In-Between Identities and Places – Negotiating Belonging with the Malmö Finns
(2021) SGEK03 20202Department of Human Geography
- Abstract
- As a result of globalization and postmodern confusion, simple place-based identities may be becoming obsolete. Malmö Finns, on the other hand, are part of a thousand-year-old tradition of migration from Finland to Sweden and a long history of in-betweenness. Inspired by phenomenological approaches to geography, this thesis explores the mental landscapes of Malmö Finns and aims to understand how they negotiate their identities in relation place, find their places in the world, and assign places identities. Ideas of bell hooks, Doreen Massey, Yi-Fu Tuan, and Edward Relph form the conceptual foundations of the study. Stories were gathered from a sample consisting mostly of first-generation immigrant women using a questionnaire,... (More)
- As a result of globalization and postmodern confusion, simple place-based identities may be becoming obsolete. Malmö Finns, on the other hand, are part of a thousand-year-old tradition of migration from Finland to Sweden and a long history of in-betweenness. Inspired by phenomenological approaches to geography, this thesis explores the mental landscapes of Malmö Finns and aims to understand how they negotiate their identities in relation place, find their places in the world, and assign places identities. Ideas of bell hooks, Doreen Massey, Yi-Fu Tuan, and Edward Relph form the conceptual foundations of the study. Stories were gathered from a sample consisting mostly of first-generation immigrant women using a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group, and investigated through narrative and thematic analysis. The results show that landscapes, language, routine, memories, and people have an important function in cultivating a sense of belonging in place. Being an ethnic and linguistic minority and the social consequences of this are at the core of determining who one is, yet this is relative to the presence of others who can be interpreted as ‘more different.’ Changes that have taken place in one’s old environment further complicate self-identification. These Malmö Finns’ senses of Malmö are practical, international, entrapping, and intimate. The identity of Malmö is also closely intertwined with comparisons to other places. To many, Malmö is an adventure that turned to reality through finding love and starting a family. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9041803
- author
- Arosuo, Haikku LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SGEK03 20202
- year
- 2021
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Malmö, Sweden Finns, belonging, home, place identity, sense of place
- language
- English
- id
- 9041803
- date added to LUP
- 2021-03-26 09:03:23
- date last changed
- 2021-03-26 09:03:23
@misc{9041803,
abstract = {{As a result of globalization and postmodern confusion, simple place-based identities may be becoming obsolete. Malmö Finns, on the other hand, are part of a thousand-year-old tradition of migration from Finland to Sweden and a long history of in-betweenness. Inspired by phenomenological approaches to geography, this thesis explores the mental landscapes of Malmö Finns and aims to understand how they negotiate their identities in relation place, find their places in the world, and assign places identities. Ideas of bell hooks, Doreen Massey, Yi-Fu Tuan, and Edward Relph form the conceptual foundations of the study. Stories were gathered from a sample consisting mostly of first-generation immigrant women using a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group, and investigated through narrative and thematic analysis. The results show that landscapes, language, routine, memories, and people have an important function in cultivating a sense of belonging in place. Being an ethnic and linguistic minority and the social consequences of this are at the core of determining who one is, yet this is relative to the presence of others who can be interpreted as ‘more different.’ Changes that have taken place in one’s old environment further complicate self-identification. These Malmö Finns’ senses of Malmö are practical, international, entrapping, and intimate. The identity of Malmö is also closely intertwined with comparisons to other places. To many, Malmö is an adventure that turned to reality through finding love and starting a family.}},
author = {{Arosuo, Haikku}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{In-Between Identities and Places – Negotiating Belonging with the Malmö Finns}},
year = {{2021}},
}