Representations of the past in the Estonian Russian-language press: “own” or diaspora memory?

Abstract

The article discusses the much-debated issue of collective identity among the Estonian Russian-speaking population from a different prism – based on representations of the past in the local Russian-language press in 2009. Assuming that representations of the past offer references for present-day identity construction, the study is aimed at revealing which identity patterns were supported and which were rejected by journalists and other speakers in the press. The analysis suggests that the “memory divide” is not only connected with WWII, as is widely believed in Estonia, but runs further down at the imaginary time-scale. Although the analysis revealed a strong prevalence of local-scale events, the mode of representations could not help to develop “own” local identities, either in a civic or emancipatory form. By the evaluation of events, actors and the stylistic means, the Russian-language press rather constructed the identity of the imperial diaspora. The existing State Integration Program aims at strengthening civic identity and activity, but it does not have a say in history politics. However, the latter is needed in order to give more space for private memories, critical reflection and the search for ways to (re)define the group in relation to space, time and other groups.

Keywords:

• identity
• collective memory
• Russian
• post-Soviet
• Estonia

Acknowledgements

The preparation of this paper was supported by grant 8347, financed by the Estonian Science Foundation, and grant SF0180002s07, financed by the Estonian Governmental Scientific Research Support Scheme.

Notes

For example, in Latvia mass protests of the Russian-speaking population took place in 2003 against the education reforms which established predominantly Latvian instruction in gymnasiums.

The ideology of “Russianness” (Chinn and Kaiser), which was invented in the first decade after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, has become somewhat “neglected.”

Old and present-day movies and documentaries show aspects of life in the Soviet times in a positive, warm manner and with “soft” humor.

An example of the conflict of public and private memory is provided by a quotation from a focus group with Russians having good command of Estonian:

Russian family. The middle daughter studies in an Estonian school. She lives absolutely within the Estonian society. She considers her parents to be occupiers. This means that she perceives Russians through the prism of what she was taught at school. And these events of the “Bronze Soldier,” quoting the mother's words precisely, “brought the child back to the family.”

Hvostov asks on the back cover of his book: “Is a person who was born and raised in Estonia a ‘stranger’ to us?”

To illustrate the argument, a quotation from an in-depth interview with a 34-year-old Russian (conducted by Valeria Jakobson 2009 in Tallinn):

I was in St. Petersburg to visit my friend and one guy in our company did not succeed in going home to his village near St. Petersburg. I complained to the officials because for many other passengers this bus he wanted to get was not the only way to get home. But he lived in the most far-away point of the bus route, so logically they should have taken him on board. My friends were very surprised that I had the courage to go and protest. Indeed I feel that I can turn to whoever … prosecutor or … I feel more free and less cringing towards authorities than my friends in Russia do.

The selection of months for content analysis may have had a certain impact on the distribution of representations, as the sample months did not cover all the anniversaries, which was often the reason why certain time periods or events were mentioned.

Tallinn and Narva, where most of the Estonian Russian-speakers live today.

A special electronic search revealed that of all the texts published in the Russian-language press in 2006–2009, 82% represented Peter the First in connection with the Estonian territory and people.

The attempts to build a monument to Peter the First can be seen as a coping strategy: with the removal of the Bronze Soldier, there emerged a necessity for an alternative figure or symbol, to reconstruct the dignity of Russians in Estonia. Wang warns that “the collective memory can become a result of collective coping with shared traumas …. helps to transform loss into collective memory and perhaps social-political actions” (Wang 309).

Arnold Meri was indicted for the deportation of 251 persons from Hiiumaa in March 1949. His death ended the legal process which started in Kärdla in May 2008.

Minority group living in the same political territory and not considered a threat to the identity and integrity of the majority group (Petersoo).