Romani – who does the language belong to?

[Suomenkielinen teksti] 

“The Romani language is an Indo-European language, of the Indo-Iranian branch’s Indo-Aryan subset. It is a daughter to Sanskrit and sister to Hindi, Maratha and Urdu. European Romani dialects are divided into 4 main groups: the northern dialects, the Balkan dialects, the Valakian and the central dialects. The Romani spoken in Finland is a northern dialect, of its northwestern group whose historical center is in the German area.”
–Kimmo Granqvist, a., Kotimaisten kielten keskus

The research tradition of the Romani language started as early as the 1700s, when it was noted that Romani was one of the Indian languages which wandering groups of people originating in India spoke outside of India.

Research into the Romani history and culture started at the same time. And it is true that as people with oral culture and wandering lifestyle, our history would seem much shorter and more vague, if there had not been research into it from the authorities and a little bit from ourselves, too. Now we know that we are the largest minority in Europe, about 10-12 million people who have lived in Europe for 800 years or so, but information about us is still scarce. As individuals we are not interesting, as a group we are a problem – a black spot; poor and marginalized people, out of reach from civilization, human rights and equality. It is an awkward position and climbing out from there is difficult because it makes us victims and casts blame on others, whether we want that or not.

As a mother tongue, about 4 million people speak Romani in Europe, for others, the language has disappeared either totally or it remains as a household language or just a slang-like vestige of phrases and words.

Despite all our hardships and misery, we have always had something of interest, and that is our language. Interest in the Romani language just keeps growing. Today there are linguists, universities and large projects involved in the research. Top scientists, highly educated and knowledgeable people all over Europe, and the project costs are in the millions. As a mother tongue, about 4 million people speak Romani in Europe, for others, the language has disappeared either totally or it remains as a household language or just a slang-like vestige of phrases and words.

Majority researchers have compiled and recorded many variations of the language in a written form. They have created glossaries, dictionaries, grammar books and descriptions of the language. The characteristics of the language have been bases for graduate studies and thesis, articles and studies. Dialect maps and studies into changes and the effects of migration have been completed.

In some countries the Roma themselves have started teaching. Especially in the Eastern European countries there are schools for the Roma, and they are taught Romani in them. You can study Romani at University level at least in Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland and Sweden. As far as I know, Romani studies have also been conducted in Austria, England and France. In Macedonia, a small company produces TV programs and news in Romani, some countries have radio programs, e.g.  Sweden and Spain, and some countries publish newspapers in Romani. All vital steps in preserving the language.

In Finland and Sweden, we have a small population of the Roma, about 14000, and none of them speak Romani as their mother tongue. In the beginning of 2000, about a third of them spoke it at home but that number keeps diminishing, too. The situation here is the same as in the rest of Europe, we do not have the resources we need.

All this work may seem very good news, but the reality is not quite as good. A group of people, twice the number of Finland’s population, and only a few thousand are offered learning and study material, including both children and adults. And these numbers are just guesstimates. Books in Romany probably number a few thousand. In Finland and Sweden, we have a small population of the Roma, about 14000, and none of them speak Romani as their mother tongue. In the beginning of 2000, about a third of them spoke it at home but that number keeps diminishing, too. The situation here is the same as in the rest of Europe, we do not have the resources we need.

So, what is this all about?

In my mind, it is about ownership—who really owns the Romani language. We, the Roma, feel that the language was stolen from us. It has been taken over by the majority linguists, scientists, researchers, universities, EU projects—all those who know it better than we do and know what it is, where it came from and how it is written.

And yet, despite the records kept, we feel that our language was not just stolen, it was confiscated.

On one hand we understand how important it is that our language has been studied, recorded and preserved. Structures, words and idioms have been saved. Without that work, many of the Romani variations would have faded from our memories, and as carriers of oral history, we would not even recall which parts of the language had been lost. Along with the language, we have lost a lot of skills, values, history, legends, entire Roma universes, and those we will never retrieve. Even though the collected recordings only hold a fraction of what was lost, what remains is priceless. And yet, despite the records kept, we feel that our language was not just stolen, it was confiscated.

As a written tradition and a case study, the language exists but it is out of our reach. Taking possession of the language feels like theft, its preservation feels like confiscation, because we have not received anything back from the researchers. Not the glossaries, grammar or the written form that is vital for its development. Not the literacy campaigns, not even the appreciation it deserves, its significance or any efforts to revive it.

And when we have asked, wished, begged to have our language back, to use it, we are not heard, because the language has been confiscated for the use of people who are more important and more capable than we are. When those people write a book or teach us to write books, we are not pleased, but, apart from a few trained teachers, we say that it’s a foreign language, pig Latin, but definitely not Romani. And when we write the Romani we know they say the same to us.

Why is that?

Because in many areas Romani is only a spoken language that people cannot read, and we must remember that many Roma cannot read in any language. When you cannot read, you cannot understand what is written. And when you learn to read, you cannot understand what you are reading because the written language conveys ideas that do not exist in Roma Life, in a way that is not similar to the way the Roma use the language.

Or maybe we can say that a person who learns the language but does not live among the Roma cannot write about things that would deeply touch the Roma. Not things, concepts, humor, values, not in a living, touching, teaching way, but rather, as a version of the writer’s own culture. This is why it is hard for us to understand the written language, because it does not describe the Roma culture in the Romani language, it describes the majority’s idea of the Roma life from their point of view. They use the language in a way that feels dead to us, a forgotten language because we have moved on speaking it, and at the same time, the language structures used in books seem to be about 100 years behind us, with all the new words not ours, in a way ahead of our comprehension, and vice versa.

Yet, now that a written language exists, we still live in an oral, spoken culture. We would love to learn the written language and teach it, to preserve our language but it is painful. It is like covering a living flower with a sticker that shows how a flower should look like. And that hurts, it pains the heart and soul and yet we must try because that is the only solution we have. Our people have a million other needs, and the cry for help for those needs is louder and more urgent. We who cry help for the language will not be heard, because we want something that already exists for everyone else, they cannot see that we do not have it yet. 

