I will examine the contact, or lack of it, between the two worlds, as well as ofering some examples, possibilities and dangers of that contact. In the ilm, the girls are negotiating their place and the possibilities of agency that exist between the two worlds, inding it both possible and impossible to step over the divisions between them. here is a profound diference between Laestadian understanding and experience of world, and that of the majority of Finnish society. One might even ask if the possibility of contact between Laestadians and “the world” actually exists, and in the perspective of the Laestadian community, how much of such interaction is wanted, since there may be a danger of losing the particularity of Laestadianism through assimilation into the mainstream. In the rhetoric of Conservative Laestadians it is often repeated that they are citizens of two kingdoms, God’s kingdom and the earthly one, and that these two need to be separated: the Laestadians are not of the world, even though they live amongst the world (Uljas 2000, 95–99). he world outside the imaginary boundaries of the Laestadian community is regarded as the location of evil (see e.g. Kutuniva 2007, 20). However, it is quite impossible to separate the two worlds completely, and unavoidably there will be tension and conlicts between them (see e.g. Aune 2008, 281). 191 Northern Insights Certain events in the ilm can be interpreted as contact, in which one world approaches the other. One such a scene occurs when Raakel accidentally wanders into a movie theatre, and is mesmerized and touched by an old black and white ilm that is being screened. his is a forbidden contact with the world, but it is also interestingly mediated, since the girl is experiencing the world by watching the movie, which is part of the world, as well as experiencing it through a ilm, by looking rather than directly doing something herself. Teemu Kakkuri suggests that this particular scene could be a marker of the end of the century-long separation between revivalist Christianity and cinema. However, he also asks whether the director of the ilm wanted to state that in order for cinema and Laestadianism to meet, a distancing from Laestadianism has to happen (Kakkuri 2011, 65). Raakel has already broken the rules of her congregation by staying to watch the movie. Another example of cautious contact is a scene in which Raakel visits a boy she met in the movie theatre. In the scene the boy kisses her, and while her irst reaction is to retreat from the situation, she then decides to approach the boy and they start caressing each other. Raakel and the boy do not actually physically touch, but instead they trace their hands along the lines of each other’s (clothed) bodies. here is a tiny space between the girl and the boy that lets them touch without touching. Perhaps this space between their bodies, the thin layer of air, represents also the invisible yet very substantial barrier between the two worlds. Later on in the ilm, Raakel and the boy explicitly discuss the perhaps irreconcilable diferences between their worlds. hey describe Laestadianism and the secular world as “ire and water, which both are good, but don’t mix well, together they just make ashes.” In the course of the ilm, the couple do have sexual contact. his leaves the spectator wondering why it was necessary for them to have sex in the ilm. In some ways, the ilm reveals more about the norms and normality of secular world – expectations and ideas of normal behaviour for young women and teens – rather than that of the Laestadians. Does a relationship today need to be sexual in order to be a normal or somehow 192 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit complete relationship? Does a young woman need to be sexually active in order to be liberated? One of the reviews of the ilm by Helsingin Sanomat (2009a) ofers a similar critique: there is tendency towards the end of the ilm that being free and having sex become synonymous, and, for example, the loss of one’s virginity is perhaps raised to a level of signiicance that it doesn’t quite deserve. In addition to these encounters between the two worlds, there are also instances where a lack of contact or understanding occur in Forbidden Fruit. A kind of non-contact is displayed by Maria’s character, who is looking for experiences of intimacy – and perhaps believes that that is where contact is found – as she goes around kissing boys she don’t know or care about. For a Conservative Laestadian, carefree dating or even lirting is not acceptable (Uljas 2000, 101–102). Another example of an absence of contact or understanding appears at the end of the ilm. In one of the inal scenes, Raakel’s mother says goodbye to her daughter, who is leaving the community and the movement. Apart from her obvious love and care for her daughter – which is displayed in the emotional scene by her motherly concern over whether the girl has eaten enough, if she has enough money, and also by her gestures of touching and hugging her daughter – the connection has been lost. he mother’s farewell is expressed in a dramatic biblical tone: “it feels bad to see my own daughter burn in the lames hell.” Mother and daughter now live in diferent worlds, and there is perhaps no way to understand each other anymore. It doesn’t appear that Raakel wishes to completely abandon her convictions. She seems to prioritize her personal faith and way of believing, as opposed to the one ofered to her by Laestadianism. his leads to her leaving the movement. he trend that Raakel’s actions and choices relect has been recognised in Kirstin Aune’s (2008) study: as women’s lives are changing, and even fundamental religious communities are more and more afected by secular society’s norms and practices, some women are likely to adopt more individualistic and alternative elements and practices in their Christian faith, or perhaps leave to attend less a theologically conservative church. In the movie, Raakel visits a church in Helsinki 193 Northern Insights and seems comforted by the less conservative minister. he alternative to disailiating oneself in such a manner could be staying within the movement, but internally questioning its teachings (cf. Kutuniva 2007, 33). Girls in Forbidden Fruit, and Choices of Continuity At the end of the ilm, while Raakel – whose has been the primary protagonist – decides to leave Laestadianism. Her friend Maria returns to the community.12 It is possible that sudden freedom, after a controlled and even secluded childhood, makes a young person look for new experiences and try out everything the world has to ofer in a carefree manner. his can lead to the world showing its brutal and harsh sides, and making the religious community seem safer and more appealing. Indeed, this happens in the ilm to Maria, originally the “wilder” of the two girls, as she gets into situations that scare her and make her feel bad. She repents intensely13, is accepted back to the community, and then takes her place within the community: she gets married and continues the Laestadian lifestyle. he initially more timid and obedient of the girls, Raakel, starts to feel that the community is too strict and tightly guarded, and as she cannot ind a resonance for her thoughts in the community, she decides to leave. hese choices are displayed in the physical appearance of the characters as well; they are represented as choices carried in a female body. Raakel starts using make-up, and Maria changes her hairstyle and clothing for more modest ones. So how are the Laestadian movement, community and people represented? What is the image of Laestadianism that the ilm popularizes? What places and what kinds of agency are there for Laestadian 12. he story of the two girls experiencing the world resembles the popularized image of the Amish practice of Rumspringa, where young adults, both girls and boys, get to try out the secular world before their decision to commit themselves to the religious society. 13. Regarding the importance and meaning given to repentance in Laestadianim, see Uljas 2000, 45–46; see also Kutuniva 2003, 68. 194 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit girls in the ilm, both within and outside the movement? he characters of Raakel and Maria represent, embody, repeat and continue Laestadian tradition. In their choices they also question and rebel against it. In terms of the norms and rules of the community, the girls are negotiating and embodying purity and sin. hey are also both objects of control and subjects of control. Meetings between the two worlds are inevitable, but the consequences of contact vary. Forbidden Fruit can be read as a story of growing into, as well as growing out of, Laestadianism. he ilm describes the rules of the community and shows the strong contradictions between Laestadianism and the world. It illustrates the diiculties young religious women face in negotiating identity and making life choices when situated between the pull of one’s home community, with its traditionalistic and fundamentalist norms, and the expectations of modern times, with its ideals of individuality and equality (c.f Aune 2008, 281). From a gender speciic viewpoint, the representations of religious women in Forbidden Fruit repeat the image that in conservative and fundamentalist groups there is little room for accepting the agency of women. Women’s bodies, as well as their actions, are closely controlled. A religion can, however, both empower and oppress women, and these contradictory elements can even be present simultaneously. Feminist studies of religion call for the recognition of the many voices and agency of women, rather than automatically labelling religious women as victims (Aune 2008, 282; Vuola 1999a, 112). he representation of Laestadianism in the ilm is not simplistic nor one-sided; both the Laestadian community and the world have “evil” in them. he Laestadian community has elements of care, love, close belonging and protection, but also of strict control, intolerance and oppression. he secular world is portrayed as afectless, dangerous and abusive, but also as place of beauty, spontaneity and kindness. he choices the two girls make – leaving and staying – are both represented as viable alternatives. Maria will have the familiarity and support of her community and lifestyle. It can still be a happy life for her. Raakel will be more free to explore and decide for herself what she wants, but she is also left without the comfort and shelter of Laestadianism and her own family. 