Kieli-ideologia ja kirjailijakäsitys 2010-luvun Suomessa. Muunkielisten kirjailijoiden kokemuksia suomalaisessa kirjallisuusinstituutiossa

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation is theoretically positioned at the crossroads of sociology of literature, cultural policy and cultural studies, and it examines a phenomenon that would not exist if we did not look at it from the point of view of the Finnish literary institution: writers whose first language is not one of the official Finnish languages. This dissertation consists of three published, peer-reviewed articles and an introduction in which I bring together the three different points of view of the articles. One of the two main aims of this dissertation has been to create an image of this ‘group’ of writers. My second main aim has been to reflect these writers’ experiences as writers against the deep-set practices of the Finnish literary institution. The main research data of this dissertation consist of 31 writers’ answers to a questionnaire that was delivered via email, mail or personally to 77 writers. It was possible to answer the questionnaire in Finnish, English, Spanish or Arabic, and the answers were then translated into Finnish. Subsequently, the data were categorised according to themes, and these themes were developed into the main research questions of my three articles. What the writers in this study think could best enhance their position in the field are professional networks and being treated equally in a professional context – and especially, being treated as professional rather than immigrant writers. More attention should be paid in the Finnish literary institution to the evaluation of and expertise in literature that is published in other languages or in different publishing forms, such as internet publishing (which is already an important platform for Finnish poetry) and literary magazines. In the long run, considering the limited finances in the cultural sector, financial support for translating manuscripts for evaluation in publishing houses would be a good tool to support the publication of books written by non-dominant language writers in Finland. Keywords: minority languages, sociology of literature, literary institution, language ideology