We dream about a life where Romani would translate Roma literature to stand alongside world classics.

We would like to have conversations similar to those about the Finnish language in the great language war. We want literary researchers to make simple language guides and materials which would include elements from the spoken language as images through which the language could bloom with more vim and vigor, thus allowing us to merge more readily the written and the spoken language. We would love to have all kinds of books that we could read, learn by heart, color, study and fold into dog ears. We dream about a life where Romani would translate Roma literature to stand alongside world classics.

To reach these goals we need big book projects, where the written and the spoken words meet and the material created will speak to a Roma soul and be comfortable on their tongue.

Books that will include words and pictures that the Roma use to describe their lives, hunger, begging, cold, joy, the solidarity in poverty, cold toes in rubber boots in the dead of winter, the joy of a spring day, sister’s wedding, cousin’s fight, get-togethers, where accordions are played and the old folk get up to show how people used to dance, a brother with weak lungs who will never grow up, a horse that is more important than a car, the stray dog that became the children’s friend, the games the children played, treasures found at the dump, missing your father, mom’s arms, granny’s potato soup, new cell phone, cars, brand name clothes. The sky where the sun shines for everyone, the stars that where above every village before the street lights came, flower wreaths in the summer, first love, new caravan. That everyday Roma life where the whole extended family lives, goes to schools, works and lives in different countries all over the Europe. And all this in the Romani language, too.

***

Päivi Majaniemi works at the Finnish Roma Association. She taught herself the Romani language as an adult through books and a university course, and has encountered the problem of ownership regarding both written and spoken language when writing and teaching Roma textbooks.

Kurdish literature in the Nordic countries – some recommendations for improvements

Kurdish is one of the major immigrant languages when it comes to a number of speakers in the Nordic Countries. Like many other immigrant groups, Kurdish immigrants have settled in the Nordic countries—many due political or security reasons, some seeking work. Due to severe restriction on the Kurdish language and culture in Kurdistan – especially in Turkey and Iran, but previously also in Iraq and Syria – many Kurds have fled Europe, including the Nordic countries, to be able to preserve the Kurdish identity, e.g. to be able to freely use their native language. This has been especially important for Kurdish writers. Publishing in Kurdish was illegal altogether in Turkey up until the 1990’s. Although not totally prohibited in Iran, Iraq or Syria, there too have been – and mostly continue to be – severe restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language in the public domain, for example in education, commerce and broadcasting.

Although Kurds are a relatively new minority group in the Nordic countries, Kurdish literature has already a history of several decades of activities in the Nordic countries…

An active era for the Kurdish literature in the Nordic countries began in the 1980’s with poets like Cegerxwîn, novelists like Mehmed Uzun and authors of children books like Mehmed Emîn Bozarslan, beginning to publish their works in Sweden. In the 1990’s, when Kurdish language and literature was still under severe restriction and pressure in Kurdistan, a dozen or so Kurdish literary and cultural journals where published in Sweden, some more and some less regularly. Hundreds, if not thousands, of different Kurdish book titles where published mainly in Sweden, but to a lesser degree also in Denmark and Norway. Kurdish writers have also found a writers’ union in Sweden. There is also a Kurdish library for gathering and providing materials in Kurdish and on the Kurds in other languages.

Although Kurds are a relatively new minority group in the Nordic countries, Kurdish literature has already a history of several decades of activities in the Nordic countries with hundreds of books and dozens of journals published as well as at least one library and one writers’ union found. But on the other hand, the publication in Kurdish has plummeted in the Nordic countries over the past years. Currently no Kurdish journal is published on a regular basis in the Nordic countries, the majority of the publishing houses have been closed down and even the only Kurdish library is under threat of closing down.

Recommendations for improvements

Recently a report on the conditions of the Kurdish literature in the Nordic countries was commissioned by the Culture for All Service. The report introduces several recommendations for improvement in order for the Kurdish literature and literatures in other immigrant or other non-dominant immigrant languages to thrive and survive:

Public libraries and schools with Kurdish-speaking pupils or students should acquire more Kurdish books and other material. Literature reading events should be organized for Kurdish and other immigrant authors and translators to read out their books for library visitors.

Kurdish and other immigrant writers should receive grants or other financial support for writing literature and publishing it. Not all literary works have to be published in the form of printed books, but possibly also as portals, blogs, vlogs or social media groups or platforms centering on producing or distributing literature.

A common virtual platform should be created and maintained for immigrant writers.

Kurdish and many other non-dominant language teachers and students in the Nordic countries are in desperate need of proper digital material to be used in schools, colleges and universities for studying the language. Production of the material could be undertaken as a project for instance under a national board of education.

Courses introducing creative writing should be held especially targeting adolescents but also adults. Many Kurds, and other immigrants, having left their country of origin and home, as well as family and friends, and forced to live in exile, would benefit from the ability to express their sufferings and other experiences in the form of literature. Participants should be encouraged to write in their native language or in the main language of the country of residence or possibly in both.

Current translation of the Nordic literature into Kurdish and other immigrant languages is largely ad hoc with no overall plan or objective. A program or project should be prepared to plan what major literary works should be translated from the official or dominant Nordic languages into Kurdish and other non-dominant languages and what literary works should be translated from these languages into the Nordic languages.

A common virtual platform should be created and maintained for immigrant writers. The platform should include sections for writing in immigrant languages as well as sections introducing immigrant writers and excerpts of their literary works translated in the official or dominant language of the country of their residence.

Membership in the national writers’ union of the Nordic countries should be made possible also for writers of minority and immigrant languages residing in the country. Events introducing majority and minority/immigrant writers to each others should be held and/or supported.

***

Husein Muhammed (born in 1980 in Iraqi Kurdistan) is a Kurdish lawyer, writer and translator living in Finland since 1994.

 

 

 

Ós Pressan

Once upon a time, in the winter of 2014, there was a woman living in Reykjavík, Iceland who saw an add on Facebook about a creative writing workshop at one of the city libraries. She thought to herself “ætti ég?” And signed up. At the workshop, she met women she had never met before. The facilitator, poet and artist a rawlings, led the workshop, inviting each woman to write in (m)any language(s), within any genre, and to try out translating, editing, and working together with texts of their own creation. At first, the woman felt nervous about all the things she was invited to try and to work with all these new women. Nonetheless, she found the atmosphere empowering, challenging her to continue. As the workshop came to an end, friendships had already been made within the group, and  several of them decided to continue meeting to write and work together.

