Émergence de la culture écrite saamie en Finlande à l’époque de la formation de la nation

Abstract

The history of Saami written culture reflects not only the social situation of Finland but also that of the Saami at the time of the Grand Duchy (1809-1917). Finland was forced to adhere to the Lutheran faith until the beginning of the 19th century when it was a Swedish province. This led to the translation of religious texts into Swedish and Finnish. The situation of the Saami languages was different. The first translations were published in 1619 in Umeå Saami, which the Saami of the eastern part of the realm did not understand. After Finland’s transfer from Sweden to Russia in 1809, the leadership focused its effort on upholding its new autonomous status by reinforcing Finnish identity. In this context, the Finnish written language was standardized, thus enabling the growth of Finnish publications. At the same time, the first Saami translations were published, but only sporadically and in an insufficient number of copies, for which reason they were not able to meet the need for the catechism. Some clergymen tried to develop the use of Saami, both by translating books and by encouraging adults to use their ancestors’ language with their children, but this did not provide systematic and long-term support. This essay analyzes how the Saami book history reflects the Finnish colonialism of its time.