Research

We examine Finnish-language letters sent to Finland by American immigrants about a hundred years ago, focusing on the literary construction of place and attachment to place through names. Our second research environment is the Alan Wake 2 video game, where the descendants of American immigrants operate in fictional North American villages in the 2020s.

The English-language video game features numerous places named by combining Finnish and English languages. Thus, our subjects are two worlds that can be characterized as mirror images of each other. We ask what linguistic means are used to construct attachment to places in naming and how attachment to place names is expressed. In the first aspect, we investigate different methods of identification and linguistic choices, while in the latter, we explore the reasons and meanings behind the chosen method of identification. A writer or player can express detachment from a place name, for example, by not using the official name of the place but rather another name, perhaps one they have given themselves. This allows us to address the extent to which attachment to places and place names are interconnected. The research provides valuable and applicable insights into human attachment to place and highlights the factors that increase or decrease attachment to place.