Anna Valdís Kro

A few weeks later, the woman received an email about another workshop, facilitated by a rawlings. She did not think twice about signing up. She even sent out emails to her new friends to encourage them to join her. And there they met again, at the City Library, with more new women. This workshop was five months long. The woman thought to herself “en spennandi!” Participants were given different tasks and tools to try out, and the woman soon realized that these fourteen female bodies shared experience and strength that might not have been revealed had the workshop not been for women only. Many of them also shared the joy / relief / therapeutic method of getting thoughts and feelings out on paper. Each expressed herself with words / sounds / body language, on her own terms. 

At the end of the workshop, the women realized that there was a gap in the Icelandic publication industry for marginalized writers and poets, whether it be because of language, background, gender, social status, genre, or simply their last name. Nine of the women started working on a writers’ collective, and in August 2015, Ós Pressan was born. The woman thought “hvers vegna ekki við!”

Once upon a time…

Once upon a time, in summer 2016, there was a woman drinking beer with friends in Reykjavík, Iceland. They started talking art and books and the woman said that she had been studying publishing and been involved in publishing projects and working on a Master’s thesis on multilingual art. One of these friends told her about a writing collective which evolved from a writing workshop for women hosted by angela rawlings. “Klingt super spannend!” The woman did not think twice about joining the next meeting.

At the meeting, she found herself surrounded by a type of humans that was previously unknown to her: Óssers. They discussed the publication of a journal called Ós – The Journal, and the woman immediately knew that she wanted to be involved in the creation of this journal and that the ideas behind this initiative were close to her heart. When the woman left Iceland to finish her studies in Amsterdam, she kept close contact to Ós Pressan and contributed to the the journal. After her return, the connection to Ós Pressan became even stronger.

Radical Openness

Óssers sind fantastisch! When joining Ós Pressan, the woman had expected an interesting publishing initiative and reading events. Ós Pressan and the changes in the current Icelandic linguistic landscape also inspired the PhD project that she is now working on. To her, what is most important about Ós Pressan is the aspect of community and connections. What the woman did not dare to expect was the characteristics and dynamics of Ós Pressan as a group. Óssers are radical. Radically open to all backgrounds, languages, genres, identities, sexual orientations etc. Óssers redefine Icelandic literature and who counts as an Icelandic writer. Óssers provide spaces and Óssers trust people to learn and grow. Above all, to be a part of Ós Pressan, one only has to want to be a part of Ós Pressan. That’s it. Welcome.

Lara Wilhelmine Hoffmann

Now in its third year, Ós Pressan is putting its fingerprints on the sheets of Icelandic literature. Each of the board members has contributed in their own, special way. With the trust and support from other members each continues to explore her own talents and interests and discover new ones. It has been a privilege to meet writers and poets who, had it not been for this initiative, may not have had the opportunity to be noticed and welcomed into the Icelandic literary scene. Reading their submissions, discussing them within the Ós board, seeing them in print and giving the opportunity to listen to works being read by the authors, at times in an unfamiliar language, has been one of the greatest experiences.

Now, the women smile and wonder “hvað gerist næst?”, “Was geschieht als Nächstes?”

In Other Wor(l)ds – Nordic Dimensions of Multilingualism

Three years later, the two members of Ós Pressan mentioned above, are invited to Helsinki, Finland, to participate in a seminar called In Other Wor(l)ds – Nordic Dimensions of Multilingualism. On arriving to the country they immediately notice the beauty in this bilingual world they find themselves in. Fallegt! Schön! At Hanaholmen they get settled in, have an early dinner and consume the amazing nature, the ocean, the big trees, the fire outside in the lanterns and the overwhelming sky above us all. They go over their notes for tomorrow’s presentation and then turn to bed early. Tomorrow will be a busy day with a lot of new friends in the fields of multilingual literature.

After Frühstück the seminar starts with some more coffee and chats among the group of participants which, when looking through the list of participants and their organizations or fields, varies with people from libraries, universities and institutes, museums and culture centers, a researcher, a writer, publishers and a teacher. The program varies from a presentation on promoting multilingualism and language diversity in Iceland, to a presentation of a report on the Sámi literary field in the Nordic countries, to a presentation of the forthcoming report on Nordic – Kurdish literature. It is interesting to hear how people in the other Nordic countries are trying to figure out ways to promote and support the non-dominant languages in their countries through literature. They are passionate about their work because it is important for them personally to keep those languages from fading out or disappearing from their community.

Text by Marta Tomé, published in Ós- The Journal, handwritten additions by Andrea Botero

The Writing Workshop

After a productive morning it’s time for their presentation on Ós Pressan and their mini writing workshop. While talking about the collective and publishing house and what changes have taken place since its founding in 2015, a slide show of photos from various events, workshops and exhibitions was screened. Then participants are invited to take part in a mini writing workshop. Sheets are spread out from the first two issues of the multilingual literary journal Ós – The Journal, which they can choose from a poem or a short story, in full length or in a form of an excerpt. Everyone present is invited to use the text as an inspiration for another text or visual, or to create and respond to the text. Most of the texts which were chosen are written in English, which was the main language of the seminar. But within the ten participants at this mini workshop are several languages: Icelandic, Spanish, Finish, Sami, Swedish, German and probably many more.

Playful Multilingualism

At the beginning some were hesitant about in what language they should write and asked us what to do. Since Ós is all about welcoming new voices to the platform of literature, we turned the question back to the participants, saying there was no rule. That we are open to all languages. For about 20 minutes we all sat in this creative and energetic silence working on our own creation. It could be felt on ones skin how ready everyone was to use the opportunity to process everything from this seminar and use it to create something of their own making. When the time had passed we went around in a circle and each person read aloud or talked about their new text, translation of the original text or showed the visual poem they had created. It was a wonderful experience to sit and listen to something so fresh as a recently created literature, even if it was in a language someone in the room didn’t understand at all. This mini workshop was proof of how simple it can be to facilitate a workshop where (m)any language(s) can be written or heard or spoken.

