Language & Nationalism in Europe

Chapter 5: Northern Europe: Languages as Prime Markers of

Ethnic & National Identity

Q: What is “Northern Europe”?

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

9th-11th 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)

• 1536 -- 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

• 18th c Danish & Swedish become consolidated as national languages

• Swedish is dominant as the majority language in Scandinavia

• 19th 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 14th c

• 16th c -1814 – 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.

• 1864 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.

• 1809 Finland awarded to Russia

• Mid 19th 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 16th c

• 16th 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 9th c, part of Norway since 11th 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

• 19th 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”