Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918

The Karelian Isthmus belonged to Finland until 1939. The period between the World War I and the World War II was a time of rapid contextual change and ended the difficulties caused by modernisation aggravated in the year 1918. Divine-like authorities were posed in a new light and the Civil War of 19...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Outi Fingerroos
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2011-03-01
Series:Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/34
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832569503730368512
author Outi Fingerroos
author_facet Outi Fingerroos
author_sort Outi Fingerroos
collection DOAJ
description The Karelian Isthmus belonged to Finland until 1939. The period between the World War I and the World War II was a time of rapid contextual change and ended the difficulties caused by modernisation aggravated in the year 1918. Divine-like authorities were posed in a new light and the Civil War of 1918 set the whole nation before direct aggression and “Red” revolutionism. The ”Whites” won the war at the expense of the ”Reds”. Young nation (Finland gained independence in 1917) was compelled to define its relation to Reds and Whites – Whites were chosen. Also the Lutheran church was officially against Red anarchy and bolshevism. The situation around the reminiscence concerning the Red victims of the Civil War 1918 in Finland is complicated. The question of the problem of meaning and publicity plays a central role in the logic concerning the ritual performance and memory of the Civil War 1918 in the city of Vyborg. There is public and private silence and even prohibition to be connected with deaths, memory and places. It has continued until these days. At the same time the official history was put on a favourable form and there were clear limits for the official narratives. The victory of the “Whites” was interpreted as a victory for the independence of the Finnish nation. The history of the “Reds” became a national anomaly: forgotten and invisible. The atmosphere of concealing continued until the 1960s, when especially Finnish literature took pioneer steps towards the more open minded interpretation of history. On the other hand, the inheritance of concealing still exists – especially when it comes to oral history.
format Article
id doaj-art-10cd2365698144cd9a432aea8bdb740c
institution Kabale University
issn 1736-6518
2228-0987
language English
publishDate 2011-03-01
publisher Sciendo
record_format Article
series Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
spelling doaj-art-10cd2365698144cd9a432aea8bdb740c2025-02-02T20:55:19ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872011-03-0121112434Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918Outi Fingerroos0University of JyväskyläThe Karelian Isthmus belonged to Finland until 1939. The period between the World War I and the World War II was a time of rapid contextual change and ended the difficulties caused by modernisation aggravated in the year 1918. Divine-like authorities were posed in a new light and the Civil War of 1918 set the whole nation before direct aggression and “Red” revolutionism. The ”Whites” won the war at the expense of the ”Reds”. Young nation (Finland gained independence in 1917) was compelled to define its relation to Reds and Whites – Whites were chosen. Also the Lutheran church was officially against Red anarchy and bolshevism. The situation around the reminiscence concerning the Red victims of the Civil War 1918 in Finland is complicated. The question of the problem of meaning and publicity plays a central role in the logic concerning the ritual performance and memory of the Civil War 1918 in the city of Vyborg. There is public and private silence and even prohibition to be connected with deaths, memory and places. It has continued until these days. At the same time the official history was put on a favourable form and there were clear limits for the official narratives. The victory of the “Whites” was interpreted as a victory for the independence of the Finnish nation. The history of the “Reds” became a national anomaly: forgotten and invisible. The atmosphere of concealing continued until the 1960s, when especially Finnish literature took pioneer steps towards the more open minded interpretation of history. On the other hand, the inheritance of concealing still exists – especially when it comes to oral history.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/34Civil Wardeathritualmemoryplaces of memory
spellingShingle Outi Fingerroos
Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918
Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Civil War
death
ritual
memory
places of memory
title Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918
title_full Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918
title_fullStr Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918
title_full_unstemmed Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918
title_short Places of Memory in the Red Vyborg of 1918
title_sort places of memory in the red vyborg of 1918
topic Civil War
death
ritual
memory
places of memory
url https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/34
work_keys_str_mv AT outifingerroos placesofmemoryintheredvyborgof1918