Our language is our búnað: Language and identity in the Faroe Islands.

The language of the Faroe Islands survived as a spoken language for centuries under foreign rule and the imposition of a foreign language. In 1948 they became self-governed, spurred by an inside movement reclaiming Faroese as the national language and the right to use it in schools, church and office. This was followed with the creation of the written language. Since then, the Faroese language has become a national symbol and entered the political arena through a puristic language policy. In this thesis, I explore the relationship Faroe Islanders have with their language, with a more nuanced view of the linguistic protectionism on the islands, as defying traditional conceptions of a language in stasis. Language protectionism has undergone a shift from the political arena to the social arena, which has lead to increasing agency and an internal development of the language according to what Faroe Islanders themselves consider most valuable. To understand the relationship Faroe Islanders have with their language; why they search for lost words, sayings and meanings, or why they discuss language amongst each other, I situate language and identity within the interplay of larger contexts such as Faroe Islands’ cultural memory and their place in space and time. With an idea of change around the corner, Faroe Islanders inhabit a space between habituation and representation when it comes to many aspects of living life on the islands, underscored by a desire for duration. Language becomes a living thread and connection to that which Faroe Islanders don’t want to lose, a vessel for Faroese values and way of life