Text by Edy Poppy, published in Ós- The Journal, handwritten additions by Helga West

When reading through the new pieces, it is interesting to see the playfulness in many of the texts—mixing languages, focusing on the sounds and translating them to another language and following what the original text lights up in the writer. How a simple title about memories being like salt can turn into a new text about the salty water of the ocean, being on holiday and reading the book Taran. How a story about Frankenstein and breast cancer can inspire a new piece about who´s playing God in this human life and what we fear. How a page from a story can be turned into a poem. How an English translation of a political poem about Polish people can be a memory trigger to anarchy in a 7 year old mind about the monkey who ate red chillies. How an excerpt from a story can simply be turned into a visual poem. Just to give a few examples.

“Hvað gerist næst?”, “Was geschieht als Nächstes?”, “What happens next?”

***

Anna Valdís Kro is a kindergarten teacher from Iceland, has been writing since she was young. She writes short stories, lyrics, and poems. Anna writes for children and adults in different types of languages.

 

Lara Wilhelmine Hoffmann is a PhD student working in the research project “Inclusive Societies: The Integration of Immigrants in Iceland“ at the University of Akureyri in North Iceland. She is also active in the artistic and cultural field.

 

Ós Pressan is a non-profit initiative designed to bring out and promote new authors, to create an inclusive writing community and to challenge the reality of the publishing industry in Iceland.

More information: https://www.ospressan.com/, https://www.facebook.com/ospressan/

Our library – my language

Reading and library services should be accessible to all – regardless of their language. Multilingual Library brings services to the customer’s local library.  

Free access to education and libraries is a strength which may have made the greatest contribution to equality.  The library services are based on the Public Libraries Act, which was reformed just a while ago. 

The library is open to all, and it must be available and accessible to everyone. 

The needs of Finnish- and Swedish-speaking customers must be given equal weight. 

The needs of the Sámi-speaking customers must be taken into account in the Sámi native region. 

To safeguard linguistic and cultural rights, the needs of other local language groups must be given due attention as well.  At the end of 2017, 373,500 persons with a mother tongue other than Finnish, Swedish or Sámi lived in Finland. According to population statistics, approximately 160 different languages are spoken in Finland. The number may be even higher. How can we acknowledge the needs of all these language groups in our libraries? 

Library workers and decision-makers showed great foresight when the Ministry of Education and Culture assigned Helsinki City Library with the task of providing library services for persons with other native languages and acquiring materials for joint, nation-wide use. 

Global cooperation enhanced internationalisation, which affected the composition of the library customer base as far back as the early 1990s. The Nordic countries had considered solutions for arranging library services for different language groups. Library workers and decision-makers showed great foresight when the Ministry of Education and Culture assigned Helsinki City Library with the task of providing library services for persons with other native languages and acquiring materials for joint, nation-wide use.  This was how Multilingual Library got started. Multilingual Library is given an annual operating grant by the ministry. 

Reading in one’s own language is a right that belongs to everyone.

Today, Multilingual Library is the local library for all library customers, regardless of their place of residence in Finland. Reading in one’s own language is a right that belongs to everyone. Even if you move from one country to another, your mother tongue will always accompany you. Being well versed in your own mother tongue improves your chances of learning the language of your new home country, too. This is indicated by international studies. Furthermore, it emerged that there are, in fact, more people in the world who are bi- or multilingual than monolingual, and they use several languages fluently. 

Multilingual Library reaches users in their own neighbourhoods, because they can order material to their local libraries free of charge.

Multilingual Library has a selection of more than 20,000 works in different fields, intended for readers of all ages and listeners of audio books and music. Non-fiction books, poetry, thrillers, biographies, history, popular fiction, fairy tales, picture books, world music—the number keeps growing by approximately 2,000 new titles annually. Multilingual Library reaches users in their own neighbourhoods, because they can order material to their local libraries free of charge.  So, we encourage you to inform your local library about your wish to read material in your own language. Russian Library, serving the Russian-speaking population, operates on the same principle. 

The story diploma, intended to nurture storytelling, contains a book list specifying the languages that a certain book is available in.

Various actors have made efforts to promote reading among children and young people. It is important to start reading together with the child at an early age. The story diploma, intended to nurture storytelling, contains a book list specifying the languages that a certain book is available in. Thus, families and children in day care centres and playparks can pick a book that can be read simultaneously in each child’s mother tongue. The Story train (Satukaravaani) brings storytelling sessions in various languages to children’s local libraries. The storytellers can be found, for example, through Helmet libraries’ joint language database for storytellers. If you are organising an event, you can use the database to borrow a storyteller or someone who can give you book tips in your own language. 

Besides promoting reading among children and young people, we must pay attention to persons with reading disabilities and ensure that they have access to printed publications – in various languages, too. The Marrakesh Treaty makes it easier to publish works and exchange them between countries. Worldwide, less than seven percent of all published books are available in an accessible format, such as audiobooks. Celia library works to remove these barriers and serves the whole nation. 

We hope that as many libraries as possible will participate in the annual Multilingual Month (Satakielikuukausi), which is a great opportunity to highlight multilingual materials and services. 

Riitta Hämäläinen works as a Multilingual Library information specialist at Helsinki City Library.  

Call to action – the Indigenous language challenge!

This year we celebrate the UN’s International Year of Indigenous Languages. The purpose of the year is to make the situation of the Indigenous languages of the world more visible. In order for the linguistic rights of the Indigenous people to be guaranteed and the languages ​​preserved and transferred to future generations, strong investments, knowledge and will to preserve the languages are needed.

