| dc.description.abstract | SUMMARY
This paper takes a closer look at how the story of a sub-population group is established and how the story is communicated, and the story s consequences for the group. History, culture and traditions of the group are elements that constitute the story.
History s starting point is the Savolax-Finns immigration to the forest areas of East-Norway in the 17th and 18th century. Because of this immigration, the Southeast part of Hedmark County, which was the core-area of the Finns, later is known as Finnskogen (the Finnforest). The immigrated Finns brought cultural features that were foreign to the Norwegian culture at the time. The so-called forest-Finns were slowly assimilated, but harsh assimilation politics set most of the 20th century in a negative perspective for the group. This paper shows how great changes came about in the 1960s, with an aimed effort to change the negative attitudes towards the Finnish culture. Both the authorities and the forest-Finns took part in this effort. A positive story about the Finnish cultural heritage was thus slowly established, with contributions from individuals, organisations and institutions in and outside Norway. The story has established a consciousness about Finnish culture, and Finnskogen as a cultural place.
The analysis argues that it is the story and the telling of the story that defines which elements constitute the Finnish cultural heritage. Further the analysis argues that the yearly festival Finnskogdagene (the Finnforest days) is the main event to communicate the story, through many smaller events, i.e. theatre performances, rituals and guided trips. As an example of this process, the last part of the paper looks closer at the wedding as a cultural event in the forest-Finns story. The festival presents a staged wedding as an illustration of the cultural tradition of Finnskogen, and this festival wedding is compared with statements about Finnish cultural elements in oral sources. The oral sources show that the subjects have no personal relation to these traditions, but still accept them as a vital part of their cultural heritage.
I therefore conclude that the story about Finnskogen has created a collective memory and a collective identity, in which the cultural heritage of the forest-Finns is defined. It seems that this collective aspect is the most important thing for the interview-subjects, more important than the fact that their own experiences do not collaborate with the told story. This paper studies a minor cultural and historical region, but it has elements that are compatible with other areas in Norway and elsewhere, that are going through similar cultural processes. The conclusions are strengthened by studies in some of these areas. | nor |