I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides
and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures
of all the lands to be blown about my house as
freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my
feet by any.
Mahatma Gandhi
INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE: DESPITE
THE DIFFERENCES
Russia - Finland
Helsinki, 2011
Authors: Kazachkova A.
Chistyakov N.
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At first, you may be wondering what Finland is like. Who
are these Finns and what are they like? How do they live,
and what are they interested in?
Finland and Russia have been
neighbors for hundreds of years. Our
relationship has developed gradually
towards the present strong and
balanced normal relations between
neighbors.
Diplomatic relations were established
on 31 December 1920, when the
Finnish delegation exchanged
instruments of ratification for the
Treaty of Tartu with representatives of
Russia in Moscow.
On the 31 December 2010 the 90th
anniversary of diplomatic relations
between Finland and Russia was
celebrated.
Russian Federation
Republic of Finland
Finland is basically one big park, covered with forests and fields,
crossed by rivers and dotted with thousands of pure lakes. A few vibrant
cities, of all shapes and sizes, are sprinkled here and there. So
wherever you are, escape from urban life is always just a few steps
away.
The best thing about Finland is a cottage by the sea or a lake. The
starry skies on frosty winter nights. And the quiet that sets upon the
lakeside cottages in the evenings.
Finns are not exactly Indians, but they do have a certain kind of
primeval connection with nature despite urbanization. People find their
way to parks and their summer cottages and like to be outdoors. To
make enjoying nature easier, there is a clause in the law called
Everyman’s Right. It means that you’re allowed to go almost anywhere
without special permission from the landowner.
Some people like heat, others cold. Some people
love light, others dark, some love summer, others
winter. Since Finland is truly packed with amazing
contrasts, it’s safe to say that there’s something for
everyone.
It is really quite unbelievable how in a small
country like this you can meet such different
people depending on where you happen to be.
Although it’s a generalization, in experience
the country is divided more or less like this: in
western Finland live the sophisticated Swedish
speaking Finns, in the south the trendy career
people, in the east the merry story-tellers and
in the north the genuine and jovial. They are all
so different, but all equally and originally
Finnish.
Everything that Finns do, they do qualitatively and
productively, but the whole process is represented
as a beautiful and long one simultaneously. «We will
sit down and we will allow haste to pass by» - this is
about them.
“The best thing in Helsinki city is that whenever
you need to go somewhere you just have to use
your legs. All the good parks, galleries and pubs
are so close to each other.”
Helsinki Russia links
The German-born architect who designed Helsinki’s
central Senate Square admired St. Petersburg more than
any other city, and he planned the central cathedral, the
sweeping square and the classical buildings in its image.
The resemblance made Helsinki a convenient stand-in
during the Cold War, when it was used as a location for
Russian-set dramas such as “Gorky Park” and “Doctor
Zhivago.”
While Helsinki is very much a Finnish city too, with its
distinctive Art Nouveau architecture and contemporary
buildings, the influence of the Russian period of its history
is still easy to see. Statues and monuments still
commemorate the tsars, as does the central
Aleksanterinkatu street, which is named after Alexander I.
Alexander I is depicted on a frieze on the top of the
classical House of Estates, which dates to the 1890s. It
shows him with representatives of the aristocracy, clergy
and bourgeoisie at the 1809 Porvoo Diet, which set the
terms of Russian rule of Finland.
Tsar Alexander II, is commemorated with a statue on
Senate Square, which was put up in the 1890s, after his
assassination. It’s dated 1863, when Alexander II visited
and decreed that Finnish was the national language.
Helsinki’s classic Russian-style buildings include
the former officers’ casino on the harbor, a
green-painted building that’s now a restaurant.
The city’s baroque Natural History Museum was
built as a boy’s school by Russian architects and
was originally named after Tsar Alexander II.
More mundanely, the city’s main brewery,
Sinebryukhoff, is an omnipresent reminder of its
Russian heritage. Now part of Carlsberg, it was
started by a Russian émigré, Nikolai
Sinebryukhoff, in the early 19th century.
A strange leftover from the Soviet era is a wistful
statue of a woman in a windswept part of the
harbor. Its inscription says that it’s a monument
to Soviet and Finnish friendship dating from
1968.
Helsinki’s most distinctively Russian building is
the brick Uspensky Cathedral with its elaborate
green roofs. Inside, believers flock to the
“Kozelshchanskaya” icon of the Virgin Mary,
which is considered to be miracle-working.
If you can’t find inspiration in Finland, you probably can’t
find it anywhere. Thanks to the unique, mind stirring
culture and natural surroundings, Finns have always
been full of creative cultural and technological ideas.
Here high-tech engineers and bohemian artists live
happily side by side.
Everyone always talks about Nokia phones when the
conversation turns to Finland. I think the outer
archipelago is much more astonishing than some piece of
plastic you can talk to.
You’ve probably sat in a nice Finnish chair,
admired fresh Finnish graphic design or been in
a building designed by a Finnish architect
without ever having been in Finland. Finnish
design has been world famous for decades.
There aren’t many places that can give you a 100%
snow guarantee in the winter. This true Christmas
wonderland can.
Known as the home of Santa Claus and hundreds of
thousands of reindeer, Lapland is a place you have to
see for yourself. No matter what the season, the arctic
ridges and national parks take your breath away. And
nature’s own fireworks, the northern lights, dance 80
kilometers above the rugged wilderness.
With a common border more than 1,300 kilometers long, Finland has
always been closely tied to its eastern neighbor
The territory of present Finland was the theatre of war between Russians and Swedes
for centuries. Finland became part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy
following the War of 1808-1809. This status gave Finland broad autonomy. It had its
own unicameral parliament, currency and customs border with Russia. The Finnish
Language along with Russian and Swedish received an official status, which
accelerated the formation of the Finnish nation.
