During the past two decades, social media has become an important venue for sharing information. As a result, the use of English has increased significantly on social media platforms. English often becomes important in interaction between people who speak different languages. For our project, we decided to investigate the use of English within Finnish social media by researching how English is used through the lens of content creator Miikka Martikainen. We decided to study his Instagram reels and the comments under these posts. Martikainen makes comical content about Finland mostly in English.
We examined the videos in three parts. First, we were interested in seeing how Martikainen uses pronunciation, and code-switching in his video. Second, we wanted to see how Martikainen portrays the Finnish identity in the videos, since they are mostly made for an international audience. Finally, we analyzed the comments to see whether code-switching happened in the comments and what could motivate it.
Grammar and pronunciation, code-switching
Us Finns are all at least somewhat familiar with the term Rally English. The term comes from the type of English that some Finnish rally drivers use when interviewed after a race, and it emphasizes the stark contrast in pronunciation between Finnish and English (e.g. the use of the rhoticity of the phoneme r). Miikka uses this sort of accent in his videos on purpose to highlight his Finnishness, together with some intentional mispronunciation of English based on Finnish grammar rules, such as deeply leaning into the gemination – the doubling of consonants. Miikka also uses code-switching to educate the viewers on Finnish terms.
Representation of the Finnish identity
Miikka Martikainen represents Finland and Finnish culture in several ways. As mentioned before, the way he talks gives an impression on how the Finnish language sounds like. He references Finnish culture a lot, talking about Kalevala and the phenomenon of takatalvi for example. Martikainen represents Finnish identity through other content, one example can be found in his video titled “the happiest country”. In this skit he reveals the Finns’ secret to happiness: their relationship with alcohol on a Friday night. Martikainen also uses visuals such as the snow-covered field and forest backgrounds, emphasizing Finns’ love for the outdoors and nature.
The comments
Generally, the comments included a lot of code-switching. Often words that were in Finnish in the video were in Finnish in the comments as well. In one such instance, a user wrote the comment: “that’s how they get us every single time, perkele!!”. Here they also establish a connection to the content and community by referring to themselves as “us”, and using the Finnish profanity “perkele”, which was also used in the video. Some comments by non-Finns took an outside perspective and used code-switching to show their knowledge of Finnish culture. Comments also often compared Finnish culture and other cultures, for instance in a comment about “takatalvi”, one person wrote “This happens in Iceland. We should come up with a word for it”, showing that sometimes code-switching can communicate meaning that has no existing expression in another language.
In conclusion
Martikainen, being Finnish himself, knows what it is like to live in Finland and what it means to be Finnish. While he exaggerates a lot and often draws on stereotypes, there is always a truth to his bits. With a platform like Instagram, he has access to a massive international audience, which might have never even thought about Finland if not for these skits. Thus, Martikainen has created a link between Finnish identity and the wider English-speaking community.
~Arttu, Miili & Jenna
English in Finland 