18/3/21 : A Digital Approach to the Discursive Construction of National Identity: the Example of the Sámi Council’s Declarations

18h : Watch the Video here.


Alexandre Zeitler (Université de Strasbourg)

In the words of Ricœur, “narration creates identity” – so does the declarations of the Sámi council, a non-governmental organization founded in 1956 to provide safeguards for the unity and homogeneity of the Sámi indigenous people. Because of their digital nature, they (re)create a discursive space for the (re)definition of the sámi identity beyond national Nordic frameworks. The aim of this presentation is therefore to present a cartography of knowledges shared by Sámis on their identity within these documents. Two key clusters within the network, the discourse on a homogenous sámi ‘nation’ and the stabilization of nowadays classic representations of the Sámis as reindeer herders will be particularly discussed during the lecture.

Conférence dans la série des wébinaires Mythemes of the North