195 Northern Insights Especially for women, living and practicing Laestadianism is very much an embodied experience, efecting how they clothe themselves and behave, and how they are likely to spend their lives. Repeated pregnancies, giving birth and raising children is how Laestadian women practice their faith. he continuity of the Laestadian movement is in many ways in the hands – or the womb – of the women. Women in religious communities are often the ones who transmit the faith to their children (Aune 2008, 279). If a young woman decides to leave, she will take with her the potential of bearing children – the prerequisite for the continuity of Laestadianism – as well. Fewer women giving birth will eventually result in a decline of the church, so in terms of the continuity of Laestadianism it is important to try to keep the young women within the movement. he ilm Forbidden Fruit reveals and ofers an interpretation of one of the turning points and problems facing Laestadianism today – the issue of continuity and discontinuity. he choice of leaving or staying connects, or perhaps even culminates in the nature of Laestadians and their lifestyle. A close community has close borders; there are few, if any, chances of deciding on your own what is right and wrong, accepted or sinful. One either belongs to Laestadianism or not. here are no real in-betweens in the eyes of the movement. 196 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit References Film Forbidden Fruit (Kielletty hedelmä) 2009. Director: Dome Karukoski. Manuscript and production: Aleksi Bardy. Helsinki-ilmi Oy. Literature Alasuutari, Päivi 1992: Ehkäisykiellon synty ja umpikuja vanhoillislestadiolaisessa herätysliikkeessä. Sosiologia 29:2, 106–115. Aune, Kristin 2008: Evangelical Christianity and Women’s Changing Lives. European Journal of Women’s Studies 15:3, 277–293. Berger, Peter 1990 (1967): he Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological heory of Religion. Anchor Books, New York. the Finnish Film Foundation. Homepage. www.ses.i/ [in Finnish], www.ses.i/en [in English] (last checked 12.11.2012). the Finnish League for Human Rights. Homepage. www.ihmisoikeusliitto.i (last checked 12.11.2012). Geertz, Cliford 1986: Uskonto kulttuurijärjestelmänä. In Pentikäinen, Juha (ed.): Uskonto, kulttuuri ja yhteiskunta. Kirjoituksia uskontososiologian alalta. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 88–138. Hovi, Tuija 1999: Sukupuolen esityksiä. In Hovi, Tuija, Nenolo, Aili, Sakaranaho, Tuula & Vuola. Elina (eds.): Uskonto ja sukupuoli. Helsinki University Press, Helsinki, 12–15. Hepokoski, Warren H. 2002: he Laestadian Movement: Disputes and Divisions 1861– 2000. Revised and Updated Edition. Culpeper, Virginia. Huotari, Voitto 1981: Kirkkomme herätysliikkeet tänään. Kirjapaja, Pieksämäki. Interview of Dome Karukoski 2009: Jumalan lasten kielletyt hedelmät. http://www.ilm-oholic.com/haastattelut/dome-karukoski-kielletty-hedelma/ (last checked 12.11.2012). Jokinen, Eeva, Kaskisaari, Marja & Husso, Marita 2004: Ruumiin taju. Rakenteet, kokemukset, subjekti. In Jokinen, Eeva, Kaskisaari, Marja & Husso, Marita (eds.): Ruumis töihin! Käsite ja käytäntö. Vastapaino, Helsinki, 7–13. Kakkuri, Teemu 2011: Mustista veisaajista Kiellettyyn hedelmään. Suola 4:2, 59–65. 197 Northern Insights Keskitalo-Foley, Seija 2004: Kohti kuulumisen maisemia. Toimijuuden tilat ja paikat lappilaisen maaseuden naisten elämäkerroissa. Acta Universitas Lapponiensis 78, University of Lapland, Rovaniemi. Koivunen, Anu 2004: Mihin katse kohdistuu? Femisitisen elokuvatutkijan metodologinen itserelektio. In Liljeström, Marianne (ed.): Feministinen tietäminen. Keskustelua metodologiasta. Vastapaino, Tampere, 228–251. Koivunen, Anu 2006: Queer-feministinen katse elokuvaan. In Anna Mäkelä, Liisa Puustinen & Iiris Ruoho (eds.) Sukupuolishow. Johdatus feministiseen mediatutkimukseen. Gaudeamus: Helsinki, 80–106. Kutuniva, Mervi 2003: Kaiken se kestää, kaikessa uskoo, kaikessa toivoo, kaiken se kärsii. Katkelmia lestadiolaisäitien elämästä. In Naskali, Päivi, Autti, Mervi, Keskitalo-Foley, Seija, Korhonen, Anne & Kutuniva, Mervi (eds.): Tuulia – Feministisiä näkökulmia lappialaiseen sukupuolikulttuuriin. Lapland University Press, Rovaniemi, 61–80. Kutuniva, Mervi 2007: Keskusteluja naiseudesta, vanhoillislestadiolaisesta uskosta ja uskonnosta. In Autti, Mervi, Keskitalo-Foley, Seija, Naskali, Päivi & SinevaaraNiskanen, Heidi (eds.): Kuulumisia – Feministisiä tulkintoja naisten toimijuuksista. Lapland University Press, Rovaniemi, 17–36. Kutuniva, Mervi 2011: Tutkimusta äitiydestä ja naiseudesta. Agon 10:4, 37–38. Kyrölä, Katariina 2006: Ruumis, media ja ruumiinkuvat. In Anna Mäkelä, Liisa Puustinen & Iiris Ruoho (eds.) Sukupuolishow. Johdatus feministiseen mediatutkimukseen. Gaudeamus: Helsinki, 107–128. Linjakumpu, Aini 2003: Lestadiolaisuuden poliittinen merkitys Pohjois-Suomessa. In Linjakumpu, Aini & Suopajärvi, Leena (eds.): Sellainen seutu ja sellainen maa. Erot, vastarinta ja uuden politiikan vaatimus Lapissa. Lapland University Press, Rovaniemi, 85–110. Lohi, Seppo 1997: Pohjolan kristillisyys. Lestadiolaisuuden leviäminen Suomessa 1870–1899. Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten keskusyhditys, Oulu. McGuire, Meredith 1997: Religion. he Social Context. Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmont. Mäkelä, Anna, Puustinen, Liisa & Ruoho, Iiris 2006: Feministisen mediatutkimuksen näkökulmat. In Anna Mäkelä, Liisa Puustinen & Iiris Ruoho (eds.) Sukupuolishow. Johdatus feministiseen mediatutkimukseen. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 15–44. 198 Laestadian Girls in Forbidden Fruit Oinonen, Paavo & Mähkä, Rami 2012: Fiktio kulttuurihistorian tutkimuksen lähteenä ja kohteena. In Nivala, Asko & Mähkä, Rami (eds.): Tulkinnan polkuja. Kulttuurihistorian tutkimusmenetelmiä. K&H, Turku, 271–303. Pentikäinen, Juha & Pulkkinen, Risto 2011: Lars Levi Laestadius uusin silmin. Agon 10:4, 4–12. Pyysiäinen, Ilkka 2001: How Religion Works. Towards a New Cognitive Science of Religion. Brill, Leiden. Review 2009a: Jumalan vangit. Helsingin Sanomat. http://www.hs.i/kulttuuri/elokuvat/ artikkeli/Jumalan+vangit/1135243475583 (last checked 12.11.2012). Review 2009b: MTV3. http://www.mtv3.i/viihde/arvostelut/elokuva.shtml/799400/ kielletty-hedelma (last checked 12.11.2012). Review 2009c: Kielletty hedelmä lankeaa pieniin synteihin. Yle. http://yle.i/uutiset/ kielletty_hedelma_lankeaa_pieniin_synteihin/5725335 (last checked 12.11.2012). Ronkainen, Suvi & Naskali, Päivi 2007: Paikka ja paikattomuuden etuoikeus. Naistutkimus–Kvinnforskning 20:2, 65–71. Snellman, Gerd 2011: Sions döttrar. De laestadianska kvinnorna som traditionsförmedlare i norra svenska Österbotten åren 1927–2009. Åbo Akademi University Press, Turku. Suolinna, Kirsti & Sinikara, Kaisa 1986: Juhonkylä: tutkimus pohjoissuomalaisesta lestadiolaiskylästä. SKS, Helsinki. SRK. Homepage, Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten keskusyhdistys. http://www.srk.i (last checked 12.11.2012). SRK 2005: Oikea ja väärä. Vuosikokouksen 2.7.2005 kannanilmaisu. Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten keskusyhdistys. http://www.srk.i/index.php?p=artikkeli_1 (last checked 12.11.2012). Suomi24. Internet forum. http://www.suomi24.i (last checked 12.11.2012). Talonen, Jouko 2001: Lestadiolaisuuden hajaannukset. In Talonen, Jouko & Harjutsalo, Ilpo (eds.): Iustitia 14, Suomen teologisen instituutin aikakauskirja. Suomen teologinen instituutti, Helsinki, 11–30. Tuominen, Marja 2011: Where the World Ends? he Places and Challenges of Northern cultural History. In Johnson, Bruce & Kiiskinen, Harri (eds.): hey Do hings Diferently here. Essays on Cultural History. K&H, Turku, 43–80. Uljas, Juhani 2000: Peltoon kätketty aarre. Suomen Rauhanyhdistysten Keskusyhdistys ry, Oulu. http://www.srk.i/iles/pelsis_suomi.pdf. (last checked 12.11.2012). 199 Northern Insights Utriainen, Terhi 2006: Alaston ja puettu. Ruumiin ja uskonnon ääret. Vastapaino, Tampere. Valkonen, Sanna 2010: Saamelaisuuden ruumiillistuneet rajat. Kulttuurintutkimus 27:3, 3–14. Vuola, Elina 1999a: Marian tyttäret – kulttuuri ja naiseus uskonnon muovauksessa Latinalaisessa Amerikassa. In Airaksinen, Jaana & Ripatti, Tuula (eds.): Rotunaisia ja feminismejä. Vastapaino, Tampere, 111–126. Vuola, Elina 1999b: Naisruumiin paikka ja tila. In Hovi, Tuija, Nenolo, Aili, Sakaranaho, Tuula & Vuola. Elina (eds.): Uskonto ja sukupuoli. Helsinki University Press, Helsinki, 150–154. 200 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature Riitta Kontio ethnopolitiCs and women’s history as refleCted in popular literature Bente Pedersen’s Raija, a history and a life in the North Calotte In this article I set out to dissect the stereotypical conceptions which consider popular literature to be “fast food” of sorts – sugar-coated adventure and romance that ofer no sustenance should one want to probe the phenomena of human lives. My aim is to show that even within this genre it is possible to question cultural values and attitudes and to engage in a debate on the position of women and ethnic minorities. he focus of my study is the irst work of Bente Pedersen (born 1961), a female writer belonging to the Kven1 minority in northern Norway. Called Raija – fremmed fugl [Raija, a foreign bird] (1986), this is the irst of what ultimately became a 40-part series on a Kven girl in Norway. I investigate the strategies of resistance and action which Pedersen uses in constructing Kven and female identities. I examine the work in terms of power, resistance and performativity. 1. he ethnonym ”Kven” has been the subject of some debate. See Lindgren 2003, 172–173; Saressalo 1996, 23–26, 208–226. he number of Kvens depends on how they are counted. Some 5000 to 7000 persons are estimated to speak the language to some extent. If the criterion used for membership in the ethnic group is the language-based one used in the case of the Saami, the size of the Kven population is estimated as being as high as 60,000 persons. (Lindgren 2003, 167; Lindgren 1993, 21–22; Saressalo 1996, 187, 333). 201 Northern Insights Bente Pedersen is a member of a minority in northern Norway who speak the Kven language, which is related to Finnish. he Kvens achieved oicial status as a minority in 1999, and in 2005 the Kven language was recognised as a minority language. Despite this status, the position of the Kvens as a historical, ethnic and linguistic minority is constantly called into question and they are often likened unproblematically to immigrants who have moved from Finland to northern Norway in the 1960s and 1970s. Northern Norway is geographically part of the region known as the North Calotte, the parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia which lie north of the Arctic Circle and which are distinct from more southern areas in vegetation, fauna, climate, livelihoods pursued, culture and population. he administrative centre in all of the states lies far to the south and despite the national borders the mental distance between residents of the Calotte horizontally is often less than that between the northern and southern populations within the same country. he North Calotte can be considered a region whose distinctive character is based not only on its geographical position but also on social conditions (cf. Massey 2008, 29). No study of literature in the North Calotte can fail to take into account the impact of the dominant cultures, the coexistence of diferent ethnic groups and the centuries of populations mingling.2 Writers living in the North Calotte have lived since childhood in a multicultural environment and have had to negotiate their identity and liminal status. he components of a writer’s identity are the cultures of the region, the national culture and global culture: he or she is born 2. E.g. Lähteenmäki 2004, 310. Maria Lähteenmäki notes that due to mixed marriages all of Central Lapland, as well as part of Norbotten and Finnmark, were culturally mixed by the end of the 1800s. According to Lähteenmäki (2004, 177–178) Kven culture clearly difers from that of communities in northern Norway and from that of the regions in Finland which immigrants left. Cf. Massey 2008, 72. 202 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature and grows up into a northern awareness and tradition and receives an education based on a shared western tradition of science and knowledge3. From mythical people to national threat he oldest records of a people referred to as the Kvens, whose homeland was Cwenland, date from the 800s4. Although the link between this people and today’s Kvens is still diicult to establish – much like that between present-day Finns and Sami and the “Finns” and “Lapps” found in old written sources – what we do have is some indications that the Kvens have a long history. Hundreds of years of Kven settlement are relected in tax rolls and popular accounts dating back to the 1500s and 1600s (e.g. Eriksen 1979, 226; Niemi 1994, 13; Lähteenmäki 2004, 146). Adding to the established Kven settlements in northern Norway were the Finnish-speaking immigrants who moved to northern Norway from Kingdom of Sweden in the 1700s in the aftermath of the Great Northern War (1700–1721). he following wave arrived after Sweden lost a war to Russia in 1809. he famine years following the mid-1800s also saw large numbers of people moving to Finnmark (e.g. Eriksen 1979, 228–235, Saressalo 1996, 81–96, 170–178; Lähteenmäki 2004, 146, 153–158). he attitude of the Norwegians towards the Kvens was initially positive but became negative after the mid-1800s. Among the reasons for the change were the 3. Here, I speak of a writer’s identity but the same applies to all of those born and raised in the North Calotte, including researchers. My interest in the literature of the North Calotte is based on my own experiences of living within and outside the centre and the margin. My northern origin and years as an immigrant in northern Norway have given me a feel for being on the inside, but when I consider the Norwegians, Sami and Kvens, I am very much an outsider. 4. After analysing the stories and sagas of Ottar, historian Kyösti Julku has concluded that ancient Cwena land, or Kvenland, or Kainuunmaa, encompassed the eastern shore and the head of the Gulf of Bothnia.( Julku 1985, 87–88. See also Vahtola 1994). 203 Northern Insights way in which the border between Norway and Russia was demarcated, the interest among Finnish scientists in “expatriate Finns” and “Finnic peoples”, as well as Finland’s economic ambitions, one being the demand advanced in the 1860s for exchanges of land that would give Finland part of the Arctic Ocean coastline (Lähteenmäki 2004, 405–428). In light of the conlicts between Finland and Norway, even ordinary Kvens making their living as ishermen and farmers came to be seen by the Norwegians as a threat to national security. he impetus for this attitude was nationalism and what was known as “insk fare”, or Finnish threat, that is, the fear that the Finnish population could not be trusted if a conlict should arise (Eriksen & Niemi 1981; Niemi 1994; see also Ryymin 2005). Also fuelling the policy of oppression was social Darwinism, which was based on inequality between diferent races. his theory had considerable inluence on attitudes in the Nordic countries up until the Second World War. In the discourse of Social Darwinism, Finns were considered Mongols, “a lower race” in the European theories of the time (Eriksen & Niemi 1981; Kemiläinen 1985). At the end of the 1800s, Norway began to norwegianise the Finnish-speaking population. he policy of assimilation was pursued with particular harshness between the world wars, leading to many people losing their native language and changing their identity.5 Oicially, the policy of norwegianisation was discontinued after the Second World War. According to Lassi Saressalo (1996, 320–321), the reason for this was that norwegianisation had made such progress that the success of assimilation was considered certain. Bente Pedersen’s home village of Skibotn lies some 50 kilometres from the Finnish border, along the old trade route leading to the Arctic Ocean; 5. For example, the 1930 census in the province of Tromsø recorded 2356 Kvens. After the war, in 1950, only 59 people registered themselves as Kvens (Seppola 1996, 114; see also Saressalo 1996, 101–102, where he notes that in the 1970 census the Kvens were entirely forgotten. See also Anttonen 1999, 124–125.) 204 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature the Skibotn Fair has been known for hundreds of years6. As a dynamic community of traders with many family ties across the North Calotte, Skibotn was singled out by the Norwegian authorities as a particularly important target for norwegianisation. According to Pedersen (2007) the government used the popular press as one of the tools in this efort. he state began distributing weeklies for free to Kven households in Skibotn. In this way people learned to read weeklies and when the magazines were no longer distributed for free, they began to subscribe to them. Pedersen described the approach as “lystbetont fornorskning”7. Pedersen’s family history8 provides a good illustration of the course of not only norwegianisation but also the hybrid9 nature of the population of northern Norway. Her great grandmother’s irst language was Sami; she learned Norwegian; and she married a Kven. he family spoke Finnish at home. Pedersen’s grandmother irst learned Finnish, then Norwegian, and she understood Sami. Pedersen’s mother’s mother tongue was Norwegian; she also spoke some Finnish and understood a bit of Saami. he writer herself is a perfect product of the norwegianisation project: a Norwegian who speaks no local languages other than Norwegian. She says that the authorities succeeded in convincing her grandparents as well 6. he irst mention of the Skibotn Fair in historical records dates from 1571 but it was an even older event. It saw the meeting of merchants from Norway, Tornio and Russia as well as of the Sami, Finnish and Norwegian populations of Swedish Lapland and northern Norway (Lähteenmäki 2004, 143–144). 7. “pleasure-focused, or fun, norwegianisation” 8. Lassi Saressalo (1996, 333), who has studied the Kven identity, points out that it is the rule rather than the exception among the Kvens to have systematic information on one’s immigrant ancestors, information that often goes back quite far in time in fact. According to Saressalo, with this knowledge of genealogy the Kvens wanted to demonstrate how distinct they were from the Saami and Norwegian populations. 9. he concept of hybridity refers to the original mingling of all forms of identity and to the fact that the cultures have not been distinct and distinguishable phenomena but rather have always interacted. (Huddart 2007, 67. Huddart presents the thinking of Homi K. Bhabha; see also Savolainen 2001, 70–74. Cf. Massey 2008, 72.) 205 Northern Insights as her parents that the future was Norwegian speaking and the culture in their homes had no value. Parents had to protect children from untoward and dangerous cultures, such as Finnish culture. Finnish in fact became a secret language that parents used when they did not want their children to know what they were talking about (Pedersen 2007). Investigating power structures Bente Pedersen’s irst novel, Raija – fremmed fugl, loosely relects the history of the Kvens. he novel tells of the impacts of the Great Northern War10 on the life of Erkki Alatalo and his family, who work a small farm in the Tornio River valley. he wars and years of crop failure have caused poverty and hunger. In order to save his eight-year-old daughter from starvation, Erkki sends her with the Sami Finn-Pehr to northern Norway on the condition that he bring the girl to a Norwegian family11. In the novel, Finn-Pehr’s wife Ravna persuades her husband to keep Raija in the family, because both she and the family’s thirteen-year-old boy Mik’kal have become attached to her on the way to Finnmark. Raija lives ive years in a Sami community. When Finn-Pehr notices that 10. Finland was part of Sweden from c. 1150 to 1809. In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Sweden was at war with Russia, Denmark, Poland-Lithuania, Prussia and Hannover. Finland sufered in many ways from the wars Sweden waged. housands of men were conscripted into the Swedish army. In addition, Russia occupied Finland from 1713 to 1721. his period is aptly described in history books as ”he Great Wrath”. 11. he subject of the work draws from general as well as personal history. According to the historian Maria Lähteenmäki, Finnish-speaking children from families living along the border between Finland and Sweden were given or sold to Sami on their way to the Arctic Ocean on the condition that the children would be placed with a family in Finnmark. Lähteenmäki points out that this was a generally accepted form of social welfare in the society in the early 1800s (Lähteenmäki 2004, 98–107, 397–401). he story also has a personal background. Bente Pedersen says that she was inspired by the history of her own family: Her grandmother’s father had a foster mother who had come to Norway at the age of ten from northern Sweden with Swedish Lapps. (Pedersen 2003) 206 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature his son’s feelings towards Raija have changed from friendship to love, he sends Raija on to a Norwegian family. In her new home Raija strikes up a friendship with a Kven, Antti, and his son Reijo as well as with a neighbour, Karl, a Norwegian. But she does not get along with her Norwegian foster mother. he mother marries of Raija to Karl. he description covers eight years of Raija’s life, from 1718 to 1726. Historical themes and historical female igures have traditionally allowed many minority writers to create new spaces and opportunities for the agency of women and diferent minorities. Markku Ihonen (1999, 127–128) has observed that historical novels often used what is known as analogising, which fashions links between the time when the novel is written and the period it portrays. Indeed, historical themes give writers greater freedom when their purpose is to criticise their contemporary social order or describe something which has not been described before (Melkas 2006, 60–67, 87–88). In this light, one focus of my study is what strategies of resistance appear and what links they have to the ethnopolitical debate of the time. Traditional histories are written from the point of view of the hegemonic culture and system of values, fashioned to relect masculine culture: political and historical military accomplishments and the development trends canonised by the dominant culture form the core imaginary of history books. Indeed, Bente Pedersen (2007) points out that history, even accounts of local history, are written by men, from the position of men. Although women have lived through the times alongside the men, their history is not made visible in the written accounts; it must be read between the lines. In fact, I assume that in her irst novel Bente Pedersen endeavours for her part to make women’s role in history visible. In this light, a genealogical approach would seem to me to be an applicable one in examining the work. A decision, an agreement, power and war are not events to a genealogist; rather he or she looks for exceptional events in places which have not traditionally been considered sites of history, such as love, conscience, drives and emotions (Foucault 1998, 63–64, 102). 207 Northern Insights he writing history and the power structures attending that process also produce gender. Accordingly, I examine in terms of performativity how one’s gender-identity is constructed. As Judith Butler has noted, performativity is the reiterative power of a subject to produce and perform the phenomena which it governs and controls. According to Butler, gender can be performed because there exists a culturally established “set of gestures” which can be imitated and reiterated. Butler says that the performative must be uttered in certain circumstances for it to work (Butler 2006, 25, 79–80; Pulkkinen 2000, 52–53). Histories of literature traditionally relect the “oicial” national identity and the values of the hegemonic culture. Popular literature, the literature of ethnic and sexual minorities and even women’s literature have never been considered signiicant literature nationally. he works of Bente Pedersen are classiied as “dime-store romances”, or “literary fast food”12. he writer herself says that she has often been asked whether adults, people with a head on their shoulders, can take her seriously, to which she replies that literature can be used manipulatively to legitimise or naturalise the status quo – or to mount resistance to it. he crux of the question is words, the power of words and the people who have the power to publish words (Pedersen 2001). Pedersen views the possibilities of popular culture much like Stuart Hall (1992, 261), who asserts that popular culture is one of the arenas in which the struggle for or against the dominant culture unfolds. As a woman, a Kven, a northern Norwegian and a writer of popular literature, Bente Pedersen is in a multiple margin13 and I assume that she uses these marginal positions very consciously for political ends where ethnicity and gender are concerned. My point of departure here is that in minority literature, even autobiographical material becomes political 12. his is how the Norwegian critic Noste Kensior describes the work of Bente Pedersen (see Lindbach 2000). 13. I do not view these elements as clearly delimited phenomena but consider them as bidirectional, afecting one another intra-actively. 208 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature in a diferent way than in literature within the mainstream culture (e.g. Deleuze & Guattari 1994, 40–44; see also Pulkkinen 2000, 44). Research questions: What links does the writer create between the world of the work and that of the time when she is writing? How does Pedersen view the role of women in history? What picture of the Kvens does Pedersen construct in the work? What strategies of power and resistance does Pedersen describe in the novel? How may one talk about the North? Bente Pedersen does not speak the Kven language. She is part of the generation for whom global education – in the form of English, German and French – opened doors to Europe and the United States and, at the same time, shut doors to the past of one’s own family and the stories told in their own languages. What prompted a representative of a linguistically norwegianised Kven minority to open doors behind her as it were - doors leading to a time before the people were converted to a single language – and to seek out the culture which in her childhood had hidden itself behind a secret language? One answer to this question is no doubt the global ethnic awakening, which reached the minorities of the North Calotte in the 1970s14. Like other minorities, the Kvens began to pursue their linguistic and cultural rights (e.g. Lindgren 2003, 171; Saressalo 1996, 338). One milestone in this development was the Kven epic Kornet og iskene [Corn and Fishes], a four-volume epic published between 1978 and 1981 by Idar Kristiansen. In the work, Kristiansen constructs a historical past for the Kven minority. he work received a great deal of publicity in many 14. Many authors writing in Sami and Meänkieli debuted in the 1970s, two of the former being Kirsti Paltto and Nils Aslak Valkeapää, and two of the latter Gunnar Kieri and Bengt Pohjanen. 209 Northern Insights senses. It was awarded the Aschehoug Prize15 in 1980 and was a candidate for the Nordic Council Literature Prize 16 in 1981. At the time the view of history in the work gave rise to an unprecedented dispute which culminated in a debate held at the Department of History in the University of Tromsø. Literary scholar and critic Nils Magne Knutsen’s principal argument in the debate concerned the historical veracity of the book. He accused Kristiansen of using his descriptions of the Kvens to uphold an exotic and erotic picture of the North and to reinforce myths17. Knutsen summed up what he requires of a historical novel as follows: ”If the writer is not a competent historian, he should leave history alone” (Nyberg 1981). he historian Einar Niemi provided partial support for Knutsen’s view by pointing out historical inaccuracies in the work and observed that even the main character is not historically representative. At the end of his contribution, however, Niemi relected on whether it makes sense for a 15. he Aschehoug Prize is published annually by the Norwegian publishing house Aschehoug. he Prize is awarded to Norwegian authors on the basis of the merit of a recent publication. It is based on a binding recommendation from the Norwegian Critics Organization. he prize consists of a statuette and 100,000 kroner (2007). (http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aschehoug_Prize. Accessed 11.5.2012.) 16. he Nordic Council Literature Prize has been awarded since 1962 for a work of imaginative literature written in one of the Nordic languages. (http://www.norden.org/ en/nordic-council/the-nordic-council-prizes/nordisk-raads-litteraturpris/about-theliterature-prize. Accessed 11.5.2012.) 17. Cf. Kontio 1999. Erotica, exotica and mysticism are characteristic of northern literature. Criticism has not viewed these elements positively but rather considered their occurrence to be synonymous with ”literature of an underdeveloped region”. In my view, northern writers use these features consciously when they wish to emphasise the distinctive character of the region and accentuate diferences compared to the literature of the south. 210 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature literary work to emphasise historical facts, and cited Aristotle’s18 view of the relation between literature and history (Nyberg 1981). Idar Kristiansen found himself to be the object of the same kind of accusations as the northern Finnish writer Timo K. Mukka when his irst novel, Maa on syntinen laulu [he Earth is a Sinful Song] came out in 1964. Mukka, too, was accused of portraying an exotic, erotic and mystical image of the North and the people who live there. he diference between the two writers was that Mukka received his sharpest criticism from writers in the south19, where in Kristiansen’s case this came from critics in his own region. Who, then, can speak for the North and what kind of an image of the region is one allowed to project? Ulla-Brith Lagerroth (1981, 179–180), a docent in Sweden, wrote a rejoinder to Nils Magne Knutsen, stating, among other things, that he had imposed wholly inappropriate requirements on Kristiansen’s work in terms of genre. In her view, Kristiansen’s novel could be associated with the tradition of epic narration and romance. In responding to Lagerroth’s criticism, Knutsen (1982, 177) replied that she seemed to be unaware of regional considerations. According to Knutsen the docent from southern Sweden found it diicult to distinguish reality from fantasy in describing northern Norwegian ishing in the 1850s. he southern view of the North went on to become the sore spot in the debate. Fear of the erotic, the exotic and the mystical obscured the issue of the right of a minority to its own stories and its own history. Idar Kristiansen stated that his aim was to convey a truth greater than the fact that Oslo was previously called Christiania. In his view, the most important thing was to create a rich and robust literature so that “our culture can live in this world” (Nyberg 1981). 18. In his Poetics (Runousoppi 1997, 168), Aristotle states that history tells of what has happened, poetry of things that can happen. Poetry deals with matters more on the level of general truths, whereas history is more concerned with individual cases. A general truth is what a certain person either probably or necessarily will say or do; an individual case by contrast is what Alcibiades did or experienced. 19. See e.g. Paasilinna 1988, 66–70. 211 Northern Insights Kristiansen’s colleague, the Kven writer Hans Kristian Eriksen commented on the matter of historical veracity by noting that a historian is often dependent on deicient and skewed source material, material which generally deals with burghers and government oicials. In his view until as recently as the 1960s, northern Norwegian historians were recruited from the upper class. hese historians wrote their own history, not that of the poor class; and if they did write about the poor, their life was not described from the inside. Eriksen considers it important that the population of the province delved into its own history as an opportunity to learn more about itself. In Eriksen’s view, iction can be used to relate how people understood society and everyday life. (Nyberg 1981.20) In the days of the “book war”, Bente Pedersen was a student in the same institution, the teacher training college of the University of Tromsø, that Idar Kristiansen had graduated from thirty years earlier21. To what extent has Kristiansen’s novel inluenced Pedersen’s work as writer? Pedersen (2001) notes that she learned more of Kven history from Kristiansen’s 20. For more on the reception that Kristiansen’s novel received, see Lindbach 2001, 25–29. 21. he teacher training college in Tromsø seems to have been an important site for Kven culture and literature. Idar Kristiansen and Hans Kristian Eriksen, the earliest Kven writers, met there in the early 1950s and began to arrange literary evenings in the basement of the building (Eriksen 1996, 36). he founding members of the Kven Council, Björnar Seppola and Egil Sundelin, met at the college in the early 1970s (Seppola 2007a). Seppola notes that there was a storage room in the basement of the college library that had Finnish books from the days when Finnish was taught at the college. hat teaching was discontinued in 1907. he librarian guided the Kven students to the room (Seppola 2007b). Bente Pedersen studied at the teacher training college from 1981 to 1984. 212 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature Kornet og iskene than from a single history teacher of hers in primary or secondary school. 22 he signiicance of stories has been crucial for Bente Pedersen as a writer. Indeed, she notes that “real history, it was oral. It was through oral accounts that people got to know their own culture and identity (…), that [Kven] history has a life as a parallel world, a subculture of sorts” (Pedersen 2007). From this, one can conclude that a minority culture had ways to resist attempts at assimilation. Although it externally seemed to accede to forced norwegianisation, internally it did not give up its Kven identity; it merely transferred it to future generations through stories23. At the teacher training college, Pedersen wrote an essay which was based on the stories of her family and when she graduated in 1984, she began the Raija series. Originally she planned to write a six-part series which would portray the history of the Kvens from the 1700s to the 1900s. However, the book grew so much in popularity that it became a forty-part series (Pedersen, 2007). According to Bente Pedersen (2001), literature is important in constructing an identity for and in giving a voice to those living in remote regions. he writer considers it important that a minority writes for a 22. Cf. Bengt Pohjanen (2007). Pohjanen, who is a speaker of Meänkieli [lit. ‘our language’, also known as Torne Valley Finnish] says that it was only when he read Runeberg’s Fänrik Ståls sägner [he Tales of Ensign Stål] did he realise that Runeberg was talking about them, his people, not the Swedes. In addition, for Finns Väinö Linna’s Täällä Pohjantähden alla [Under the North Star] and Tuntematon Sotilas [he Unknown Soldier] have opened up a more realistic picture of the turning points in Finnish history than can be had from the history books. 23. Cf. Kontio 2010, 143. Mikael Niemi, a writer belonging to the meänkieli-speaking minority in Sweden, notes: ”When I narrate, we all act as narrators. People and landscape have created this story through me” (Niemi 2007). 213 Northern Insights minority.24 he majority is only in second place among readerships but because Pedersen uses the same method as the state in its day when norwegianising the Kven population – “fun pedagogy”, that is, the genre of population literature – she also brings insights to some members of the majority. Bente Pedersen’s poem in the Kven anthology Ei hiva tøtta [A good girl] ofers a compelling description of her literary points of departure – being ethnic and being a woman: Stiletto heels Dug into three cultures Here I stand. (Pedersen 1994, 47) The Kven perspective on historical events he novel Raija – fremmed fugl adopts a historical frame of reference. he year is 1718, the inal act of the Great Northern War, which had lasted already eighteen years. Charles XII is trying to conquer Norway. For years, the war has taken its toll in money and men. February 1718. he Torne River valley. Finland, too, belongs to Charles XII. he country is involved in his war. After the horriic crop failures at the end of the 1600s, Finland is dirt poor. One quarter of the nation has died as a direct result of the years of famine. he people had barely got on its feet when it was again brought to its knees. Finns, too, have to help inance the war. hey, too, have to ight. (Raija – fremmed fugl 1986, 6.25) 24. Pedersen’s view is very Foucauldian. According to Tuija Pulkkinen (1998, 258), one key dimension of Foucault’s life politics is the struggle for those who are the object of knowledge to make themselves subjects of knowledge that pertains to them. A second important dimension is based on the idea of the self as the outcome of action, that is, the self as a new strategic possibility. 25. In the remainder of the paper, excerpts from the novel are marked by page number only. 214 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature One crucial function of the historical framework story is to remind readers of the shared history of the peoples in the North Calotte. he writer highlights that the Swedes, Norwegians and Finns were not enemies; rather, they had a common enemy – a war-mongering king. Here, the author reminds the Norwegian reader of the hardships that the Finns sufered and establishes the Kvens’ motive for immigrating, as well as understanding for their decision to do so. A second function of the framework Pedersen choses is to take a stand on the contemporary debate regarding immigrants. Norwegian politicians compared the old Kven population to the new Finnish immigrants who entered the country after the Second World War and thereby limited the rights of the Kvens as national, historical minority.26 Pedersen demonstrates to the reader that the history of the Kvens extends back over many centuries. In addition to mentioning Charles XII, in an otherwise ictional account Pedersen evokes a second historical igure, homas von Westen, a pioneer in the efort to convert the people of northern Norway27. It was no more than ten years ago that the missionaries arrived in this part of the country. Led by homas von Westen, the Church decided to do something about the paganism in the region. On the surface, it appeared that some progress had been made, but the Church had yet to reach the people 26. he minority politics of the new immigrants and Kven activists which began in the 1980s brought the Kven issue into the public eye. he Norwegian state accepted in principle the immigrants’ demands for linguistic and social rights but neglected the question of a special status for the Kven minority. he Kvens were compared to immigrants, meaning that they had no opportunity to demand special liberties on the basis of the traditional nature of their minority status. Yet, while giving the new immigrants from Finland immigrant status and giving them the opportunity to learn their own language, Norway has denied the Kvens the same opportunity on the grounds that the Kven population is a part of the Norwegian national whole (Saressalo 1996, 321–322). 27. homas von Westen (1682–1727), a minister, undertook many missionary trips to the north in the period between 1716 and 1723. 215 Northern Insights who lived farther away along the shores of the jords and in the islands. Many of the old traditions were still deeply rooted. (197) he passage refers to the time when the old belief of the Sami had begun to yield to Christianity. he descriptions relect how little the Church meant to the people in the region. For them, Christianity was just a set of rote rituals. he essential message of the excerpt becomes clear to the “informed” reader. he oldest accounts of literacy among the Kvens are precisely those mentioned by von Westen in a report from 1716, in which he noted that the Kvens of Alta owned and could read “qvænske Bøger”28. In the novel, Antti and his son Reijo, who belong to the Kven minority, know how to read and Raija goes to their house secretly to learn how herself. Karl, a Norwegian, does not understand this at all. He asks Raija, What kind of nonsense is this, that you have to learn how to read?, to which Raija replies: You can’t tell me not to learn (…) If it doesn’t interest you and you want to end up being an ignorant fool, it’s your business, Karl, but you can’t forbid me to learn. (127-128) he writer produces resistance by turning on its head the Social Darwinist perspective on cultural development which maintained that the Norwegians were “developed” and the Kvens “primitive” (Eriksen and Niemi 1981, 37). Pedersen constructs her image of the Kvens through knowledge and knowing, which in turn are associated with Väinämöinen, the knower, from the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala. he female identity as well becomes linked to knowledge and knowing. hrough these elements it becomes possible to achieve equal status alongside men. When Raija’s Norwegian foster mother wonders what good reading is, Antti explains: 28. “Books in the Kven language” (Hammond 1787, 254 as quoted in Seppola 1996, 23). 216 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature You’ve said yourself that it is not easy being a woman, (…)Raija might have something to gain from what she has learned. She is very sharp, and far more enthusiastic than Reijo. (109) When the foster mother hears that Antti’s son can also read, she no longer questions Raija’s eforts: a women’s issue is given precedence over an ethnic prejudice. Turning the ethnic pyramid upside down Bente Pedersen (2007) observes that in her childhood Norwegians were at the top of the ethnic pyramid. After them came the Kvens, then the Mountain Sami; at the bottom were the Sea Sami. Gradually this hierarchy changed such that the Kvens sank to the very bottom of the pyramid, after the Norwegians, Mountain Sami and Sea Sami.29 In her novel, Pedersen challenges these ethnic hierarchies. Her main character is a member of the belittled Kven minority and the principal secondary characters represent another disparaged minority, the Sami. Norwegians appear in important secondary roles. What kinds of relationships exist in the novel between these people who represent diferent ethnic and linguistic minorities? What connections can be seen between the world of the novel and the time at which it was written? In the novel, the attitude that Norwegians have toward the Sami is discriminatory, even racist. Ravna helps Raija as she prepares to move into a Norwegian family. Ravna explains that many Norwegians look down upon Sami and that it would be important for Raija’s new family to see her give up wearing the Sami outits, using the language and observing the customs. A comment made by Kristina, Raija’s foster mother, in guiding Raija into the Norwegian world of values shows that Ravna 29. On ethnic pyramids in the North Calotte, see also Elenius 2010. Elenius descibes how the Sami and Finnish-speaking minority groups have changed their status in the course of time. 217 Northern Insights was right. he writer distinguishes the attitude of the characters in the book toward the Sami in the way she uses the terms “Lapp” and “Sami”: You are not allowed to associate with Kvens or Lapps. Raija smiled disapprovingly. Apparently Kristina forgot that Raija, too, was a Finn by birth and had grown up among the Sami. (…) Karl next door was a decent boy in Kristina’s eyes, a Norwegian through and through. hat family didn’t have a drop of Lappish or Kven blood in them, no sir. (98) he writer takes a stand on the requirement of “pure bloodedness” by pointing up how genetically mixed northern Norwegians are. he jord is not very densely populated and most of the people who live there are Sami. (…) here are not many Norwegian families. Kristina’s family has Sami blood in it, too, but she would never acknowledge it. (98) In this short comment, Pedersen makes a reference to the Norwegians’ hierarchy of values in which the Sea Sami were at the very bottom. At the same time she demonstrates how minorities tend to view themselves in accordance with the conceptions and deinitions of the dominant culture and act on that basis. (cf. Pulkkinen 1998, 256; see also Järvinen 2005, 20; Griits 1995, 240). Under the pressure of a policy of assimilation, minorities start to speak in the voice of the majority (see also Kontio 1999, 163). he writer uses analogy in transposing the arguments and attitudes of the ethnopolitical debate of her day into the time of the events of the novel. By mimicking the emphases and views of the dominant culture, she forces it to look in a mirror and to see itself in a new light (cf. Huddard 2007, 67; Foucault 1998, 83–84). When Raija wonders why Karl has no interest in learning Finnish, Karl answers: Why would I learn Finnish? I didn’t invite the Kvens here. hey came of their own free will. hey have to learn our language. here’s no reason for me to start learning that “crows’ language” of theirs. (128) 218 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature he image of Norwegians in the novel is quite negative. hey are portrayed as being violent, simple, hard drinking and eager to pick a ight. In Pedersen’s view, “developed” and “primitive” switch places. he Norwegians are underdeveloped, illiterate, stupid. She reverses the Norwegians’ negative view of the Kvens and produces a downright idolised view of minorities, thus using essentialism as a conscious strategy.30 In direct contrast to the Norwegian men in the novel, the Kven men are presented as being knowledgeable, skilful, competent, reliable, manly, empathetic – people of feelings and reason. In the image of the Sami these qualities are associated with Mik’kal, whose mother is a Finnish Sami. A woman’s place, a woman’s power In the world of the novel, women’s agency is conined to the realm of the home and the family. he main character does not accept the demands and restrictions associated with gender roles. Raija didn’t like women’s work: cooking, sewing and everything connected with the home and the family. (…) Sometimes she wished she were a boy. hen she could walk around outside, ish and herd reindeer, and maybe go out into the forest. hat would be quite diferent from these dreary women’s chores. (49) Culture includes rules that afect gender; these rules can be reiterated, but they also entail the possibility of doing things diferently. (Butler 1993, 1-2; Pulkkinen 2000, 56). Not surprisingly, Pedersen links to Raija’s character contradictions and impulses, characteristics which entail opportunities for resistance and change. Raija’s rebellion begins already when she is very young, when she notices the diference between what girls and boys are allowed to do. She sees gender as a reason why Pehr decides to send her out of the Sami community: Why did I become a girl? 30. On strategic essentialism, see Spivak 1993; Kuortti 2007, 18. 