Places of Belonging, Places of Detachment : Belonging and Historical Consciousness in Narratives of Rural Finnish Girls

Abstract

This chapter contributes to the ongoing discussion about rural belonging by considering the role of historical consciousness (Rüsen, 2004) in the process of belonging in a place. The chapter suggests that young people’s temporal orientation in relation to local culture and history plays a significant role in their commitment to rural communities. The analysis draws on qualitative longitudinal data from Finnish girls, aged 16–19, from two sparsely populated regions (Central Finland and the Northern Finnish Sámi homeland). The chapter shows how multiple strands of commitment tie rural young people to their local surroundings, where the past is present in the landscape and everyday life in a myriad of ways, including long-standing traditions of out-migration. For the girls of this study belonging was an ongoing process of placing themselves in a cross-generational continuum. Most of the girls’ accounts featured both elements of belonging and being pulled away from the rural regions. A feeling of belonging did not necessarily imply willingness to build a future in the region, and vice versa: many of those girls that moved away from rural regions to study wished to stay connected to their history, culture and home communities.