Home Environments, Memories, and Life Stories: Preservation of Estonian National Identity

Abstract

This paper examines the means by which Estonian national identity was preserved during 50 years of Soviet occupation. The study upon which it is based explored such factors as family environments; memories, in the form of oral narratives; and life experiences. This research was informed by the sociocultural approach to mediated action, and it employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods. In 1993, a quota-sampling technique was used to interview a cross section of Estonian society (N = 930). Descriptive statistics, and factor and multiple regression analyses were performed. Fifteen qualitative interviews were also conducted. When woven together, these personal histories create a fabric that is representative of the greater Estonian history during the occupation. The implications of these findings may reach beyond the Estonian context to further inform our understanding of the complexities and the vicissitudes of human action.

Keywords:

• Estonian national identity
• social memory
• life stories
• song festivals
• “The Singing Revolution”

Acknowledgments

The author acknowledges, and is grateful for, the contribution of his late sister, Helle Leetmaa-Rakfeldt, for her work in transcribing and translating the qualitative interviews.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported in part by a grant from the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), with funds provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the United States Information Agency, and the US Department of State, which administers the Russian, Eurasian, and East European Research Program (Title VII), and by a grant from the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Fund.

Notes on contributors

Jaak Rakfeldt

Jaak Rakfeldt, Ph.D., is a professor at the Department of Social Work, School of Health and Human Services, Southern Connecticut State University. He is also an assistant clinical professor at the Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine.