Home and Belonging for the Ingrian Diaspora in Times of Displacement : Narratives From Rootedness in Ingria to Homemaking in New Places

Abstract

This thesis explores the meanings of home and sense of belonging for Ingrians during and after times of war and displacement through their written materials. The history of Ingrians has often been linked to the Great Terror, persecution, and displacement during Stalin’s rule in the USSR, after which they have lived in a diaspora. I answer the questions of how and what kind of societal changes and events have influenced Ingrians’ sense of belonging, meaning of home and homemaking practices, and how Ingrians have narrated these notions in their written materials.

This research builds on previous research about displacement caused by conflict but brings specific attention to the dynamics of a stateless diaspora and poses questions related to belonging and homemaking from an Ingrian and Soviet perspective. I combine sociological and anthropological perspectives of home and belonging, focusing on rootedness, longing and meaningfulness of a place but simultaneously understanding that humans can feel like they belong and are at-home in more than one location. Thus, this research takes the middle ground between the sedantrist and anti-sedantrist approaches of home and belonging. Both concepts are multidimensional and include both individual and collective, as well as cultural and societal aspects.

I used narrative and oral history methods, specifically analysis of narratives and thematic content analysis, to make sense of Ingrians’ memories. At root, through these materials, one can see what people found worth remembering, telling, and preserving from their lives and what meanings they have given to those events and notions. I understand these memories and narratives simultaneously as socially constructed and shared and, drawing from existential anthropology, as subjective and differing from each other.

Based on Ingrians’ writings, I argue that their narrations of home and belonging are multi-faceted and everchanging and that their narratives tend to follow a similar pattern. I demonstrate how Ingrians narrate societal changes, such as collectivisation, Great Terror, and 101-kilometre rule, to have affected their homes and sense of belonging. These were systemic and structural barriers that existed and challenged where they could live and feel at-home. I also present three main narratives of home and belonging that I call rootedness in Ingria and Finland, endless roaming, and the forward-looking practices of home and belonging. These three main narratives construct a storyline from a peaceful beginning in Ingria to an uncertain time filled with fear and insecurity, and eventually to relatively secure final destinations for the Ingrian diaspora.