Paper short abstract:

The paper focuses on mobilities and memory work of Sweden-based persons with Ingrian Finnish backgrounds. By examining archived materials and autobiographical literature, I aim to explore personal and cultural remembrance related to Ingrian Finns’ transnational history.

Paper long abstract:

Ingrian Finns are a centuries-old Finnish-speaking minority of Russia and the Soviet Union; they used to live in the historical province of Ingria, located along the southern and eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland. From the late 1920s onwards, Ingrian Finns, along with many other ethnic minorities in the Soviet Union, experienced various forms of repression. Tens of thousands were deported to other parts of the country, imprisoned, or executed. During the Second World War, Ingrian Finns living in the areas occupied by German troops were displaced to Finland, and several thousand of them eventually moved to Sweden, often out of fear of forced repatriation to the Soviet Union.

This presentation focuses on transnational mobilities, identities, and memory work of Sweden-based persons with Ingrian Finnish backgrounds. By examining oral history interviews with Ingrian Finnish migrants and their descendants, archived materials of Sweden’s Ingrian Finnish associations, and autobiographical literature, I aim to explore personal and cultural remembrance and mnemonic practices related to Ingrian Finns’ transnational history.