Long farewell: Bureaucracy of transnational death in (post)-mortal practices of Russian-speaking immigrants in Finland
Pages 53 to 76
Cite this article
- DAVYDOVA-MINGUET, Olga
- and PÖLLÄNEN, Pirjo,
- Davydova-Minguet, Olga.
- et al.
- Davydova-Minguet, O.
- and Pöllänen, P.
https://doi.org/10.4000/remi.22044
Cite this article
- Davydova-Minguet, O.
- and Pöllänen, P.
- Davydova-Minguet, Olga.
- et al.
- DAVYDOVA-MINGUET, Olga
- and PÖLLÄNEN, Pirjo,
https://doi.org/10.4000/remi.22044
Notes
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[1]
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church are defined as Finland’s state churches in the Church Code (FINLEX, 1993) and in the Act on the Orthodox Church (FINLEX, 2006). This also includes congregations and chapters of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church and congregations, and monasteries and convents of the Orthodox Church (see https://www.stat.fi/meta/kas/valtionkirkko_en.html).
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[2]
Here we don’t discuss cases when parent of the interviewee died in Russia or the death of an adult child.
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[3]
Transnational Death: Practices of Death and Remembrance in the Transnational Everyday on the Finnish-Russian Border (2021-2025), project No 339981, funded by the Academy of Finland; additionally we use ethnographic materials collected for the MATILDE-project (Migration Impact Assessment to Enhance Integration and Local Development in European Rural and Mountain Regions), which has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870831.
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[4]
Discrepancies between cultural and religious habits of majority and minority populations concerning burials have been studied largely in so called old immigration countries such as Britain, France, Germany and Netherlands (Gardner, 2002; Hunter, 2016; Jassal, 2015; Morreras and Solé Arreràs, 2019; Balkan, 2016; Kadrouch Otmany, 2016).
The article analyses the confusions around dealing with death-related bureaucracies that Russian-speaking immigrants living in Finland’s border areas have to carry out. Death of their loved ones puts migrants in contact with officials of different levels in their Finnish localities of dwelling and Russian localities of origin. The fulfilment of all bureaucratic requirements feels unfamiliar and laborious and turns to a “long farewell” in the experiences of immigrants. The study makes use of different ethnographic materials by the authors and presents them in a form of “typical story” that is compiled from diverse, but yet alike experiences of Russian-speaking immigrants. Main confusions derive from the digitalization of bureaucratic services in Finland and the need to present paper certificates in Russia, as well as the dominant role of Lutheran church in Finnish burial administration. These encounters and experiences add to our understanding of Russian-speaking migrants’ transnationalism, which seems to be highly dependent on both Finnish and Russian welfare services and authorities, as well on the deteriorating conflict between Russia and “the West”.
- border
- Russia
- transnational death
- Russian speakers
- Finland
- bureaucratic practices
- Lutheran church
Publisher keywords: border, bureaucratic practices, Finland, Lutheran church, Russia, Russian speakers, transnational death
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Uploaded: 02/14/2023
https://doi.org/10.4000/remi.22044