Paper short abstract:

Looking at the Finnish-Russian borderland as a transnational space, my presentation is based upon my research on perceptions on the self and lived experience among Russians crossing national borders.

Paper long abstract:

Looking at the Finnish-Russian borderland as a transnational space, my presentation is based upon my research on perceptions on the self and lived experience among Russians crossing national borders physically and/or mentally. Claiming that there is a need to understand long-term effects of migration, a continuing process spanning several generations, I take a multitemporal perspective on mobility and belonging. Methodologically, ethnographic interviews with young, middle aged and elderly representatives of first, second and third generation new and old Russians in Finland show how the conceptions and actions of the participants play an important part of the research. In this respect memory has become the main tool of my study in exploring perceptions of self and its enactment. I support the notion that memory can be regarded as synonym with the fragmented process of identity formation. Leading a more or less transnational life members of the Russian diaspora are not independent of historical and political contexts neither in their 'homeland' nor in their present 'host' country. On the contrary, my empirical material shows that human experiences of complex belonging are shaped and articulated within contesting political and social discourses. In my paper I discuss one of the suggested topics of the panel: What happens when people move across borders and stay permanently abroad, and what does it mean when home is not in one place? How is citizenship related to otherness and belonging? Ultimately, the negotiation of power relations in a multi-national social space, conditions the ways people shape their selves.