Imagining the homeland - mother tongue tuition as transnational spaces

The aim of our presentation is to illuminate mother tongue tuition (MTT) as a transnational space in the Swedish school context. Hence we are interested in how images of and relations to other geographical places and a specific homeland are constructed both in policy and in the linguistic landscape of the MTT classroom. The presentation takes it point of departure in the language ethnographic project Mother tongue tuition and Study guidance in compulsory school (2015-2017). The notion of transnational spaces builds upon postcolonial theory and diaspora (e.g. Bhabha 1994) and the concept of transnationality (Faist 2000). Transnational spaces emphasize the construction of and crossing of national boundaries and especially how identity positions are negotiated in relation to such boundaries.

The empirical material consists of i) national curricula from 1977 to 2011, ii) photos and videos from MTT classrooms and iii) interviews with MTT teachers. The preliminary results shows how images of a homeland is central in MTT in several ways and also how discourses have shifted over time in the national curricula. The transnational relations are visible both in the physical space of the classroom, in the interviews with teachers and through policy and teaching materials. This highlights how questions of belonging to geopolitical spaces in terms of a homeland are negotiated in MTT.

References

Bhabha, Homi (1994). The Location of  Culture. London: Routledge.

Faist, Thomas (2000). Transnationalization in international migration: implications for the study of citizenship and culture. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 23:2, 189-