ORAL HISTORY: MIGRATION AND LOCAL IDENTITIES - Academia

Migration and NarrationAdaptation themes:everyday life and the existence(or non-existence) of language skillsThe web-course “Dialogue Between Private and Public Life” wasbuilt around five themes, where each theme consists of two scientificarticles, tasks actuating the discussion of the articles, theme-relatednarration, and discussion in the forum. One of the subject matterswas “Migration and Hopes”, analysing Aivar Jürgenson’s article aboutthe experience of people who emigrated from Estonia to Russia atthe beginning of the 20 th century (see Jürgenson, 2002) and BrigitteBönisch-Brednich’s article on the migration-related narratives of emigrantsfrom Germany to New Zealand during the period of 1936-1996(see Bönisch-Brednich, 2002). The first article directs thoughts to economicmigration, the second to the refugee-theme and also to migrationshaping one’s life history and the search for alternative lifestyles.All course participants were of local origin, thus, it is the mediatedstories that to a large extent serve as the basis of their presented viewpoints.These are stories which they have heard directly from peoplewho changed their country of residence or, instead, such narrativesstem from the general migration-related communication process. Generalmigration-related communication contains stereotypical imaginations(e.g. statements such as “Estonians have coped everywhere inthe world” or references to Hemingway: “you can find an Estonian inevery port of the world”) that can be used to talk about things withouthaving well-reasoned standpoints of one’s own.Provided that the basis for the course participants’ short narrativesor opinions is indeed their own immediate experience, thiswould still express the attitudes of local people towards those whohave immigrated into Estonia or what the locals expect from thosewho have immigrated into Estonia. This is even the case when migrationis presented in one’s story from the viewpoint of the person whohas changed his or her homeland. (Such an exchange of viewpoint ortransfer between the narrator and the character of the story is possibleupon narrating.) Themes related to immediate experience comprise,71