Borderlands, minority language revitalization and resilience thinking

Abstract

<div lang="en" class="abs"><p class="abs_header">Abstract</p><p>This chapter discusses the revitalization of Meänkieli, a minority language spoken in the Tornio Valley, the borderland of Finland and Sweden with a long history of marginalization and othering. The main research question concerns how cultural activists involved in Meänkieli language revitalization re-narrativize their shifting identities by connecting resilience thinking together with the practices of active socio-cultural resistance. The chapter illustrates how revitalizing endangered languages functions as a mechanism for strengthening fragile minority groups and communities, containing protective function as a “bounce back” from a disturbance of socio-cultural marginalization, thus conveying resilience where significant disparities otherwise exist. The study is based on group discussions conducted in northern Sweden during the fall of 2015 and the spring of 2016 with Meänkieli speaking cultural activists.</p></div>