Editors' Note

Abstract

Johan Sandberg McGuinne the South Saami speaker and author published a long post on his Facebook page about the situation of Saami languages and Saami literature. Sandberg McGuinne's ( 2019) text is a rhetorically constructed analysis of the problems of minority literatures. He begins his text with a reference to the situation of the world's endangered languages: "The Saami languages are severely endangered. Together with half of the world's languages -of which most are indigenous or minority languages -they are at risk of dying out during the next decades. "Despite his concerns regarding the survival of endangered languages, Sandberg McGuinne problematizes the decision made by Sámi Girječálliid Searvi (SGS) -the Sami Writer's Association (SGS) -during 2018, according to which only authors who use Saami language as their literary tool, can become members of the organization. Before this decision was taken, authors who also wrote in other languages -mainly in Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian -could become members. Johan Sandberg McGuinne underlines that the Saami languages are endangered and they should be supported, but he is also critical of the monolingual definition of Saami literature. His statement connects to a long, and from time to time heated, discussion about the boundaries of national literatures vs "other" literatures in the Nordic countries, as well as in European countries with linguistic minorities.The 1970s and 1980s are considered to be the founding decades for minority literatures in the Nordic countries. The development of such literatures as Saami, Sweden-Finnish and Tornedalian literature, was connected with a worldwide ethnic revival, emancipatory politics and the rise of various countercultures during the 1960s and 1970s. Subcultures that have emerged include: postcolonial literature, women's literature and indigenous peoples' movements, all of which inspired minorities in the Nordic countries. Overall, one could say that culture became politicized during this period and literature was seen as a tool in the process of emancipation (Gröndahl 2019). However, Sandberg Mc-Guinne's view also highlights how relevant questions of language choices and language rights still are.This issue of Multiethnica discusses multilingualism, especially in a minority language context. In recent years, multilingualism has become an expansive multidisciplinary research area, and this special issue brings together many of the current perspectives related to multilingualism in minority studies, as well as in literary studies and philology. In the first article, Anitta Viinikka-Kallinen deals with Alf Nilsen-Børsskog's four-volume series of novels Elämän