Master of Arts Terhi Pietiläinen will defend her doctoral dissertation on February 14, 2025, at 1:15 PM at the Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki. The topic of the dissertation is ”Multilocal Viipuri – An Oral History Study of the Urban Karelian Identity of the Evacuees.” (Original name of the thesis in Finnish: Monipaikkainen Viipuri – Muistitietotutkimus siirtoväen kaupunkilaisesta karjalaisuudesta)

The defense will take place at Athena, room 107 (1st floor), Siltavuorenpenger 3 A.

The opponent will be Professor Anne Heimo from the University of Turku, and the custos will be Pia Olsson.

The dissertation is sold by the Suomen Muinaismuistoyhdistys.

The dissertation is also available as an electronic publication and can be read on Helda.

A link to the stream can be found on University of Helsinki’s website

From the abstract:

This oral history research deals with the reminiscences and urban Karelianness of those who were evacuated from the city of Vyborg and its surrounding areas when it was ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

I also analyse Vyborg and its inhabitants’ multi-locality and their experiences of war in relation to the hegemonic narrative, which has influenced Karelian culture and the narrative identity of these evacuees to this day. The study is based on data from interviews undertaken over the period 2000–2002 in the From Karelians to resettled Karelians project, which was implemented in cooperation between the Department of Ethnology at the University of Helsinki and the Karelia Association. The interviews included about 330 former residents of the parishes and municipalities of ceded Karelia. Of these, 40 interviews with people who originally hailed from Vyborg were used in the research material. In my data, the persons from Vyborg and its districts were a catalyst for, and a shaper of, the peer community.