Från nationellt uppvaknande till identitetskonstruktion. Litteraturhistorieskrivning om den svenska litteraturen i Finland

Anna Möller-Sibelius, Åbo Akademi University From National Awakening to Identity Construction. Literary History Writing on Swedish language Literature in Finland (Från nationellt uppvaknande till identitetskonstruktion. Litteraturhistorieskrivning om den svenska litteraturen i Finland) This article examines how literary-history surveys on Swedish language literature in Finland have changed over time, from the earliest works dating back to the 1860s until today. These surveys, focusing on Swedish-language literature in Finland as a separate subject, follow general trends in literary-history writing, i.e. they move from a nationalistic perspective influenced by Herder to a pluralistic and social constructivist view on literature. However, Swedish-language literature in Finland has specific characteristics that are related to its historical background as the leading national literature in the 19th century and its degradation to a minority position from the 20th century onwards. A common perspective in the literary histories is that the literature in question is small, peripheral and limited. Yet, in the surveys from the turn of the millennium the influence from new theoretical discourses is noticeable as a productive force. Instead of continuing a literary-history tradition of negativity and claustrophobia, which was the case for several decades in the 20th century, literary historians took an interest in discussing minority questions, imagined communities and identity construction. This new approach coincided with an anticipated novel boom and a general prosperity in Finland-Swedish literature. Obviously, the recent theoretical trends have been productive in literary-history writing, but the situation also raises questions. For instance, what are the implications of “the transnational turn” for a linguistically and territorially defined minority literature? Will the new contexts Från nationellt uppvaknande till identitetskonstruktion shared with other minorities result in marginalization or, on the other hand, will the interest in the specific conditions for each minority last