Children's Literature in "Our Language"
- Children's Literature in "Our Language"
The Torne Valley, "Our Language," and Our Literature
Most of the Finnish-Swedish border runs through the Bothnian Sea. Between Haaparanta on the Swedish side and Tornio on the Finnish side, the border continues its watery path upstream along the Torne River until it reaches Kengis, from whence the tributary Kassanniska marks the national boundary. The northern rivers freeze in the winter, enabling border crossings at any point along the 555.5 km stretch. This border came into existence in 1809, when Sweden was forced to cede land to Russia. From 1809 to 1917, Finland was a Duchy of Russia. As Finland celebrates one hundred years of Independence, this letter focuses its attention on the people of the Finnish-Swedish borderlands—the Tornedalinger (literally, "people of the Torne valley")—their language, and their literature.
The Tornedalinger number around 50,000. They are Swedish citizens, although their official language is Meänkieli, which literally translates as "our language." Meänkieli is a creole formed from Finnish and Swedish with some influences from Sámi. Originally, the term Meänkieli was dismissive, signaling the speaker's awareness that they were speaking "our" way, not standard Finnish. However, since Meänkieli is incomprehensible to Swedish speakers, it separates the minority from the majority culture. Meänkieli was not officially recognized as a language until 2002; prior to that, it was considered a dialect of Finnish. Less than half of the Tornedalingers speak Meänkieli, mainly due to repressive language policies that were enforced from the 1920s to the 1960s. For instance, children could be punished for speaking Meänkieli in the playground (Winsa, Language Attitudes and "Language Planning"). Since Sweden joined the EU, attitudes have changed: the National Minorities Act functions both as an apology for abuses in the past and as a plan to enable these minorities to flourish (Lag 2009). It emphasizes support for child language development, which has led to a sharp increase in publications of children's books. To date, publications listed as being in Meänkieli total around 160, of which about 90 are for children and 10 are dictionaries. The three main publishing houses—Förlaaki Kaamos, Meänkielen förlaaki, Barents Publisher—are small, desktop enterprises established by activists committed to promoting the language and culture. In addition, a few other companies have published translations.
In this letter, I venture to provide Bookbird readers with an overview of Meänkieli literature, most of which has been written and produced by parents who are politically active in their promotion of minority rights. The primary purpose of these books is to pass on the language—not only to the children but also to their parents and carers who, as a result of the repressive language policies, are not necessarily fluent speakers. They also endeavor to forge a sense of group identity.
Introducing Vocabulary through "Point and Say" Books
Given the need to teach and pass on the language, it is not surprising that many of the books focus on teaching vocabulary. For instance, Monika Pohjanen's Meän Pikku Kirja (Our Little Book, 2012) is a simple question-and-answer book that begins by asking "Who is this?" and continues, "It's a girl," followed by the same for a boy (2, 3). Thereafter, [End Page 56] the question shifts to "Mikäs tama oon?" (What is this?), filling an otherwise blank verso, while the recto has a large painting of an object and the correct word (e.g., "Se oon äpyli" [It's an apple] (21). Anna Peilaa Itteä (Anna Looks in the Mirror, 2014) by Kerstin Tuomas Larsson and Isabella Jakobsson takes vocabulary teaching a step further as Anna's faulty pronunciation of the parts of her body she sees in the mirror are corrected by her mother in the replies. Mona Mörtlund and and Stina-Greta Berggård's Ellin Leikkikaveri (Elli's Playmate, 1993) is slightly more sophisticated. The plot resembles Eric Carle's successful Where's Spot? as Elli looks for her dog Nalle in various places around the farm. The simple question-and-answer format makes the story very easy to predict...
