– I don’t know if it is completely within, but I have “pirate translated” a number of Norwegian books into Swedish for my own use, says Merethe Eidstø. She is a Swedish-speaking mother of three who is now trying to pass on the language to her children. However, a large lack of Swedish children’s literature creates a number of challenges. According to Merethe, you must try to immerse young people in the language as much as possible when trying to learn a minority language such as Swedish. But when you can count on one hand how many Swedish-language books there are, it is challenging, she says. – I have tried to solve this by translating a number of books myself, but that requires quite a lot of resources in an already busy everyday life. Austin hides in the dirty laundry – Austin lymmyy lokavaatheitten sishään. Merethe is holding one of the books she herself has translated into Swedish. Photo: Tomi Vaara / news A big loss for Kven children According to Merethe, literature is one of the best ways to teach children a new language. You learn, for example, different words and expressions than those used in everyday language, she says. – This also applies to Norwegian children. Through books, children can increase their vocabulary and gain a better understanding of the world. Merethe has tried to get as many children’s books in Kven and Meänkieli as possible. Photo: Tomi Vaara / news It is therefore a great loss for all Swedish-speaking children that there is so little literature for them. Especially when the few books that exist are also the only real offer for them. There are, for example, no Kven TV programmes, explains Eidstø. – When children are small, it is perfectly fine to read one book many times. Children like what is predictable and what they know. But as children get older, they would like to have something new to read, she says. – The motivation to speak and use the language decreases when you have nowhere to use it. Merethe Eidstø believes they have every Kven and Meänkieli children’s book that exists. – I often say that we probably have Norway’s largest Swedish-language children’s library in our living room. Photo: Tomi Vaara / news Cross-border collaboration Porsanger in Finnmark, the third class at Lakselv primary school has tried a new way of solving the shortage of children’s books in Kven. In collaboration with Kven organizations in Norway and Sweden, Kven students there have participated in a cross-border literature sharing project to get more reading material. – I have noticed that there is a particular lack of easy-to-read books. Reference books and such. So it was nice to try to get hold of more books, says Anneli Naukkarinen. Anneli Naukkarinen is both a subject leader in the Porsanger Kven language center and a substitute teacher in Kven at Lakselv primary school. Photo: Tomi Vaara / news According to her, the “Kielikylpy” project meant that students in Norway, Sweden and Finland shared children’s literature in Kven, Meänkieli and Finnish with each other. Meänkieli in northern Sweden in particular is so similar to Kven that the students in Lakselv could well read it. – But the books we received from Finland were a bit difficult in terms of language for the third graders. But we got to flip through the books and learn some new words. In addition to the books, the students were sent letters in Swedish. It was probably the most fun for them, thinks Anneli Naukkarinen. Photo: Anneli Naukkarinen / Porsanger Kven language center Naukkarinen says that the project was a fun experience for both her and the pupils. It made her see that there are a number of books in Finland and Sweden that she also uses in her training. Although sharing literature is clearly one type of solution for the lack of Swedish children’s literature, Naukkarinen believes that stronger measures are also needed so that the situation can improve. – We also have to create our own literature here in Swedish, says the head of department. Kven-language children’s books Kummitus ja Tähtipoika 1 by Agnes Eriksen Kummitus ja tähtipoika 2 by Agnes Eriksen Kummitus ja tähtipoika 3 by Agnes Eriksen Linus pakaka tomattivellin by Anna-Kaisa Räisänen Linus kaottaa Karhu Reivun by Anna-Kaisa Räisänen Linus ja Karhu Riepu seilathaan by Anna-Kaisa Räisänen Varis ja Harakka by Tove Raappana Reibo Det hete fesk – Se oon saita by Maureen Bjerkan Olsen and Arne Hauge Päivän ja yön kummitukset by Oddbjørg Ulstein Minun raamattukirja by Tor Ivar Torgauten Minun pikku laulukirja by Mari Keränen Met korjama by Camilla Kuhn In addition there are three tasks of the multilingual cartoon, Nils ja Magga. Need golden roots Trygg Jakola, board member of the Kven publishing house, Ruija forlag, believes that there needs to be measures that can motivate authors and other Kven-speaking people to write for children. Today, the publisher itself has five Kven books written for children. In addition, other publishers have a couple more, says Jakola. – In addition, there are also few Swedish-language books for adults, he says. In 2022, Ruija Forlag published Kvenungdommen’s Norwegian-Kven phrasebook for young people. Trygg Jakola attended the launch in Alta. Photo: Johan Niska / news According to Jakola, own author grants and writing competitions in particular could be good carrots to get more people to write. In addition, you can start translating already existing Norwegian children’s books into Swedish, he suggests. – But there you encounter problems with the procurement system. This only applies to books in Bokmål and Nynorsk. If an existing children’s book is translated into Swedish, it will not be included in the scheme. This means that public and school libraries, for example, do not receive the books. – It is also important that we spread the Kven books that have been translated. Jakola hopes that the authorities can help get more people to write books in Kven, and thus improve the situation with Kven children’s literature. – We attended the meeting organized by the Cultural Council in Vadsø at the beginning of June, and came up with a number of proposals on how the situation can be improved. The Cultural Council Sigbjørn Skåden, head of the Cultural Council’s professional committee for literature, believes it is important that the council receives good suggestions and advice from the Kven community. This has meant that in the last three years the council has been able to strengthen their work towards Kven and the other national minority languages. – But of course we can always improve. Sigbjørn Skåden is a council member and leader of the Norwegian Cultural Council’s academic committee for literature. Photo: Mats Bakken / Culture Council According to Skåden, it is not the Culture Council’s job to manage grants, for example. He says that their already existing grant scheme for literature projects can also be used by authors. The support can be given both to projects where the aim is to translate a book in one of the national minority languages into Norwegian, but also to projects where the book is to be written in Swedish, for example. – If you apply for a grant for a Kven children’s literature project from there, there are good chances of getting some money, says Skåden. – We hope that more people use this scheme. – Have you considered having a separate scheme for Swedish literature? – It may be something to think about in the future if you get so many applications that there is a need for it. But Kven is well aware of the arrangements we have today, says the committee leader. Should continue Merethe Eidstø hopes that the situation with Swedish children’s literature will soon improve. Until that time, she will continue to translate books into Swedish to ensure that her children are exposed to the language. Photo: Tomi Vaara / news Although it takes a lot of time, it is worth it. The fact that her children get the opportunity to learn Swedish as their mother tongue is a matter close to her heart. – I was the first generation in the family not to speak it as a mother tongue. It took me quite a few years to learn it as an adult, she says. – That’s why I want my children to avoid doing the same. Published 12.07.2024, at 11.42 Updated 12.07.2024, at 12.25 p.m
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Merethe Eidstø has to translate books into Kven due to a large lack of Kven children’s literature – news Kveeni
