Blog Post #1: National Identity in Estonia

 National identity is something that is non-existent until other nations, countries, cultures, religions, languages, ethnicities, symbols, and political viewpoints are known. Nations and countries have nothing to base their identity or differences off of unless there are other identities to compare themselves to. 

National identity is something that is not only based on the differences one has from others, but also the similarities. National identity consists of two groups, the ingroup, and the outgroup. The ingroup refers to a group of people who have something notable, such as a culture, language, or religion in common. The outgroup refers to groups of people who differ in such ways. The ingroup is not able to exist without the outgroup. 

All nations and cultures do not necessarily define themselves by the exact same characteristics that formulate a national identity. For example, one country may be largely known for their music, while other things like race, culture, or language are less prominent; and another country may be widely known for their culture instead of their music. While there is a clear list of factors that make up national identity, countries and nations can be more or less known for one or many of these things.

Like many other countries, Estonia has multiple components that contribute to its national identity. The country identifies with some of these factors more than others.

While Estonia has a notable number of people who belong to a religion such as Orthodox, over half of the country’s population does not identify with any religion whatsoever. The Lutheran Church is the largest in Estonia, however, only thirteen percent of the population belongs to this denomination. A majority of people in Estonia believe in worshiping nature instead of a god. It is clear that Estonia’s national identity is scarcely built around structured religion.

Estonia’s official and leading language is Estonian. Other languages include Russian, Ukrainian, and a small amount of other and unspecified languages as well. The Estonian language is known to be one of the most difficult European languages to learn. When considering the large percentages of people who speak Estonian and the people who speak Russian, as well as the difficulty of the Estonian language, there is a clear separation between these two groups. This would be an ideal example of an outgroup or groups of people who differ in identity by their spoken language. Most Russians who immigrated to Estonia never learned the Estonian language. The Russian government did not allow people to speak Estonian, and the language was removed from diplomatic, military, and industrial work. This resulted in Russian becoming the dominant language of the country.

Following the invasion and the domination of the Russians, which resulted in the demolition of Estonian culture, Estonia began to work towards gaining its power and national identity back. Estonia created a citizenship policy that separated Russians and Estonians. The country guaranteed citizenship only to citizens of Pre-Soviet Estonia and their descendants. There is a significant division in ethnicities in Estonia, making it a key factor in the country’s national identity. Estonians can be viewed as an ingroup, and they have identified the Russians as a community that is an internal other.

It is quite common for countries to identify with national colors, symbols, and their flag. Estonia’s national colors are blue, black, and white. These three colors are the same colors that are featured on the Estonian flag. There are multiple interpretations of the colors on the Estonian flag. The blue is known to represent the reflection of the sky in lakes and seas, which symbolizes endurance; black represents the earth that feeds its people; and white represents aspiration towards light and purity. During the Soviet occupation authorities prohibited the use of the blue-black-white color combination, and as a result, Estonia created this flag in the 1980s representing the return of the Estonian state and culture. Estonia’s national symbols are the barn swallow and the cornflower. Estonian’s associate the cornflower with their staple grain, because it often grows in rye fields. The color of the top stripe on the Estonian flag is often referred to as cornflower blue.

Estonia’s government is a parliamentary republic. This is a system of government that has executive power entrusted in a cabinet composed of members who are both individually, and as a group, responsible to the legislature. There are six different political parties in Estonia, meaning the country has a multi-party system. These parties include the Reform Party, the Centre Party, the Conservative People's Party of Estonia, Isamaa, the Social Democratic Party, and the Free Party. People in Estonia have many political rights. The government is said to be exceptionally clear, where most government decisions are almost instantly accessible online.

There are many types of Othering that help generate and maintain the national identity of a country. These can include, geographical location, linguistic homogeneity, religious composition, common culture, and ethnicity. 

In Estonia, one of the more prominent types of Othering includes linguistic homogeneity. During the Soviet era, discrimination against Estonians and the use of their language caused a large divide in the country that is still seen today. The Estonians identify themselves and the ingroup and consider Russians who have never learned Estonian as the outgroup. This significant split has allowed Estonians to create a separate identity from the Russians, and these two identities within Estonia go hand in hand to create one larger component of the country’s national identity. 

Another type of Othering that has contributed to the Soviet era and the division following this time period, is geographical location. Since Estonia borders Russia, it made it an easy and convenient target for Russians during World War II. As a result of Russia’s invasion of Estonia, the need for separation and the desire for Estonian’s to regain and develop their national identity is extremely strong.

Estonia’s religious composition is an additional type of Othering that helps to maintain their national identity. Unlike most countries who are clearly defined by one or many structured religions, Estonia is known for being the world’s least religious country. National identity is defined by both the similarities and differences that are shared with others. Little to no structured religion in Estonia is a huge component of the country’s national identity, that sets them apart from most other countries. 

National identity is made up of multiple different characteristics and is defined in many different ways. Things like language, religion, symbols, ethnicity, and politics contribute to national identity. National identity can be seen on national, country, and community levels. It is something that is based on similarities or differences and is not defined by solely geographical borders or locations. National identity is non-existent unless Others are defined. Many of these factors of national identity can be seen not only within Estonia but when looking at the country as a whole. The main ones include linguistic homogeneity, geographical location, and religious composition.

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References

 

Avgerinos, K. (15 December 2006). Languages in conflict: The case of Russia and Estonia. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, https://geohistory.today/languages-conflict-estonia/

Estonia Population 2021 (Live). (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/estonia-population

 Estonian national flag. (n.d.). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, http://www.estonica.org/en/Estonian_national_flag/

 

Esslemont, T. (2011 August 26). Spirituality in Estonia-the worlds ‘least religious’ country. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-14635021.

 

Hankewitz, S. (14 March 2018). Estonian one of the hardest languages to learn for a native English speaker. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, https://estonianworld.com/culture/estonian-one-of-the-hardest-languages-to-learn-for-a-native-english-speaker/

 

National Flower. (2021). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, https://www.globalroadwarrior.com/estonia/national-flower.html

 

The political framework of Estonia. (2016). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, https://www.nordeatrade.com/en/explore-new-market/estonia/political-context 

 Triandafyllidou, A. (1998) National identity and the ‘other.’. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 21(4), 593. https://doi-org.proxy.seattleu.edu/10.1080/014198798329784

Trimbach, D. (7 March 2017). “Nationality is Ethnicity:” Estonia’s problematic citizenship policy. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from, https://www.fpri.org/article/2017/03/nationality-ethnicity-estonias-problematic-citizenship-policy/