The different Sámi languages spoken in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia, as well as the Inuit languages spoken in Greenland belong to Indigenous languages. Like many of the Indigenous languages ​​around the world, the Sámi languages and Greenland Inuit languages ​​are on UNESCO’s list of endangered languages. Some of the languages like the South, Lule, Inari, Skolt, and Kildin Sámi are defined as severely endangered, others like the Ume and Pite Sámi are seen as critically endangered and others like North Sámi, East Greenlandic/Tunumiit oraasiat and North Greenlandic/Qaanaaq Inuktitut are seen as definitely endangered. West Greenlandic or Kalaallisut is the official language of Greenland and it is defined by UNESCO as vulnerable.

Multilingual Month calls out to the Nordic organisations, institutions and individual agents on the fields of arts and culture as well as the educational field to participate in the UN’s International Year of Indigenous Languages by highlighting the situation of the Indigenous languages in the Nordic countries, by arranging events in relation to the theme, by spreading information in the Sámi languages and Inuit languages and by increasing contents and programs in Sámi languages and/or Greenlandic languages in their activities!

The Sámi and Greenlandic languages, literatures ​​and cultures should be made visible in the schools and universities in the Nordic countries, as well as in Nordic media and culture! We can all contribute in various ways to strengthen the visibility and awareness of the Indigenous of the Nordic countries.

Some ideas on how to promote indigenous languages in the Nordic countries

• Learn phrases in Sámi or in Greenlandic! On the trilangual web page (Finnish, Swedish, English) Say it in Saami, by the poet Niillas Holmberg and the documentary film maker Katri Koivula, you get concrete help for different everyday situations – in all three Sámi languages spoken in Finland. Oqaasileriffik, the language secretariat of Greenland, offers a helpful web page with information on Greenlandic and a dictonary.
• Learn about the Sámi people, Sámi languages and Sámi culture. The oktavuohta-website offers information in Finnish on Sámi issues for educators and others interested. The site is produced by the Sámi Parliament and the Finnish National Agency for Education. The site samer.se, produced by the Sámi information centre in Sweden offers information on Sámi culture in Swedish. Say it in Sámi also gives a short introduction into Sámi culture in English.
• Promote literature in the Indigenous language of the Nordic countries and invite Sámi and Greenlandic writers to perform at literary events arranged in the Nordic countries. Information on the Sámi literarary fields and ideas on how to promote Sámi literature can be found in Johanna Domokos report Čálli giehta ollá guhkás – A Writing Hand Reaches Further. Recommendations on the improvement of the Sámi literary field, which she has written and edited for Culture for All. The report is written in English and the recommendations for improving the Sámi literary field can also be found in various Sami languages, Finnish and Swedish on the Nordic Multilingual Month’s website. At the web site of the Greenlandic writers’s union you find information (in Danish) on Greenlandic writers. Check also the project Allatta! for young aspiring writers in Greenland.
• Include Sámi and Greenlandic languages, artists and cultural agents in the events, the courses and the program that you organize. Add information on these languages and culture in all the information and materials that you provide through your different communication channels!

***

Rita Paqvalén is the Executive Director of Culture for All Service. She has a background as a researcher and lecturer in Nordic literature and is one of the initiators of the Nordic research network DINO – Diversity in Nordic Literature.  Since 2013 Paqvalén and her team at Culture for All has been working with several projects related to multilingualism in the field of literature and culture in the Nordic countries, and has produced publications, as well as arranged several seminars and events in relation to the subject. Culture for All is the initiator of the Nordic Multilingual Month and one of the main organizers of the Finnish version of the month Satakielikuukausi.

When Kullervo met Araweelo

we could learn more about Nordic-Somali poetry, literature and storytelling

It was more than ten years ago when I had my first, unexpected contact with Somalian storytelling. I was working as a museum guide at Ateneum, Finnish National Art Gallery, and my task was to focus on the art related to Kalevala, which has the position as the Finnish national epos. Young pupils that had arrived to Finland from Somalia less than three years ago listened to the story of Kullervo, an unfortunate character, who cannot avoid causing destruction and pain whatever he tries to do, and finally ends up killing himself after accidentally sleeping with his sister. We looked at Akseli Gallen-Kallela’s painting Kullervon kirous (Kullervo’s curse) which depicts a furious teenage boy lifting his fist towards the sky, while a dog sniffs a half loaf of bread in his feet. According to the story, inside the bread there is a stone, and if you know this, you can distinguish it in the painting.
“These stories used to be sung,” I explained in a school visit related to the same program. “That was the way to remember them before they were written down. You can sing all the lines of this book,” I continued and sang some verses from a randomly opened Kalevala-book with a monotonous melody.
“Really?” asked one of the pupils looking at me incredulous. He wanted to open the book himself.
“Can you sing this one as well?” he continued.
“Yes. Anyone can, it´s very simple, just a few notes. You can try.” I answered and followed the lines with my finger while I sang.
“We have these stories too!” he said then.

After that he told me about a female queen who castrated all the men in her reign and about a girl who succeeded to escape her monstrous mother. The cannibal mother’s name was Dhegdheer and the queen was Araweelo. His Somalian-born classmates contributed to the story with details and started to argue about the correct version of the plot. I was fascinated by the enthusiasm and ability of these children to communicate their stories to me with their still very fresh Finnish language.

…through the stories and paintings related to this epos, we could form a bridge that connected two very distant worlds of stories.

To be honest, I had never been really a fan of Kalevala, even though in my job as a guide I told the stories with an enthusiasm that I wanted to offer for the museum visitors. The process of constructing the Finnish national identity has elements that make me feel uncomfortable. But now I truly found it interesting; through the stories and paintings related to this epos, we could form a bridge that connected two very distant worlds of stories. For this group, what impacted them most was the story of Kullervo, and the fact that all the stories could be sung.

The Nordic countries, especially Sweden, have become important areas of publishing literature in Somali language.

