Language as a symbol of ethnicity and multiculturality in estonian exile literature

Abstract

The article focuses on Aksel Valgma’s immigrant novel Elu üksiklinnud [The Solitary Birds of Life] (1966). Valgma was an Estonian exile writer who arrived in Australia in 1949. Based on his own experiences, he depicts the cultural encounter between two successive immigration waves: the voluntary immigrants who were interested in rapid integration into Australian society, and the post-war refugees who, still dreaming about a return to their homeland, strove to maintain their ethnic culture in its deepest purity. The aim of the article is to highlight differences between the identity processes of Estonian immigrants in Australia, commenting on the background to their language use and demonstrating how Valgma contrasts Estonian-English mixed language with normal Estonian in his dialogues. Identity studies generally deals with the importance of language in maintaining ethnic identities in a multicultural environment. This article demonstrates how Valgma in his novel uses language for both purposes: as a symbol of ethnicity as well as one of multiculturality.