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Historisk tidskrift 129:4 • 2009

Innehåll (Contents) 2009:4

Uppsatser (Articles)

Erfarenheter och sociala minnen, berättelser och motberättelser. Möten mellan svenskar och ester i Olofström efter 1945

Av Johan Svanberg

 

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Summary

Experiences and social memories, narratives and counter-narratives: Meetings between Swedes and Estonians in Olofström after 1945

This article investigates the meeting of Swedes and Estonians at a car factory in the Swedish municipality Olofström after World War II. The primary aim is to analyze Swedish and Estonian workers’ retrospective narratives about each other. Apart from their different background, the social memories which Estonian refugees brought with them to Sweden differed from the social memories of the native-born workers and affected the outcomes of their meetings. The interviewees determine their own social group membership in the narratives, thereby constructing social boundaries, of a We and of the Other.

The article starts with a discussion of the social memories concerning the historical relationship between the workers and the industrial management in Olofström, which were promoted by labour leaders. The Estonians were not included in these social memories and had no knowledge about them. Next some areas of conflict in the relationship between Swedes and Estonians deemed to be important by contemporaries are presented. Things perceived to be problematic in the late 1940s and early 1950s are compared with the retrospective narratives of both Swedes and Estonians. Finally, the article addresses the question how social memories can change over time and how such changes can be discovered in the narratives of the interviewees. The article ends with an analysis of the narratives in relation to the different background experiences and social memories of Swedes and Estonians.

Keywords

Sweden, 20th century, Estonia, migration, experiences, social memories, narratives, refugees, ethnicity, class, trade unions.