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Paper short abstract:

This paper aims at exploring ethnographic fieldwork methods at the world heritage site Suomenlinna in Helsinki, Finland. Furthermore, in terms of dwelling and changing living environment, I will discuss what sort of materials my research will produce for the cultural archives.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims at exploring ethnographic fieldwork methods at the world heritage site Suomenlinna in Helsinki, Finland. What sort of materials will be produced to the cultural arhives? Whose voices are heard? Furthermore, in terms of dwelling and changing living environment, I will discuss how Suomenlinna has been transformed from an idyllic small island to a mega tourist attraction. In addition, I will investigate how the attachment to a place is maintained and identity fostered, although the place is going through major changes.

I will especially focus on two points of view. Firstly, at the unofficial heritage level, how local residents and communities have experienced the changes that have occurred in Suomenlinna since 1991 and what do they think about its future. Secondly, at the official heritage level, I will examine what sort of pasts are chosen to present common heritage, why, where and how. I will pay attention to the relationship between official and unofficial heritage(s): How do local people see the public representations of Suomenlinna and does heritagisation leave out local people's views on heritage: places, landscapes, histories, sounds, narratives, and traditions most meaningful to them?

The Archive of the Finnish Literature Society will hold the interview collections.