I guess that a similar feeling of touching a rich but invisible world, has happened to many people who have worked with initiatives related to Somalian storytelling and poetry in the Nordic countries and elsewhere in the Somali diaspora. Several literary scholars (eg. Ahmed Artan Hanghe, Bogumił W. Andrzejewski, Giorgi L. Kapchits) have written about the varied genres, their specific metrics, contents, performative contexts and other elements of Somalian poetry, storytelling and literature. Many collections of Somalian folktales have been done and are also available in English and/or in Nordic languages. Projects related to literary and/or Somali mother language education have created formats to continue, adapt and renew the Somalian storytelling traditions. Some of them have collected texts that have been published as books or online. Somali book fairs have been yearly traditions at least in Finland, Sweden, Canada and Britain apart of Hargeisa, and their close connection to worldwide distribution channels of Somali language literature shows interesting features of a unique, transnational literary field. The Nordic countries, especially Sweden, have become important areas of publishing literature in Somali language. The Swedish support system of literature has also permitted a rather wide publication activity of children’s books. Even easy-reading books and a children’s journal in Somali language are published in Sweden.

Storytelling courses in Somali language at Espoo libraries in 2011, part of the project Queen Araweelo’s bathing pond (Kuningatar Araweelon kylpylammikko). Teacher: Amiira Ismail. Photo: Outi Korhonen

It is not a field of roses. Many of the initiatives related to Somali language receive aggressive reactions from racist and xenophobic groups.

In many cases there has been a fertile dialogue between the expertise of Nordic Somali inhabitants and the literary, cultural or educational elements of the receiving country. These are echoes of the work that the diasporic Somali communities have done to develop and cultivate their literary tradition, both inside the Somali-speaking language community and in dialogue with the other inhabitants of the new home countries.

It is not a field of roses. Many of the initiatives related to Somali language receive aggressive reactions from racist and xenophobic groups.[1]

As the written Somali language is so young, established as late as in 1972, the oral forms of poetry have had an important role in preserving and forming the stories and their aesthetics. Maybe this was the reason why singing some verses of Kalevala attracted the pupils who first told me Somalian stories. Before having the written versions of poetry and literature, the relation between the author and the reader has been different, and I wonder whether something of that is still left in Somalian literary context. I refer to the collective nature of creation.

Professionalism is often understood as a synonym of good quality.

I may be wrong, but during the years I worked with art, culture politics and diversity, I had the feeling that from the lenses of the Finnish art field, there are difficulties in recognizing and appreciating collective forms of art creation. It is considered something less worthy. Our culture demands first of all professionalism—professional artists who do art as their profession and can prove that. Professionalism is often understood as a synonym of good quality. But when art is strongly rooted in the life of a community, the question of professionalism becomes complicated. Then, the question of quality is not a question of professionalism—these two words are not synonyms anymore. The question that should be asked is different, but I do not know what it should be. How does art contribute to the meaning of people’s lives? What do people do with art, what kind of importance does it have? What is quality?

What if the roles of the creator, performer, commentator, curator and audience would be different? Maybe the development towards more and more specific roles and expertise has also elements of loss and alienation. Maybe it would be possible to imagine an ambiguity, instability of roles, different from the ones that we are used to. Isn’t our art field often looking for changes like that anyway? But when there is art that does not respond to the fixed roles and structures of our own art fields, it often becomes invisible for us. Our measuring functions with the criteria of professionalism, as if professionalism would always be a synonym of quality.

There is internationally awarded contemporary literature created by Somali authors and there are individual creators that our art field needs as a proof for professionalism.

With these reflections I do not mean to insinuate that there would not be professionalism in the literary field of the Somali diaspora. Of course there is, there are professional writers, poets, editors, book fair organizers, etc. There is internationally awarded contemporary literature created by Somali authors and there are individual creators that our art field needs as a proof for professionalism. The most well-known among them is probably Nuruddin Farah, who switched his writing language from Somali to English to reach a wider audience and received the appreciated Neustadt prize for his production. Some of his books have been translated to Finnish and are at least occasionally read by literature students also in our universities[2].

But apart from that, there may also be a field of literary and poetic creation in Somali language that has collective elements. If I am not wrong and if these collective elements exist, in my opinion they should be considered very valuable.

Our time needs other protagonists.

I have followed a bit freely the flow of my thoughts. Though my title may have promised an encounter between Kullervo and Araweelo, it does not happen in this blog text. I could have imagined how the queen Araweelo castrates Kullervo, so that he´ll never sleep with his sister, and he does not have to kill himself for feeling too guilty. But no, I did not do it. They are characters of the past who do not respond to our needs to construct the story of our time. Our time needs other protagonists. We are more interested in seeing who they are and what will happen between them. Knowing that in the past of our worlds of stories, an imaginary encounter could have changed the course of history, may still create connections that find their personifications in the stories of future and our time.    

***

Outi Korhonen
Photo: Sergio Prudant

Outi Korhonen is an art educator who worked for years with projects related to multilingualism and cultural diversity in the arts field, e.g. coordinating Multilingual Month. In her projects as regional artist for cultural diversity (2011-2014), she facilitated also projects related to storytelling in Somali language. Now she has returned to teach visual arts for children and youth, assuming the need to restart learning things from the beginning every day.

Links:
Projects related to Somali language in this page: https://multilingualmonth.org/tag/somali/
A blog text related to Nordic-Somali book fair in Pasila: Encounters of language and poetry at Nordic Somali Festival (https://multilingualit.org/2016/12/12/nordic-somali-festival/)

[1] A Swedish writer Oscar Trimbel cancelled the distribution of his bilingual Swedish-Somali children’s book Farfar har fyra fruar at Göteborg book fair after being threatened by racist groups. I myself received insults with sexual contents in an online magazine’s discussion in 2011 after I had written a reader’s opinion in Helsingin Sanomat (the biggest Finnish newspaper) about the need to have Somali language teaching in any Finnish university when there was none. The text was written with the director of Finland-Somalia association, who was so used to being insulted that he only laughed at the comments he received, though they were much worse than the ones I got. This made me understand how different positions we have in my country.

[2] Nuruddin Farah’s book Maps (Karttoja) became familiar to me when I studied literature at Helsinki University. It was included in the reading programme of a course of literary analyses.

 

ROMANI PUBLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

By 2019, in all countries in Europe where Roma live, a number of publications for children varying from materials to support the education of the Roma to original books by Roma authors with tales, short stories, poetry and educational materials have appeared. These are primarily bi-lingual books written in Romani and/or in the language of the majority in the country of publication, published under various circumstances, but most of them reflecting the Romani culture and identity. Romani children literature, original and in translation, is among the first genres to be developed dating back as soon as the immergence of Romani literature as part of fully (though for only a decade) developed Romani literary landscape in the 1920-30s in the Soviet Union to serve the needs of the Romani population and its enlightening the spirit of the new regime.

The landscape of the Romani kids´ publication in the Nordic countries is not a homogeneous one.

Nowadays, books for children have been among the most numerous publications written and published by and for Roma, because of the importance of the Romani children education and strengthening Romani culture and identity through it. The landscape of the Romani kids´ publication in the Nordic countries is not a homogeneous one. Romani children´s and young adult literature production depends on the local circumstances among which national policies in the field of education, minorities, language policies, activism, as well as on individual factors. Instead of providing an exhaustive list of the productions and authors, which is anyway impossible, I would suggest a typology of the common development, genres and topics that we observe in Romani publications for children in the Nordic countries.

…in Denmark and Norway no special policies to support Romani language education are taking place.

In Sweden and Finland, there are state-supported initiatives for the production of educational materials for Romani children, as in the two countries Romani is recognized as a minority language, while in Denmark and Norway no special policies to support Romani language education are taking place. In the 1970s, the Swedish government started implementing measures for educating Roma, both children and adults. At that period a couple of Romani language works appeared in Sweden. In 1979 Amari šib (Our language), a language learning brochure appeared to be republished in 1982. Various educational materials are produced today in all Romani dialects spoken in Sweden with the support of Skolverket, the National Board of Education. In Finland, the Romani activists Viljo Koivisto (in the 1980s), Miranda Voulasranta and Henry Hedman have authored several educational publications that are applied in education today. In Denmark a couple of primary education books were published by Selahetin Kruezi.

There are also lots of tales, fairy tales and story books based on narrations from the Romani community. Examples of Romani language publications are the Kalradash folklore tale books by Monica and Dragan Caldaras (1983), Living Water collection of tales by Mikael Demetri and Angelina Dimiter-Taikon (2002) in Sweden, Fairy-Tale Bag of Romaniuk by Inga Angersaari’s (2001) in Finland, as well as Real Stories and Tales by Maria Barinka Lakatosova and Robert Lorentsen in Norway (2016).

The Swedish literature scene appears to be most developed to a great extent due to the involvement of Gunilla Lundgren who inspired/co-authored/edited a great part of the Romani books.

Fiction books on contemporary topics inspired by autobiographic experience or life-narrative with rich illustrative materials (graphics, pictures or phonographs) are also popular. The most famous one is the Katitzi book series by Katarina Taikon published in Swedish that has become part of the Swedish mainstream literature canon. The Swedish literature scene appears to be most developed to a great extent due to the involvement of Gunilla Lundgren who inspired/co-authored/edited a great part of the Romani books. Sofia Taikon, Ramona Taikon-Melker, Erland Kaldaras, Domino Kai and Fred Taikon have published such books in Sweden. In Finland, a couple of publication have been co-authored by Helena Blomerus, Satu Blomerus and Helena Korpela.

The commonalities that we see in Nordic Romani literature for children is not only in terms of the genre’s diversity, but also in terms of the narrations and Romani collective representation.

The commonalities that we see in Nordic Romani literature for children is not only in terms of the genre’s diversity, but also in terms of the narrations and Romani collective representation. The common topics are: Romani authors´ interpretations of oral narratives existing in the Romani communities; Narratives about a collective self (of a Romani girl or boy, and her/his experience within the community and majority society) often based on autobiographical experience; Narratives in text and visuals related to Romani history and way of life in the past and present. In this respect we can say that Nordic Romani children and youth literature is comparable with the developments of other minorities´ literatures in the Nordic context and globally. 

***

Sofiya Zahova is a postdoc researcher at the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Language, School of Humanities, University of Iceland where she works on the project Romane Lila. The entangled history of Romani identity politics and Romani publications (funded by the Icelandic Research Fund – RANNIS). Her main interests are in the field of Romani Studies, History and Ethnography of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. She is author of the books Montenegro after Yugoslavia: Dynamics of Identities (2013, in Bulgarian), History of Romani Literature with Multimedia on Romani Kids´ Publications” (2014) and of the UNICEF-commissioned report Research on the Social Norms which Prevent Roma Girls from Access to Education (2016, in Bulgarian and English).

Multilingualism and Polyphony in Immigrants’ Literature in Finland

Immigration and globalization have broadened the definition of Finnish literature that was traditionally defined as a piece of literature written by a Finn in Finnish in Finland for Finns. As a result of immigration to Finland, some immigrants have produced and continue to produce literary works that deal with Finnish culture, society and history in Finnish or several other languages. In addition to their mother tongues, a great number of immigrant authors master different languages and employ them simultaneously in their works. The existence of such works in Finland and their coexistence with Finnish literature have both challenged the traditional definition of Finnish literature and have generated multilingual and polyphonic literature.

The project [on multilingual Finnish literature]…aims to increase the visibility, readability and research on literary works written by immigrant authors in Finland, writing in the dominant or non-dominant languages but know themselves affiliated with Finnish culture, history and society.

At the Finnish Literature Society (Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura, SKS, https://www.finlit.fi/en), wherein work is based on an up-to-date knowledge and understanding of the roots of the culture, as well as the contemporary profile of a multicultural and multilingual Finnish literature, we are conducting a project, entitled “Toward a More Inclusive Finnish Literature,” on multilingual Finnish literature. The project, which has started in January 2018, aims to increase the visibility, readability and research on literary works written by immigrant authors in Finland, writing in the dominant or non-dominant languages but know themselves affiliated with Finnish culture, history and society.

The database [on immigrant authors residing in Finland]…will include the information of seventy immigrant authors, such as their updated biographies, list of publications and photos of many of these authors, as well as the views and interviews of some of them.

Since there did not exist any database on immigrant authors residing in Finland, we have spent some time to build the database, which will include the information of seventy immigrant authors, such as their updated biographies, list of publications and photos of many of these authors, as well as the views and interviews of some of them. The database is updated on regular basis as the project proceeds. Right after that, we selected a number of immigrant authors based on their professionality (quality of their published works), activity (quantity of their works) and diversity of nationality for the first round of interviews. We contacted them one at a time, asked those who were interested to send some of their published works to us, and after reading them, we had an in-depth and technical interview rather than a general one. Up to this date, fifteen authors have been interviewed, and the other selected ones will be contacted and interviewed hereafter.

The seminar also familiarized immigrant authors with the activities of the SKS and our co-organizers with a focus on their supportive missions for immigrant authors.

At the SKS, we also organized a one-day literary seminar – entitled “Today’s Literature, Tomorrow’s Literary History: Do Immigrant Authors Transform Finnish Literature?” – in October 2018 in the main building of the SKS. The seminar, which was co-organized by some organizations, including Culture for All and Globe Art Point, gathered a number immigrant authors as well as scholars, researchers and anyone interested in the literature produced by immigrants in Finland. The seminar also familiarized immigrant authors with the activities of the SKS and our co-organizers with a focus on their supportive missions for immigrant authors. In addition, it provided the grounds for us to be acquainted with the potentials of authors and see how we can work together to find a way toward increasing their  visibility and readability.

The anthology [entitled ‘Toward a More Inclusive Finnish Literature’] will include some of the unpublished literary works in different genres by about thirty immigrant authors in about twelve different languages, and this would make the anthology the most inclusive, collective and comprehensive one ever published on immigrant authors in Finland.

We have also planned to publish a multilingual anthology, entitled Toward a More Inclusive Finnish Literature, in 2019. The anthology will include some of the unpublished literary works in different genres by about thirty immigrant authors in about twelve different languages, and this would make the anthology the most inclusive, collective and comprehensive one ever published on immigrant authors in Finland. The publication of this multilingual anthology manifests some aspects of multilingualism and polyphony that exist in Finland, introduces some of the immigrant authors residing and writing here, as well as provides an opportunity for their works to be seen, read and heard.

***

Mehdi Ghasemi received his PhD in English Literature from the University of Turku, and now he is a postdoctoral researcher at the Finnish Literature Society, the University of Tampere and the University of Turku. He has already published five scholarly books and thirteen papers in peer-reviewed scholarly journals with three more papers in the pipeline. He is also a fiction writer, writing his works in the hybrid genre of noveramatry (a combination of novel, drama and poetry all in one line). He has already published three fiction books, including Flight to Finland: A Noveramatry, How I Became a W Finn: A Noveramatry and Finnish Russian Border Blurred: A Noveramatry, with the fourth forthcoming one, A Farewell to the Earth and Kepler-438b.

Will learning the language of the country one inhabits lead to seamless integration?

Blog-entry by Tania Nathan

The effects of our globalising world has been that of gain, and loss. There is no denying the gains some have seen from our shrinking borders, but that too has not been without costs. With increased migration, comes the intermingling of cultures, and a certain amount of conflict. Some parties insist on assimilation while others root for integration – both are in itself problematic concepts. At the forefront of this discussion, is language. Will learning the language of the country one inhabits lead to seamless integration?

In my work with young migrants, asylum seekers and refugees I have seen a strong desire that drives them to learn the lingua franca of Finland. This motivation comes from a series of reasons – the need to fit in, to be understood, and to find a place in this new society that they now call home. Yet, there is a need to preserve the diversity of languages that make up their own mother tongues, especially as they learn a new language. Why is this?

We have seen the mistakes made in the past when minorities have had their mother tongues actively suppressed, along with their expressions of culture – be it through shared celebrations, religions, histories, and clothing. The death of cultural diversity is a loss for us all, and is something that must be struggled against actively. A homogenous world is a boring one, lacking in nuance and variety. We should encourage people to practice their cultures, so that they flourish and can have healthy participation in a society that accepts them as they are. How can this be done? In one simple and effective way, the mother tongues of minorities, indigenous groups and migrants must be protected and given room, especially as they work towards learning a new language and identity in the society they have chosen to call home. That way, a mutual respect can be fostered between both parties, and both parties stand to benefit.

In order for languages to stand the test of time, they must adapt to the changing times, and also changing situations. The struggle and adaptation of languages and cultures to new times, environments, and norms is what will allow it to endure. A diversity of cultures and languages will not result in the ‘watering down’ of any one culture in the society it inhabits, because no culture exists in a vacuum, and we are all prone to change and growth. This, is a good thing. Also, in order for ‘integration’ to work, it must provide opportunities for equality and participation.

Another endeavour to encourage more representation has been undertaken by Ruskeat Tytöt, a non-profit media organisation in Finland with its motto ‘For brown people, by brown people’. RT has created creative writing courses for 14-29 year old persons of color who are girls (and all other genders beyond the normative ‘male’) through workshops and courses. This way, the normative voices and ideas in the media can be diversified, and the experiences of all kinds of people can be normalized in a society where everyone can and should have an active participation. The young adults studying Finnish at Vantaa’s Institute of Adult Education for one, are motivated to learn because they want to participate in this society. They want to have an active role in study and work life and have the same opportunities as everyone else. Naturally, they sometimes find the nuances of the new language they are trying to learn difficult. It is useful to remind them then, that they have already successfully grasped the intricacies of their own mother tongue which they do speak fluently. This is crucial to remember, that those struggling to learn Finnish may already be experts in two or three other languages, some with complex writing systems completely different to the Latin alphabet and with thousands of years of history backing them up. To give that credit and respect, will help new learners realize that their own languages are valuable and important, and that knowledge can be used to help them learn this new language. That way, the cultural differences we so cherish in our world can be preserved and given room to grow.

The more visibility and room we make for migrants, persons of color, and the indigenous in Finland, the more we benefit, because only when we understand each other, and hear the stories and songs of those around us, can we recognize that there is more to unite us, than divide us. When it becomes normal for representation of people of color by people of color (as well as all other groups), and for all languages to have a place in our society, only then can we turn the idea of integration on its head and talk about a society that is really united.

***

Tania Nathan is a writer, educator and poet who lives and works in the Uusimaa region.