Muistojen ja kansallisen historiakulttuurin rajapinnoilla : Viron neuvostoaika kolmen sukupolven kertomana

Abstract

This doctoral dissertation analyses the reminiscence of the Estonian Soviet pe-riod in Estonia in the late 2010s. The research was primarily based on inter-views conducted in Estonia in 2018-2019. The data includes six Estonian fami-lies. Based on my interviews, I explored how the three generations (grandpa-rents, parents and grown-up children) of the families speak about the Estonian Soviet period and how memories and views about the Soviet period are trans-mitted from generation to generation in families. Moreover, I compared the macrolevel history culture narratives with the interview data. It appeared that reminiscence takes place mainly in everyday situations. Previous research has suggested that women are more active to reminiscence than men, but the date of this research does not support this claim. On the con-trary, women of the second generation were not more active than men of the same generation. Women’s more active role appeared in the first (‘grandpar-ent’) generation, because from that generation only women were capable of taking part in the interviews. When comparing the three generations of the families, it became clear that the first and the third generation have very similar views on the Soviet era, whereas the second generation has more positive memories and views. The Soviet era was mainly narrated by using the narratives of suffering, adaptation and resistance. It also appeared that the stories about the deportations and terror became more and more distant generation by generation. Therefore, it is likely that the reminiscence of the Soviet era is going to change in the near future.