Project description - Transboundary landscapes
Project leader: Prof. Maunu Häyrynen, University of Turku, Box 124 FI-28101 Pori, tel +358-2-627 2882, mauhay(at)utu.fi
This project has been realised in cooperation with partners from the Universities of Turku, Tartu and Saint Petersburg.
The terms Landscape and Landscape studies
In this proposal, the term landscape is not used in the traditional sense of the word but of the territory itself as regards its natural features, historical roles, socio-economic uses, mental images and cultural representations.
Landscape Studies entail a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to the different aspects of landscape. Sharp distinctions between the socio-historical and geographic aspect or "real" and "represented" landscape are abandoned. At the level of studied phenomena, such categories will overlap.
National peripheries and transboundary landscapes
Landscape as a cultural construct has been central to the process of nation-building. National peripheries have played a notable role in this process by claiming the sovereignty of the nation-state and by asserting its proclaimed naturalness.
Images of borderlands and peripheries are often utilised for the demarcation of national space and identity. Symbolically important sites are also frequently found in such peripheral areas.
The three areas under study
There are three multi-ethnic areas with a varying history of multi-cultural domination under study: Karelia, the Setumaa/Pskov area and the Narva/Ingria area, which provide an excellent opportunity for the study of landscape.
These three areas may be defined historically as the peripheries of two politico-cultural centres, with a number of ethnic and religious minorities such as the ethnic Karelians/Ingrians and the Setu, as well as the Orthodox believers and the so-called "Old Believers".
The entire population of certain areas may have changed as in ceded Karelia after the Second World War. These demographic fluctuations manifest themselves in the present-day landscape.
The regions under study will be examined firstly as the peripheries of two nation-states, secondly as symbolic landscapes and thirdly as ceded, evacuated and resettled areas during and after the Second World War. The landscape and historical values from the different periods will be examined by comparing the attitudes among the former and present-day population in the area.
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Picture 1. These old Finnish houses in the foreground form part of the present-day Hiitola landscape together with the buildings of a collective farm from the Soviet period in the background. (Hiitola 2004)
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Objectives and method
Objectives
The main aim of the project is to explain the factors causing internal differences in transboundary landscape which we understand to consist of three layers: landscape as land-use patterns, landscape as an arena for practices and border landscape as representational space.
The main foci of the study are:
- Transboundary landscapes as carriers of identity
- The cultural and historical differentiation processes of landscape
- The role of cultural and historical factors in shaping present-day landscape.
- The cultural and symbolic aspects of landscape.
- The influence on societal preferences on land-use patterns during different periods.
- The possibility of sustaining particular cultural landscapes affected by socio-economic change.
Hypotheses
- Landscape with similar natural conditions but divided by political borders will develop different appearance due to cultural factors.
- Landscape with similar natural conditions but divided by political borders is seen and interpreted differently by local people.
- The "shifting" of borders in space is reflected in regional and national culture and self-representation.
Methodology
The project will be carried out along three transects:
- From Border Karelia to Saint Petersburg (The University of Turku cooperating with the University of St. Petersburg)
- From Tartu to Pskov (The University of Tartu cooperating with the University of St. Petersburg)
- From Kohtla-Järve to Saint Petersburg (The University of Tartu cooperating with the University of St. Petersburg)
On each transects two to three study areas will be selected for closer research. In the case of Border Karelia, also the former inhabitants of the area now living in Finland will be studied. Three aspects of landscape change will be investigated:
- Changes and differences in the land use of the study area. Every socio-economic formation creates its own landscape pattern.
- Landscape as practice, the cultural and symbolic aspects of the landscape and their links to ethnic, local and national identity.
- Representations of landscape and their change due to cultural and socio-economic shifts.
- The results of the three approaches will be combined to find out how political borders are expressed in landscape and how the establishing of borders influences landscape changes.
Researcher training objectives
The project will produce five doctoral studies, that of Netta Böök from the Helsinki University of Technology supervised by Professor Vilhelm Helander, those of Anu Printsman & Helen Sooväli from the University of Tarto supervised by Senior Researcher Hannes Palang, that of Jeanne Solomina from the University of Saint Petersburg supervised by Professor Alexey Grigoriev, and that of Kirsi Niukko from the University of Turku supervised by Professor Maunu Häyrynen.
Performers of research and resources
The University of Turku is responsible for coordinating the project, Professor Maunu Häyrynen being the coordinator. Project management will be the responsibility of a steering group consisting of the leading researchers of each participating team convening annually, as will be the presentations of the final results.
Results
The research will provide a better understanding of transboundary landscapes. Studying the border areas of the Eastern Baltic may help to defuse latent politico-cultural juxtapositional tension connected with their historical status and raise issues of borderland history hitherto left undiscussed. The research will also provide an opportunity to test the research and planning methods developed in the different participating countries. The results will enhance the theoretical basis for the protection and management of landscapes.
Picture 2. The old Finnish Lutheran cemetery at Hiitola was left under the new Soviet cemetery. (Hiitola 2004)