Acculturation Orientations among Russian Youth in Finland

Abstract

Despite the fact that much academic attention has been directed to the acculturation of immigrants in Finland, the need to more fully understand how immigrants cope with acculturation is timely. Since the Russian-speaking immigrants represent the biggest immigrant group in Finland, this chapter explores the acculturation orientations among Russian immigrant youth approached from the angle of the festive culture. The findings are based on the data of ethnographic observation and qualitative interviews (n 16) conducted in the central part of Finland. To capture the nuances of dynamic acculturation experiences, the authors applied a bottom-up methodological approach which gives voice to young people. The Introduction familiarises readers with the research context, the objective of the study and its key research questions. Part two explains the data collection methods and describes the methodology used in the research. Part three presents the analysis of young people’s experiences at festivities. Building knowledge by mapping customs, traditions and novelty of celebrations, the authors found three acculturation orientations among Russian immigrant youth in Finland: assimilation, integration and separation. Research into festive culture plays a role in exploring immigrant communities, allowing identification of the network of social ties, which reflects the connection of immigrants with both the host culture and the heritage culture.