Tiina Pelkonen

Since the children´s father comes from the Caribbean, half of their relatives live too far away. Marianne Backlén, the writer, has written about the problems of multicultural families and children.

In the author´s home it´s quiet on a sunny morning with the children at school. A timid cat comes and sniffs the guest. The old house in Tehtaankatu Helsinki breathes with tranquillity.

– Indeed, it´s peaceful to live here, even though it´s cramped, Marianne Backlén says.

She has three children from her marriage to her Jamaican-born husband. Multiculturalism used to be part of her life even before her marriage although she finds the word a bit hollow. She asks me to read a story published by Svenska Dagbladet, which she has printed. Apparently, a debate on the issue in Sweden is well under way, compared to Finland.

– It reads in the article that the idea of multiculturalism only consolidates juxtapositions, which are endeavoured to be solved.

Marianne Backlén has published 12 books, four of which have been translated into Finnish. She writes in Swedish, but she went to a Finnish school. With her children, she speaks Finnish.

– I used to think that, in any case, it would be more important for my husband to learn Finnish than Swedish. He speaks English to the children and speaking three languages would have been too much for them, Backlén says and adds laughing:

– This is what Swedish-speaking Finns don´t like.

Their marriage ended in divorce ten years ago. Their youngest child was still a baby and Backlén is wondering even today how she managed to survive alone with her three small children. Her husband will have a new baby with another woman and their relationship has been going on for a long time.

With her novel Karma, published in 2002, Backlén poked at the wall of artificial tolerance. She revealed that polygamy of some degree is common in the lives of many African and Caribbean men.

– Here nobody had spoken out on the risks involved in the marriages of immigrant men and Finnish women which tend to end in cultural differences.

However, Backlén received support from many of her companions in misfortune because she wrote about a subject she knew so well. She had a wide network of families whose mother was Finnish and the father had entered Finland from overseas. Now the majority of these families have split up and the mothers have become single parents of their dark-eyed children. She still has ties with the mothers, but many fathers have disappeared from her circle of family friends.

Relatives live far away

In Ullanlinna Helsinki, the Finnish-Jamaican children haven´t encountered racism. In the first place, not many immigrants live in this area, not to mention whole families. Her children haven´t been bullied in the day-care centre or at school even though the children of her family friends in Malmi and Vuorsaari have had to change schools, due to bullying.

Her children have sometimes heard the word "Negro" being used, which they consider insulting. On the other hand, they think that they are allowed to use this word jokingly.

– They have adopted an American hip hop attitude and language usage. 16-year-old Michael would like to speak English with a Jamaican accent like his father.

Backlén feels sorry because her children have met their father, now living in Vantaa, too seldom within years to get a real insight into the Jamaican culture. Recently, however, they have been able to see each other more often.

The children have been in touch with their Jamaican relatives just occasionally.

– In the past I used to send letters and Christmas cards to Jamaica, but now my mother-in-law has moved and I haven´t got her new address. I myself have very few relatives, which I consider a disadvantage in my children´s lives.

The writer living on grants can´t afford to take her children to Jamaica. In her opinion, the communication to Jamaica ought to be arranged through the father.

Marianne Backlén lived in Jamaica in 1989–1990 and wrote a novel about the country in 1993. She has been trying to figure out the impact of the Jamaican history on the lives of the families. A great number of the population were brought from Africa as slaves. Women and men were separated from each other and families had to live separately.

– In Jamaica I saw many single parent families where mothers were the only ones responsible for their children. This has been my destiny too.

Europe is a fortress

In Finland editions, especially those by Swedish-speaking authors, are small. The majority of Marianne Backlén´s works are legible only in Swedish.

In Sweden books to be sold as cheaply as others ought to have a Swedish publisher. Three of Backlén´s books were published there in the 1980s, but not her latest ones. Therefore, most of her readers are found only among the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland.

In other words, this household isn´t maintained by book sales. Fortunately, though, Backlén has received grants so that she has been able to live as a writer over 30 years.

She was born in Helsinki and studied languages, literature, theology and sociology at the university.

Two of her latest books have been translated into Finnish. Besides, Karma of the two received a lot of attention. Her latest book Linnoitukset was published in Finnish last year. Backlén smiles a little ironically:

– I feel disappointed because it wasn´t reviewed by Helsingin Sanomat. This always gives a feeling as if the book didn´t exist. Last spring Akateeminen kirjakauppa sold it for three Euros!

Linnoitukset tells about the murder of a young African man. The name of the book refers to the bastions in Loviisa. It´s also an allegory of Europe who closes her borders from immigrants searching for a better life. Ulla, the main character, falls in love with an American psychologist who has connections with extremist movements.

The destinies of Backlén´s characters make the reader feel puzzled for a long time even after he has put the book back in the shelf after reading it. Is there going to be a new book soon?

– A novel for youngsters called Tro, hiphop och kärlek will be published next spring. It won a Fontana Media award. The 15-year-old main character in the book is pondering whether or not to be a fruittari (derived from the English fruitcake), hip hoppari (referring to hip hop music), emo (emotional hardcore) or Gothic. The boy´s grandmother is a priest and his little sister has been adopted from Namibia. I have dedicated this book to my children.