TY - JOUR

T1 - Vyborg Local Identity: A case Study of Self-Narrative

AU - Timofeev, Valery

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The identity of Vyborg citizens, born after World War II, is determined by both the appropriation and negation of the space they inhabit. This paper analyses identity in terms of a double "estrangement", a concept coined by the Russian Formalists in the 1020s and 1930s. Estrangement forms a framework in which local exceptionality is expressed and maintained. Assimilation in Vyborg, the former Finnish city Viipuri occupied by the Soviet Army in March, 1940, and now part of Russia's Saint Petersburg District, is interpreted here as an interactive process. According to several case studies presented in this paper, people attempt to assimilate the new space while negating and reinterpreting their past. At the same time, the space (landscape, architecture, topography, and cultural landmarks) assimilates the people, providing a fundamental context for the construction of their self-identity. A close reading of two self-narratives with burial practice as their central theme illustrates this hypothesis. The identity

AB - The identity of Vyborg citizens, born after World War II, is determined by both the appropriation and negation of the space they inhabit. This paper analyses identity in terms of a double "estrangement", a concept coined by the Russian Formalists in the 1020s and 1930s. Estrangement forms a framework in which local exceptionality is expressed and maintained. Assimilation in Vyborg, the former Finnish city Viipuri occupied by the Soviet Army in March, 1940, and now part of Russia's Saint Petersburg District, is interpreted here as an interactive process. According to several case studies presented in this paper, people attempt to assimilate the new space while negating and reinterpreting their past. At the same time, the space (landscape, architecture, topography, and cultural landmarks) assimilates the people, providing a fundamental context for the construction of their self-identity. A close reading of two self-narratives with burial practice as their central theme illustrates this hypothesis. The identity

KW - local identity

KW - self-narrative

KW - collective memory

KW - historical memory

KW - estrangement/ reflexivity

KW - Vyborg

U2 - 10.13760/b.cnki.sam.2016011004

DO - 10.13760/b.cnki.sam.2016011004

M3 - Article

VL - 12

SP - 43

EP - 55

JO - Signs & Media

JF - Signs & Media

SN - 2590-0315

IS - Spring Issue

ER -