Following the October Revolution in Russia, the Finnish Parliament adopted on
December 6, 1917 a declaration of state independence, but attempts to seek its
recognition without the Soviet Government's authorization were in vain.
Soviet Government adopted a decree on the recognition of
the state independence of the Finnish Republic on December
31, 1917.
There were a lot of obstacles in relations between the Soviet
Union and Finland, which had only just received
independence. The countries waged two wars against each
other: in 1939-40, and in 1941-44, as Finland allied with Nazi
Germany.
Following the Second World War, the Soviet Union received
the Karelian Isthmus, Vyborg, the western Bay of Vyborg,
lands to the west and north of Lake Ladoga, a group of
islands in the Gulf of Finland, a part of the Rybachy and
Sredny Peninsulas in the Barents Sea, and the Pechenga
area. Over 400,000 people moved from these territories to
Finland.
The present Russian-Finnish border is specified by the 1947
Paris Peace Treaty. Also, the two countries concluded an
agreement on the Aland Islands demilitarization.
In the post-war period, Soviet-Finnish relations became an example of a peaceful
coexistence policy; they were characterized through an intensive political dialogue and
trade, which in the mid-1980s reached 25% of Finland's foreign trade volume.
From time to time, the Finnish media bring up
the question of demanding that Russia return
lands formerly belonging to Finland. However, the
Finnish Government believes that there are no
territorial disputes between the two countries,
with the present Russian-Finnish border specified
by international legal acts.
On December 30, 1991 Finland recognized
Russia as the Soviet Union's successor state. In
January 1992, Russia and Finland concluded the
Agreement on Basic Principles of Relations.
•Russian and Finnish officials have developed stable political
contacts at the top and high levels. Finnish President Tarja
Halonen paid an official visit to Russia at the beginning of her
first term, in June 2000.
• In September 2001 and in August 2005, the Russian
President paid official visits to Finland.
• In 2007, the two heads of state met twice, on July 19 in
Saransk, the Republic of Mordovia, and on September 30
when Tarja Halonen was on a private visit to Moscow to
participate in theatre director Yury Lyubimov's birthday
celebrations.
• On June 28, 2008 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev held
his first meeting with his Finnish counterpart after assuming
office at the Fifth World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in
Khanty-Mansiisk. On April 20-21, 2009 President Medvedev
paid an official visit to Finland.
•On June 5, 2009 Halonen attended the 13th St Petersburg
International Economic Forum. On August 11, 2009
Medvedev and Halonen held an informal meeting in Sochi,
where Halonen also met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev and Halonen spoke by telephone on August 11 and
16, 2008, on December 26, 2008 and on October 6, 2009.
Russian-Finnish trade is mutually beneficial. In 2010, RussianFinnish trade reached about $12.5 billion, with exports totaling
$8.5 billion and imports reaching $3.8 billion, while in 2008,
trade reached $22.4 billion.
According to Russia's Federal Customs Service, from January
through November of 2010 trade turnover between the two
countries totaled $11.6 billion, showing an overall decrease of
44%, with Russia's exports at $8 billion (a 44.7% decrease) and
imports accounting for $3.5 billion (a 42.7% decrease).
• Friendship societies promote closer contacts, with cultural
cooperation developing in various areas as well. Since 2000,
the Russian-Finnish Cultural Forum has been held annually.
• The two countrieshave over 150 pairs of twin towns
and villages.
• Contacts between Finno-Ugric peoples, including
Karelians, Veps, Komi, Mordvins, Mari, Udmurts,
Khanty, Mansi and Komi-Permyaks, have been
developing successfully, with Finland fostering
these ethnicities' national and cultural
development. The two countries cooperate to
preserve the national and cultural identity of
Russians that live in Finland and to help them
develop ties with their historical homeland.
The Finns and Russians aren’t that much different: Both survive in
extreme weather conditions, both have a poor background, both love to
get blinded on a Friday night. Russians are Europeans, and Finns are
Asians who became Europeans. Based on the language and history,
Finns came over from central Asia and northern Russia, and lost their
genetics due to Russian and Swedish presence.
Russians came over from Central Europe as Slavs (Poles were there,
Czechs, Serbians, all the awesome Slavs), and were discovered by
Swedes. Hence the connection. Finland just happened to be stuck
between two European powers.
And if we compare the national mentalities, Finns do have a lot more in
common with the Russians than with the Swedish. Both Finns and
Russians are stereotypically somewhat melancholic, introverted, and,
hardworking while enjoying dark humor.
Because of these similarities, Russian people, who live in Finland, have
had an easier time to assimilate into the Finnish society because the
different language and religion have remained as merely aesthetic
differences.
Intercultural communication cannot be achieved only with mastering
foreign languages. It needs overcoming of the cultural barrier, too.
This barrier is “invisible” and is only felt when there is a clash of two
or more cultures. The cultural misunderstanding can cause great
conflicts, even wars. In such conflicts people start to understand
better their national culture, their vision of life, their boundaries, so
that they can accept the “otherness”.
Intercultural communication is a crossing point of cultures, which, on
the other hand, presupposes a culture of crossing lines. The
Russian proverb “В чужой монастырь со своим уставом не ходят”
is still valid. Its analogue in English expresses the same thought in
other words: “When in Rome, do as Romans do”. In both languages
the wisdom of the people tries to avoid cultural clash.
1. Ter-minasova S.G. Language and intercultural communication. –
Moscow, 2000.
2. Bergelson M. Intercultural communication
//www.countries.ru/library/intercult/mkk.htm
3. Koleva A. Trakia, Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 3, 2008 47
4. Finland–Russia relations.Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia.//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finland/
5. Visit Finland - The Insider's Guide.//www.finland.fi/