The Karelia of Memories - Utopias of a Place

Abstract

Karelia has always been a place of utopias and dreams in Finland. The images that we have of this area tend to originate in national projects and Karelia has been divided between two states - Finland and Soviet Union - since Finland gained inde- pendence in 1917. The Isthmus belonged to Finland until 1939. After World War II a total of 430,000 evacuees, 407,000 of who were Karelians, were resettled in different parts of Fin- land. The article concentrates on the memories of Karelian evacuees. The aim of the article is to find, construct and analyse the different ways in which the past is remembered, the experi- ences of different generations of Karelia, and the phenomenon of Karelianism. Karelia is not just an abstraction but a place of memories and utopias for Karelian evacuees. Their utopias are different than those of supporters of Karelianism because of their misery and dreams about going back there. Karelia is also a meaningful place for different generations. It is a place which Karelian refugees and their children and children's children as well as researchers and cohabitants in the new hometowns of the evacuees visit again and again. In this article I consider the Utopias related to Karelia, in particular, from the perspective of the migrant Karelians' memory and reminiscences. Utopian speech penetrates the text in my excursions throughout Karelia. My personal connec- tion with Karelia through my grandmother takes shape in the choice of topics related to the Karelian Isthmus. The article focuses on the period of the Karelians' reminiscences: the decades of independent Finland from 1917 onwards. The key words of the interpretation are memory, place and Utopias. My interpretation is anchored in the points of departure of critical oral history, i.e. context, the subjectivity of interpretation, as well as the political and positional nature of research, although these concepts are not thoroughly discussed in this article (cf. Portelli 1997; 2002; 2003; Popular Memory Group 1982; 2002). The basic questions of oral history are briefly considered at the end of the article so as to emphasise the meaning of popular memory and people's history in the right way and to unfold the possibilities of the new trends in research in Karelian studies. In particular, I want to highlight the significance of the principle of open memory in speaking about Karelia and I aim to illustrate the scope of interpretations related to Karelia, when they are proportioned to the subjec- tivity, experiences and temporal contexts of the interpreters.