219 Northern Insights (…) If I had been a boy, Pehr would have let me stay. He would have had some use for me. (75) Bente Pedersen shows how diferent forms of power gradually begin to shape a young girl. he community restricts her agency and the men begin to shape her gender verbally as well (cf. Butler 2006, 25, 79–80; Pulkkinen 2000, 52–53). To the father Raija is “a pretty little lower” (19) and Mik’kal raises the 13-year-old Raija to take on the role of a woman by saying: You are a ine little woman, Raija. Don’t forget that. You have to be proud of it. (61) Raija gradually grow to it the role the community has deined for her gender and she starts to copy and repeat the gestures of a woman. In the process, she learns to use a woman’s sexual power. he Norwegian Karl and the Kven Reijo are Raija’s neighbours and friends after she moves in with the Norwegian family. he friendship gradually takes on sexual overtones. Long before Reijo and Karl found a label for their feelings, Raija knew what it was. She saw how they vied to do little favours for her, how both wanted her to be close to them. She noticed how a single word might get them beaming or brooding. It amused and scared her at the same time. Of course she played with the new power she had discovered and which she possessed. What young girl wouldn’t have done so? (119) Karl could not deal with the rivalry and his jealousy erupted as violence directed at both Reijo and Raija. When she encounters violence Raija ights back physically but she also earns other means to mount resistance. When she is married of to Karl without being asked what she wants and Karl starts showing that he owns her, her weapon is indiference. She nulliies the man with the language of her body. She [Raija] did not push him [Karl] away but it still felt bad. A kiss without passion felt like a bucket of ice cold water in the face. She couldn’t have pushed him away more efectively even if she had hit him. (207) 220 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature In the novel, both the Sami and the Norwegians are guilty of commercialising feelings. Even marriages were decided by the heads of families. Mik’kal’s father makes an agreement with his Sami neighbour that his son will marry the neighbour’s daughter. his is shown to be a Sami tradition: Ravna’s and Pehr’s parents decided on the couple’s marriage. he Norwegian foster mother, for her part, decides that Raija will be married to a Norwegian boy. However, Raija does not want to abide by the moral norms of the community, but rather follows her feelings and makes love with the Sami Mik’kal before his wedding. Raija becomes pregnant by him but feels no guilt about it; at most she feels a bit of pity towards her husband. When the child is born, Karl and his parents notice that the child is not Karl’s. he people around Raija nevertheless all take her side. Karl’s parents pressure him to accept the child and Karl’s friend Reijo threatens that he will admit to being the father if Karl does not acknowledge the child. he writer emphasises the justiication of emotions and points to an alternative course of action in which an individual’s own morals prevail over those the community would impose. Although it is expected that popular literature as a genre will bring emotions and love to the fore, in my view, Pedersen’s novel is, in keeping with Foucauldian genealogy, a rather conscious counternarrative to oicial historiography, which is based on masculine “great narratives”. Pedersen’s work ofers a history of women and emotions. Constructing the Kven identity here are signs of a subject even in little eight-year-old Raija. On the journey to Finnmark she stays well away from everyone who tries to approach her. She did not want sympathy! She was proud – others cannot pity her! (29) Only thirteen-year-old Mik’kal gets close to Raija. His language is the wordless communication of gestures and expressions. At his wife’s request, Finn-Pehr accepts Raija as his daughter somewhat reluctantly. Raija is dressed in Sami costume; she learns the lan- 221 Northern Insights guage, lives among and like the Sami. Her task is to perform Saminess31. Finn-Pehr performs a speech act to ultimately subject Raija to his power. From now on you are like our daughter. And you must act accordingly. (…) And I demand that you obey me. (…) Do not bring shame on me or my family. (…) And one more thing (…): You are no longer Raija Alatalo. You are Pehr-Raija. (46–48) Finn-Pehr uses biopower in raising Raija: he tries to instill certain behavioural models in his foster daughter. When Pehr has taken Raija’s name away from her and via the name tried to break of her bonds to her own past, language, culture and homeland, Raija ponders deep in her heart: It made no diference what they called her; Raija knew who she was. hat was the most important thing. Raija would always be Raija Alatalo. (…) Raija would never become Pehr-Raija! (48) Being diferent and resisting biopower form a resource for Raija. Although her status in the community’s system of values as a newcomer, a foreigner, a child - and a female one at that - places her on the lowest level of the hierarchy, her emotional strength and resistance strike fear in an adult male, such as her foster father: He was afraid of this alien child! Externally Raija perhaps reminded him of his own people but mentally she was utterly diferent. He [Pehr] did not have the slightest idea what went on in the little girl’s head – except when 31. Sanna Valkonen (2009, 16–17, 269–271) has applied Judith Butler’s term ”performativity” in her research on political Saminess. According to Valkonen, the grouping of Sami and their performing as a single, uniform ethnic and cultural people and indigenous people produces a certain Sami reality. Origin alone is not suicient: to become a Sami subject, a person has to reiterate the established elements of Saminess culturally. 222 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature she looked at him. hen anyone at all could see that Ande-Pehr had really taken on quite a burden: his new “daughter” hated him. (45) Later, in a Norwegian community one sees eforts to subject Raija to the Norwegian matrix. She has to learn to do the things that a Norwegian woman should and to behave and dress like a Norwegian. Raija obeys the orders she receives from her foster mother Kristina, but displays resistance in a way that the circumstances allow: she does all the tasks demanded of her with striking reluctance; she shows no respect for Kristina but rather remains aloof and cool. Despite her foster mother’s forbidding it, she associates with the Kvens who are their neighbours – Antti and his son Reijo. hey understand Raija’s independent and uncompromising nature. Antti relects: No one on the coast of the jord had accepted her [Raija] completely and for that reason he [Antti] felt he was obligated to defend this frail girl who two years ago had been left at the neighbours. he Norwegian couple had taken care of her but they weren’t used to children and were also quite old, so the situation was not a particularly good one. Raija was a special child but they hadn’t really understood this. hey had explained the girl’s deiance as part of her being a Kven. hey had also begun to discipline her so that she would become the kind of girl they wanted her to be. (105–106) Being a Kven and being a woman become intertwined in the character of Raija. Both of these aspects of her personality are marked by a strong self-esteem, individuality and independence. Raija refuses to yield to the mould imposed by the community. Although she has been the object of violence and scorn, she does not let this afect her character. Raija was proud. Despite everything she had been through, she had retained her self-respect. She knew who she was – and what she was worth. She drew self-assurance and internal strength from this. (…) She walked upright and did not constantly bow her head and bend her knee. It did not suit her. (51) 223 Northern Insights he writer constructs the Kven identity in a space between Sami and Norwegian culture. Not distinguishable by their outward appearance, Kvens have an opportunity to act like Sami or Norwegians, but their internal diferences make it impossible for them to identify with either group. “Being a Kven” does not