Skip to main content

Ethno-Nationalism Revisited? A Journey Through the New Estonian National Museum (Eesti Rahva Muuseum)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Cultural Contestation

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict ((PSCHC))

  • 802 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter examines the attempt of the Estonian state to reconcile itself with its Soviet past, and bring together the different ethnic groups that inhabit the country. Estonian National Museum. Pawłusz discusses the main permanent exhibition “Encounters” which can be seen as prime example of a governmental attempt to steer away from a socially exclusive narrative. It presents a more open narrative, including groups who can’t claim a long history in the country, instead.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adams, L. L. (1999). Invention, Institutionalization and Renewal in Uzbekistan’s National Culture. European Journal of Cultural Studies, 2(3), 355–373.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adams, L. L. (2010). The Spectacular State: Culture and National Identity in Uzbekistan. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, B. (1991). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billig, M. (1995). Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. H., & Davis-Brown, B. (1998). The Making of Memory: The Politics of Archives, Libraries and Museums in the Construction of National Consciousness. History of the Human Sciences, 11(4), 17–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brüggemann, K., & Kasekamp, A. (2008). The Politics of History and the ‘War of Monuments’ in Estonia. Nationalities Papers, 36(3), 425–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane, A. S. (1997). Memory, Distortion, and History in the Museum. History and Theory, 36, 44–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Datunashvili, A. (2017). The Georgian National Museum and the Museum of Soviet Occupation as Loci of Informal Nation Building. In A. Polese, et al. (Eds.), Identity and Nation Building in Everyday Post-socialist Life (pp. 52–69). New York and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Forest, B., & Johnson, J. (2002). Unraveling the Threads of History: Soviet–Era Monuments and Post-Soviet National Identity in Moscow. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92(3), 24–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and Nationalism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirsch, F. (2005). Empire of Nations: Ethnographic Knowledge & the Making of the Soviet Union. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isaacs, R., & Polese, A. (Eds.). (2016). Nation Building and Identity in the Post-Soviet Space: New Tools and Approaches. NewYork and London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaplan, F. E. (Ed.). (1994). Museums and the Making of “Ourselves”: The Role of Objects in National Identity. London: Leicester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Karm, S., & Leete, A. (2015). The Ethics of Ethnographic Attraction: Reflections on the Production of the Finno-Ugric Exhibitions at the Estonian National Museum. Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics, 9(1), 99–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knell, J. S., et al. (2011). National Museums: New Studies from Around the World. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolstø, P. (Ed.). (2014). Strategies of Symbolic Nation-Building in South Eastern Europe. Farnham: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuutma, K. (1996). Cultural Identity. Nationalism and Changes in Singing Traditions. Folklore: Electronic Journal of Folklore, 2, 124–141.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinez, F. (2016). Wasted Legacies? Material Culture in Contemporary Estonia. Ph.D. dissertation, Tallinn University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nora, P. (1989). Between Memory and History: Les Lieux de Mémoire. Representations, 26, 724.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nora, P. (Ed.). (1996). General Introduction: Between Memory and History. In Realms of Memory. Rethinking the French Past (pp. 1–20). New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pawłusz, E. (2016). The Estonian Song Celebration (Laulupidu) as an Instrument of Language Policy. Journal of Baltic Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/01629778.2016.1164203.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pawłusz, E., & Polese, A. (2017). ‘Scandinavia’s Best-Kept Secret.’ Tourism Promotion, Nation-Branding, and Identity Construction in Estonia (with a free guided tour of Tallinn Airport). Nationalities Papers. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905992.2017.1287167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettai, V. (2007). The Construction of State Identity and Its Legacies: Legal Restorationism in Estonia. Ab Imperio, 3, 403–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pfoser, A. (2015). Between Security and Mobility: Negotiating a Hardening Border Regime in the Russian-Estonian Borderland. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 41(10), 1684–1702.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Runnel, P., T. Tatsi, & P. Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt. (2014). Who Authors the Nation? The Debate Surrounding the Building of the New Estonian National Museum. P. Runnel & P. Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt (Eds.), Democratising the Museum: Reflections of Participatory Technologies (pp. 19–34). Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seliverstova, O. (2017). Keeping Alive the “Imaginary West” in Post-Soviet Countries. Journal of Contemporary Central and Eastern Europe, 25(1), 117–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seljamaa, E.-H. (2012). A Home for 121 Nationalities or Less: Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Integration in Post-Soviet Estonia. Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siiner, M. (2006). Planning Language Practice: A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Language Policy in Post-communist Estonia. Language Policy, 5(2), 161–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, L. (2006). Uses of Heritage. London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Šmidchens, G. (2014). The Power of Song: Nonviolent National Culture in the Baltic Singing Revolution. Seattle: Washington University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tamm, M. (2013). In Search of Lost Time: Memory Politics in Estonia, 1991–2011. Nationalities Papers, 41(4), 651–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Velmet, A. (2011). Occupied Identities: National Narratives in Baltic Museums of Occupations. Journal of Baltic Studies, 42(2), 189–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vetik, R. (Ed.). (2012). Nation-Building in the Context of Post-communist Transformation and Globalization. The Case of Estonia. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emilia Pawłusz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Pawłusz, E. (2018). Ethno-Nationalism Revisited? A Journey Through the New Estonian National Museum (Eesti Rahva Muuseum). In: Rodenberg, J., Wagenaar, P. (eds) Cultural Contestation. Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91914-0_13

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics