Misunderstood and misrepresented : cultural appropriation of the Sámi in online news media commentary

Abstract

Cultural appropriation occurs when a socially dominant group misuses and takes advantage of the cultural property and heritage of people who are socially marginalized. More specifically, subject appropriation refers to an outsider’s biased depiction of the lives and experiences of a cultural group. While cultural appropriation carries significant harm to the appropriated community, based on the Finnish public’s response to news coverage of cultural appropriation of the Sámi people, it is considered merely a hot-button topic.

This thesis examines the language used to address the topic of cultural appropriation of the Sámi culture in Finnish online news media commentary. The research materials consist of 71 Finnish comments responding to a news article published by YLE. The aim of the study is to identify and analyze the rhetorical and linguistic strategies used in an online comment section to study the ways cultural appropriation of the Sámi culture is supported, and how this discourse reflects and reinforces power relations.

This research utilizes qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis. The data is analyzed using qualitative content analysis in order to identify recurring themes and patterns within the data to analyze and evaluate the comments. Through the lens of critical discourse analysis, I discuss the selected examples in relation to reproduction of social injustice and explain how these discursive strategies are used to contribute to marginalization and reproduce unjustified inequality of the Sámi.

The findings reveal how online news media commenters utilise several discursive strategies such as subversion, appeals to artistic freedom, epistemic dominance, nonrecognition, and misrecognition in order to normalize cultural appropriation, challenge the legitimacy of Sámi people’s identity, authority, and experience, portray Sámi people through a stereotypical lens, and silence or invalidate Sámi people’s criticism. This study demonstrates the way commenters often rely on ignorant, dismissive, stereotyping, patronizing, or delegitimizing language, in order to assert authority over Sámi people’s experience. This portrayal is a reflection of existing broader societal attitudes in Finland, as this kind of language use contributes to the maintenance of unequal power relations between the Finnish majority and the Sámi minority by normalizing dominant perspectives and marginalizing Indigenous knowledge and experience.