involve any distinguishing external features, such as particular dress or customs; the norms and conditions it entails are dictated by a person’s inner awareness of the diference. “Kvenness” is also produced through language. Language forms an important tool for resistance and, at the same time, I see it as a statement on the policy of norwegianisation. Although the novel has only a few Finnish words in it, the importance of the language as a form of resistance is emphasised. hrough Finnish a Kven can show, if he or she wants to, that he or she is multilingual and make representatives of the dominant culture aware of their “deiciency”. hey [Raija and Reijo] spoke the same language. How many times had he [Karl] gone to their place and heard them speaking a language privately of which he only understood a few words. Sometimes he had found Raija talking to herself (…) and she wasn’t speaking Norwegian. It made him feel bitter. hey [Raija and Reijo] had secrets and he was an outsider because he didn’t understand their native tongue. (112–113) The pedagogy of fun In her novel, Pedersen conveys through “the pedagogy of fun” what she has to say on policies afecting minorities; in doing so she dispels the notion of popular literature as a light genre. She is writing popular literature fully aware of the expectations and limitations of the genre but also conscious of the opportunities it afords to inluence the reader. Although the themes of emotions and love resonate with the expectations readers have of popular literature, in my view the novel also portrays the history of a woman and a minority. 224 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature Bente Pedersen continues the literary tradition begun by Idar Kristiansen: Raija exhibits the characteristics “erotic, exotic and mythical”. I submit that these features are part of the genre of northern literature. hrough them writers are able to emphasise the distinctive nature of the region, distinguish it from the south and criticise directly or surreptitiously the dominant culture. his is what Pedersen does in transposing the focal arguments in the ethnopolitical debate of her time into a historical framework where she then examines the relationship of the dominant culture to its minorities. She makes a statement on the oicial status of “immigrant” by situating her narrative in society as it was two hundred years earlier. In the novel one sees all three of the ethnic groups living in Finnmark – the Kvens, the Sami and the Norwegians. he attitudes and hierarchies between diferent groups relect the attitudes and prejudices of the dominant culture towards its minorities in the 1900s. he writer uses her power by inverting the prevailing system of values and dismantling ethnic categories and stereotypes. She shows how northern Norwegians grow up amid diferent discourses, how those discourses shape them and how they themselves begin to reiterate the views in the discourses. At the same time, she burnishes the image of the Kven minority in the eyes of the readership. he image Pedersen conveys romanticises the Kvens but at the same time gives them – a minority that has been belittled, silenced and taught to be ashamed of itself - a positive object with whom they can identify, a proud face. he Kvens, who for the most part have been objects of knowledge in the Norwegian discourse, acquire a position as subjects in Pedersen’s novel. he Kven identity lives in a space between the Norwegian and Sami identities with an awareness of itself. Its principal sustaining force is its inner awareness of its positive diference. he external distinguishing feature of the Kvens is their multilingualism. he other focal themes in the novel, in addition to ethnicity, are the positions of women and children. Raija’s parents send their child to “safety” in another country and to people they do not know. In Norway, Raija inds herself being forced to it the Sami or Norwegian mould - and 225 Northern Insights in both cases the role of a girl in particular. In appearance she could be a member of either ethnic group and, being young, she learns both languages with ease. In order to be accepted, however, she has to succumb to ethnicising and/or patriarchal power and accept the norms, attitudes and moral codes of the community. She is forced to abide by rules imposed from the outside but makes use of the means of resistance available to her under those circumstances: she deies authority openly or in stony silence, refusing to observe norms and rules that she feels are wrong. he personality of the main character has a measure of contradictions and impulses, which translate into opportunities to do things diferently. he writer points out alternative spaces for women’s agency in emphasising a woman’s possibility and right to choose, albeit within the constraints imposed by the community in which she lives. Raija can be seen as a work that speaks out in favour of hybridity, multilingualism and multiculturalism: the main character is from the Torne River valley but her child comes to represent the typical northern Norwegian with her Sami father, Kven mother and Norwegian foster father. Bente Pedersen shows – in keeping with Foucauldian genealogy – that the notion of a “pure” Norwegian, Sami or Kven is a myth. he article is based on an article originally published in Kuulumisia. Feministisiä tulkintoja naisten toimijuuksista. Lapland University Press. Rovaniemi 2007. References Interviews and other sources of information Interview with Mikael Niemi, 28.5.2007. Interviewer Riitta Kontio. Interview with Bente Pedersen, 3.6.2007. Interviewer Riitta Kontio. Interview with Bengt Pohjanen, 24.5.2007. Interviewer Riitta Kontio. Seppola, Björnar, founding member and former chair of the Kven Council. Personal e-mail communication, 18.9.2007a and 20.9.2007b. 226 Ethnopolitics and Women’s History as Relected in Popular Literature Literature Anttonen, Marjut 1999: Etnopolitiikkaa Ruijassa. Suomalaislähtöisen väestön identiteettien politisoituminen 1990-luvulla. SKST 764. SKS, Helsinki. Aristoteles 1997: Runousoppi. Osa IX. Gaudeamus, Helsinki. Suomentanut Paavo Hohti. 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Her most recent interest is art and culture in the mental and material reconstruction process following the Lapland War (1944-45), when retreating German troops destroyed the material culture, buildings and infrastructure of the province virtually in their entirety. Seija Keskitalo-Foley is Lecturer in the Sociology of Education at the University of Lapland. Her research interests are power and agency in society and culture. Riitta Kontio is Lecturer in Finnish in the Language Centre of the University of Lapland. Her research interests are related to northern culture and literature, in particular the works of the writers of northern Finland and Finnish-speaking minorities in the North Calotte. Mari Mäkiranta is a Lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Lapland. She holds a DA in Art and Design, and her work has focused on feminist visual studies, self-portrait photography art, and family photographs. At present, she is carrying out post-doctoral research on young people’s photography art relating to their living environments. his research has included photography workshops and exhibitions, the most recent of which was held in Iceland and Finland from March to June 2012 (see www.marimakiranta.net). Päivi Naskali is Professor in Gender Studies at the University of Lapland. She is currently Dean of the Faculty of Education. Her research interests are educational policy and gender, feminist pedagogy and the northern gender system. Hanna Peltomaa is a PhD student in the doctoral programme in Gender Studies at the University of Lapland. In line with her interest in queer, gender and sports studies, she is currently doing research on queer life in rural communities. Minna Rainio (1974) is a researcher and visual artist working primarily with photography and video. She has studied photography in Surrey Institute of Art & Design in England, audiovisual media culture, cultural history and gender studies at the University of Lapland (MA), and worked as a researcher at the Elomedia Doctoral School of Audiovisual Media in the University of Art & Design, Helsinki. From 2009 to 2011 she held the position of Visiting Associate Professor in Photography at the University of Minnesota. Currently she is inishing her PhD, which deals with afective and political processes in art. www.rainioroberts.com Pälvi Rantala works as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Lapland. Her research interests include the cultural history of the North, the history of everyday life, and cultural and gender issues, with a focus on northern Finland. Sandra Wallenius-Korkalo is Junior Researcher in Political Studies at the University of Lapland. She is currently writing her PhD on the politics of continuity and change in the Laestadian revivalist movement. Her research interests include northern culture and social change, religion, representation, and the politics of memory. Outi Ylitapio-Mäntylä is Lecturer in Adult Education at the University of Lapland. Her doctoral thesis focused on teachers working in early childhood education, in particular on how gender and power are constructed in everyday pedagogical practices. Her methodological research interests are narrative, autobiographical and memory-work methods. Her most recent research focuses on using photographs as story-telling tools.

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