6533b7d2fe1ef96bd125e2af

RESEARCH PRODUCT

“LATVIA WILL ALWAYS BE MY HOME”: LATVIAN EMIGRANTS IN SWEDEN AFTER 1991 IN THE LATVIAN NATIONAL ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION

Ginta Elksne

subject

oral historyswedenmedia_common.quotation_subjectImmigrationlatviaLatvianHistory (General)language.human_languageIndependenceHM401-1281EmigrationFirst world warPower (social and political)Oral historyPolitical scienceD1-2009National identitylanguageEconomic historyemigrationSociology (General)media_common

description

Latvians are one of the most mobile European nations. Latvian migration to Sweden has a long history. After the II World War, more than 4,000 people moved from Latvia to Sweden, fleeing Soviet power. The second wave of immigration to Sweden began with the restoration of Latvian independence in 1991 and continues to this day. Both of these waves of migration are documented in the Latvian National Oral History collection. This article analyzes life-story interviews with expatriates in Sweden after the restoration of independence and explores how the migrants themselves describe their experiences in their new home country, their reflections on Latvians, Latvianness, and the preservation of national identity in emigration.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-06-01Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej
https://doi.org/10.26774/wrhm.254