Finnish identity in a changing Europe*

Abstract

Whether focusing on the Kalevala, Sibelius, Aalto, sauna or sisu, Finns have long agreed that their national self included a sense of struggle against poverty and political insecurity. Additionally, they have agreed that “Swedes we are not; Russians we will never be; let us be Finns” (dating from 1809). Today, with a stable democray and a high standard of living, the terms of the question have changed. Tomorrow, with a reconfigured Europe, Finns expect to play a new role, with an ethnic script they're fashioning themselves through reinterpretations of history, folklore, and anthropology.