Language & Nationalism in Europe Chapter 5: Northern Europe: Languages as Prime Markers of Ethnic & National Identity

Q: What is “Northern Europe”?

Finland + Aland Islands (Swedish lang) Sweden Denmark + Faroe Islands (Faroese) Norway Iceland

Some general characteristics of Northern Europe Religion: Relatedness of languages: Correspondence between statehood & national identity: –Exception:

Some general characteristics of Northern Europe Religion: majority Lutheran Protestant Relatedness of languages: All except Finnish & Sámi are closely related Correspondence between statehood & national identity: Good –Exception: Sámi people have no state or territory of their own, and live in northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, & Russia

More on the languages: Uralic (Finno-Ugric): –Finnish & Sámi, which are NOT mutually intelligible Indo-European (Germanic): –Swedish, Danish, & Norwegian, which are all mutually intelligible –Faroese & Icelandic, which are not mutually intelligible

Historical Background 9 th -11 th c: Norway, Denmark, Sweden emerge as kingdoms 1396: all three are united with Finland in Union of Kalmar 1450 & thereafter: wars between Sweden and dominant Denmark 1905: Norwegian independence 1917: Finnish independence

Historical Background, cont’d. 1918: Iceland gets home rule 1944: Iceland gains independence Through 1980s: Sámi suffered harsh linguistic & cultural oppression 1973: Sámi parliament in Finland 1989: Sámi parliament in Norway 1993: Sámi parliament in Sweden

Development of written languages in Sweden & Denmark Denmark & Sweden: indigenous runic writing coexisted with Latin & Latin letters 1527 – Lutheranism became state religion in Sweden –1541 Translation of Bible into Swedish (based on Stockholm speech) Lutheranism became state religion in Denmark –1550 Translation of Bible into Danish (based on Copenhagen speech)

Development of written languages in Sweden & Denmark, cont’d. Conscious attempts to emphasize differences between Swedish & Danish 18 th c Danish & Swedish become consolidated as national languages Swedish is dominant as the majority language in Scandinavia 19 th c Danish suffers from conflict with German, Prussian wars Anti-German reaction takes form of pan- Scandinavianism

Norway Old Norse used as written language until 14 th c 16 th c – Danish used as written language during Danish rule 1840s large-scale collection of popular culture in local dialects Aasen collected dialectal information and codified Landsmaal, today know as Nynorsk

Norway, cont’d Nynorsk grammar 1873 Nynorsk dictionary 1929 Bokmaal codified as literary standard distinct from Danish Bokmaal & Nynorsk now co-exist as standards, though Bokmaal dominates in the press and in schools

Norway, cont’d. Nynorsk appeals to rural population as being genuinely Norwegian; Bokmaal has urban, elite & foreign (Danish) associations Nynorsk supports greater range of genres, asserts rural/regional associations Regionalism is strong in Norway, but there is no trace of separatism

Finland Was part of Sweden, but Swedish was spoken only by the elite on the coast; Swedes did not suppress Finnish (as they did Danish) because they did not see it as a threat

Finland, cont’d Finland awarded to Russia Mid 19 th c Finnish language movement 1830s Codification of modern Finnish 1917 Finland becomes independent

Finland, cont’d. Finnish constitution grants equality to Finnish & Swedish Today 95% use Finnish, 5% use Swedish and use of Swedish in Finland is declining There are some Finnish minorities in N. Norway and Sweden

Sámi Sámi (aka “Lapps”) – Sámi is linguistically fragmented and under pressure to assimilate 30,000 – 35,000 speakers, most in Norway, 1/3 in Sweden and a few in Finland and Russia

Sámi, cont’d. North Sámi of Norway is dominant variety, with a written standard language Goal of unified Norwegian language had a negative impact on Sámi, and many Sámi are now monolingual Norwegian

Iceland Populated from Norway, Scotland, Ireland Linguistic and religious ties to Norway Medieval Iceland was independent, but later subjugated with Norway to Denmark

Iceland, cont’d. Icelandic unintelligible to Scandinavians by 16 th c 16 th c Icelandic Bible Danish was used as administrative language

Iceland, cont’d. 1830s Icelanders strove for political autonomy & linguistic purism, which persists today “Iceland is practically the only example in Europe (and possibly the world) of a linguistically homogeneous nation-state.” All Icelanders speak Icelandic as mother tongue

Iceland, cont’d. Little or no dialectal fragmentation Language is the primary symbol of identity/nationhood Ancient literary culture Geographical isolation Persistent focus on purism and avoidance of loanwords

Faroes Populated from Norway since 9 th c, part of Norway since 11 th c Faroese becomes distinct in Middle Ages

Faroes Subjugated to Denmark along with Norway, and remains a part of Denmark today Danish used as literary language 19 th c Codification of Faroese

Faroes Today Faroese & Danish are both official languages and all Faroese learn Danish in school Faroese is strongly influenced by Danish, attempts to resist Danish by importing Icelandic words Some desire for independence, but this is unrealistic given economic ties to Denmark

Conclusions Language is an important mark of nationhood throughout this region Swedish & Danish were established first and inspired others to follow Finns, Sámi, Faroese & Icelanders had languages clearly distinct enough to be recognized as such Norwegian had greatest difficulty in establishing a separate linguistic identity

3 challenges to language and national identity in N. Europe: 1.Pan-Scandinavianism > Nordism promotes unity in the region, reducing distinctiveness & supporting teaching of other Scandinavian languages, giving the larger Germanic languages an advantage 2.Massive intrusion of English and other languages through the EU 3.New immigration from SE Europe & elsewhere – this is low, but Scandinavia is not longer homogeneous, and minorities “challenge the prevailing idea of the unity between nation, state, and culture”