Linda has posed an interesting question: What is Finnish culture? Even though the answer to the question is more complex than one would think, it brings forth some very important points about our identity and who we believe we are.
One of the biggest problems with “national identities” and “cultures” is that they are built with heavy doses of myths. Other national cultures, such as the Germans, British, Brazilians, Japanese also use myths to build the pillars of their national and cultural identity.
One of the biggest myths about Finnish culture is that it is a tribe; Finns are honest; Finns love nature; Finns have Sisu etc… In every country children are breast fed and taught that their culture and language is the best. We speak of internationalization but, in fact, we are brought up to be very provincial and ethnocentric beings. In order to hide our myopic views of ourselves and others, we allow ourselves to be spoon-fed with a heavy dose of myths about who we are.
National identities have got the world into a lot of problems. It has been responsible for sparking wars, internal and external, and mass murder as happened recently in the former Yugoslavia and Nazi Germany. It continues to be the vital fuel that racism and stereotypes feed on.
I am certain that if we do not end up destroying ourselves, humankind will look at this period 50 to 100 years from now and feel sorry for us. They will say in disbelief: Didn’t they understand that cultural differences were human-made and maintained with the help of myths.
June 6, 2009 at 11:49 pm
No country is an Island. Cultures will becme Myths and placed in Museums of antiquities. Globalization of every form is the way forward, boundries will be broken and cultures will intermix and dissappear into the human race and most of all, since Finnish people will never accept this even in a hundred years, they either will all commit mass suicide or whitter.
July 20, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I too think it’s true, that one’s own national identity is being created by beliefs which are attached to a certain culture. By the same way we’ll also get the picture of other cultures, as you already pointed out (Koreans, Germans, Brits and so on.).
I myself, wish too, that Finland would be more open towards foreigners in the future. The younger generations here are already much more open, for example if you compare to the big generations, which were born shortly after the war, which has made a huge impact on Finland and Finns.
Oh, and by the way, I appreciate your work on getting to know this small weird corner on the Earth. I think Finns have sub-consciously a low self-esteem, due to all historical factors which have affected the way we think. Have you ever noticed “silent” reactions from other Finns, such as like : “Why are you here? There is nothing to see in here”? Afterall at least I, get really surprised if there is a foreigner who can look at our culture from a different perspective, and has investigated it a lot too. We kind of don’t expect anyone from somewhere else to be interested in this small country. That’s why we can feel a little bit offended with feelings like “What? Of all the places in the world you have chosen Finland??”
Anyway, I’m not planning to stay here for long. Hopefully I can spend time in another country after I graduate, maybe for year or two. I just need to get out of here. Maybe it will be better, or not. But I need to experience another lifestyle outside of this xenophobic box.
-a regular Finnish high-schooler
July 21, 2009 at 5:54 am
Hi kenhsu, and welcome to Migrant Tales. Thank you for your insightful comment. Many immigrants who live in Finland consider this country their home. Home is a feeling that nobody can take away from you. It is similar to memories. People may never accept the fact that Finland is your home but at the end of the day it is their problem – not yours.
October 22, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I think you post makes the powerful point that in a age when people are using their brains to do all sorts of wonderfully useful things, appealing to subjective reality is no longer good enough. ,