Microsoft Word Лингвистика 2015 №4. docx

sues such as nationalism, identity, political correctness and immigration. Russians are now 
buying Finnish sole in small quantities at very high prices. It would be nice if the new 
generation could view our neighbours and foreigners generally matter-of-factly. The 
proximity of St Petersburg and its cultural offerings are not being explored deeply enough, 
and the lack of language proficiency is a problem. Russians are also European Christians, 
the same family, and if they get a better leader, a vot ja harashoo [Rus. ‘and this is good’]. 
Putin is the person who raised Russia to its present status after the catastrophic era of the 
drunkard Yeltsin when oligarchs sold Russia to the rest of the world; now it is debt-free, 
salaries have more than doubled, and the luxury cars on offer are the kind Finns can 
only dream about. 
During the times of autonomy as the Grand Duchy under the Russian crown, 
Finland enjoyed many positive developments, socially, linguistically, economically; 
still, the Russification of the beginning of the 20
th
century is remembered. Although 
now, only 2% of Finns can speak some Russian and everybody must learn Swedish: 
Thanks to Ville Haapasalo, Finnish men are known all over Russia. Tervo has fortu-
nately abandoned his racist and offending use of ryss
ä
 [slang ethnonym for ‘Russian’ with 
a pejorative meaning]; of course a Russian can be a friend; and they can decide for 
themselves about their leaders. Some Finnish politicians say that the threat to Finland is 
Russia. The Swedish party said in 1970 that Finns must learn Swedish, otherwise the 
USSR would attack Finland; now they should stop obligatory Swedish and get more 
young people to study Russian. 
The fears are not new, they are fed and calmed, reinforced and transformed, and 
the life goes on. The current period of peace is the longest in the Finnish history. The ex-
perience of the 25 years of relatively free border crossings brought reiterative encounters 
of all sorts of impressions; Finns could learn to know Russians better: 
At the beginning of the 1990s Russians were allowed in the shop Tarjoustalo one at 
a time, and only if they left their bags at the entrance, but now it is different: money talks. 

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Mustajoki A., Protassova E. Finnish-Russian Relationships: the Interplay of Economics, History... 
75 
Russian money is OK, but Russian people face hostility, even racism: at the end of the day 
there is nothing new in Finland, the promised land of bumpkins. There are bumpkins in both 
countries, and a civilised client does not mess up places, does not steal, does not replace 
the labels on more expensive products with those from much cheaper items, and does not rob 
the rented summer cottage of everything, including the door handles and locks. I am brave 
and dare to say that Russians are friends of Finns, and Finns are friends of Russians; 
the long historical shadow is cast in vain over ordinary people. 
Old people who remember the war stories will maybe understand even more easily 
but will not forgive and forget; the trauma of the lost territories is still alive. The baby-
boomers have lived through the Finlandization period and have ambivalent approaches. 
Open-minded Finns will always say that politically the two countries are very different; 
language and religion are different, aesthetics as well. The learned history and the living 
history are different things; surprisingly enough, both sides are grateful to the Finnish 
marshal C.G.E. Mannerheim for his deeds: 
The big deals with the Russians have shifted from business to civil life: bordering a great 
power has its challenges and its benefits. Russians project great power in their attitudes, 
I cannot trust them. History has created a heavy relationship with Russianness, but the same 
sad melancholy is to be found in Finns: not all those who were born before the war have 
the traumatic memory of the big neighbour. Isn’t it a new Finlandisation when the shops are 
open during Russians holidays? Russians are a good source of earnings for those who live 
near the Eastern border. There is a certain hatred of Swedish-speaking Finns as well. 
People are different among any community, some are good, and some are bad, if 
one learns to know them closer. Many Finns have Russian friends, but not many have 
ever been to Russia, even to St Petersburg, and this is a big experience. Some adapt 
quite well to the welcoming society, others have difficulties to learn the language. 
Rich Russians behave arrogantly; most of the people are poor and modest. Those who 
bring money to Finland are applauded: 
I am disturbed by the thought that greedy Finnish sellers will flatter Russians while 
serving them in their own language. Why don’t Russians learn English, which would work 
here? As the old proverb goes: Be friends with your neighbour but don’t pull down the fence. 
The customer is always right, whether he speaks Chinese or Savo [a dialect of Finnish], 
as many speak Finnish in Malaga or the Canaries, and the seller always speaks the lan-
guage that makes the most commercial sense, and many people in Russia speak Finnish. 
Russians are people who appreciate culture and visit museums and galleries. 
The attitude towards Russia has and yet has not changed. Not all Finns have used 
the years of relative prosperity to visit Russia and to learn more about it. The expertise 
is always needed, and this means, new ties being created, more grassroots involvement, 
more exchanges on all levels, not only special people, but everybody: 
Our grandson studied in Russia as an exchange student, and the host family were nice 
to him, as was everyone, and as grandparents we learned a lot about the circumstances 
there, and our impressions are positive; individual contacts are the key to understanding! 

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Russian Journal of Linguistics, Vestnik RUDN, 2015, N. 4 
76 
Finns are afraid of Russianness because it reflects their own features. Russia is a land of op-
portunity for Finns: friendly relationships are like gold dust! Russians are paying back 
the reparations now. 
This discussion is inspired through the ‘eternal’ topics and reproduces the old and 
new stereotypes revitalized through any events that happen in the field of interests of 
both countries. 
At the same time, the Finnish media discovered the pro-Russian trolls making 
propaganda of their own (http://kioski.yle.fi/omat/troll-piece-2-english). 
The special issue of the Nordic Historical Review is devoted to the theme ‘Lan-
guage and Borders: the Negotiation of Meanings on and around Russian-Scandinavian 
Borders”. It is attracting contributions through two well-known jokes. 1. It is 2050. Eve-
rything is calm on the Finnish-Chinese border (A Soviet joke). 2. What is the difference 
between Sweden and Finland? Sweden has much nicer neighbours (A Finnish joke). 
Sovietology may be reappearing in Western countries, but the Finnish reaction is 
different: another issue of the same magazine on Russian modernisation reports on 
the Finnish Centre of Excellence in Russian Studies project Choices of Russian Mod-
ernisation, which is a six year joint multi-disciplinary research project coordinated by 
the Aleksanteri Institute and also involving the Department of Modern Languages (Rus-
sian language and literature) at the University of Helsinki and the School of Manage-
ment at the University of Tampere.