Tuesday 29 March 2022

not every english/swedish/german/russian-speaker is english/swedish/german/russian

Not every speaker of English is English - of course:

List of countries by English-speaking population - Wikipedia

And 'English literature' is simply any literature written in English:

English literature is the literature which is distinctly written in the English language, as opposed to differing languages. English literature includes literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England nor primarily English-speaking nations; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Thomas Pynchon is American, V.S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad, and Vladimir Nabokov was Russian, but all are considered important writers in the history of English literature. In other words, English literature is as diverse as the varieties and dialects of English spoken around the world in countries originally colonized by the British.

Jay Doubleyou: english literature

There is a sizeable Swedish-speaking population in Finland:

Swedish Speakers - Minority Rights Group

Swedish-speaking population of Finland - Wikipedia

And they identify themselves as Finns:

Are there Swedish speakers in Finland who identify as ethnically Swedish, or do they all identify as Finns whose native language is Swedish? - Quora

Finland's foremost composer was a Swedish-speaker:

Sibelius was, after all, part of Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority (as was his great early champion Robert Kajanus). He spoke Swedish as his first language, wrote his diaries in Swedish, gave his daughters Swedish names and, when interviewed by Finnish radio in 1948 at the age of 83, asked if he might speak in Swedish (the request was firmly quashed).
Sibelius was 52 when Finland became independent. He lived the majority of his life under Russian rule and was much influenced by Russian music, as the first symphony shows. In what precise way should this music therefore be described as Finnish, or as the essence of Finnishness?

Holding out for a hero: the spirit of Sibelius is summoned to celebrate Finland's centenary | Classical music | The Guardian

One of the foremost writers in German was a Jewish resident of Prague:

Franz Kafka: German or Jewish? | Gabriel Josipovici

The Israeli and German Archive Battled Over Kafka - The Atlantic

As German as Kafka

Franz Kafka Wrote in German : Czechs Pay Scant Homage to Their Greatest Writer - Los Angeles Times

The foremost writer of detective stories in German was from Switzerland:

The Friedrich Glauser Prize (Friedrich-Glauser-Preis, sometimes Friedrich-Glauser-Krimipreis) honors the best crime novel written in German. It is named after Swiss author Friedrich Glauser, considered to be the first crime novelist to publish in German.

The Friedrich Glauser Prize: A Literary Award for Crime Fiction.

Swiss Germans definitely do not see themselves as German:

A survey conducted in the city of Zurich has shown that Germans are considered less likable than other Western Europeans.

Why Swiss-Germans dislike Germans | Request PDF

Cultural differences between Germany and Switzerland

How is Swiss German Different to German? - Chatterblog

Do the Austrians and the Swiss identify as German people (ethnically, not nationally) or have they distanced themselves like the Dutch? - Quora

Finally, there is a lot of literature written in Russian by Ukrainians:

Historically, many famous writers of Russian literature were born and lived in Ukraine. Nikolai Gogol is probably the most famous example of shared Russo-Ukrainian heritage: Ukrainian by descent, he wrote in Russian, and significantly contributed to culture of both nations. Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov was born in Kiev, as well as poet Ilya Erenburg. A number of notable Russian writers and poets hailed from Odessa, including Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov, Anna Akhmatova, Isaak Babel. Russian child poet Nika Turbina was born in Yalta, Crimea.
A significant number of contemporary authors from Ukraine write in Russian.[66] This is especially notable within science fiction and fantasy genres.[66] Kharkiv is considered the "capital city" of Ukrainian sci-fi and fantasy, it is home to several popular Russophone Ukrainian writers...

Russian language in Ukraine - Wikipedia

Ukraine's most famous writer today writes in Russian:

Andrey Yuryevich Kurkov (Ukrainian: Андрій Юрійович Курков; Russian: Андре́й Ю́рьевич Курко́в; born 23 April 1961 in Leningrad, USSR) is a Ukrainian author and an independent thinker who writes in Russian. He is the author of 19 novels, including the bestselling Death and the Penguin, nine books for children, and about 20 documentary, fiction and TV movie scripts. His work is currently translated into 37 languages, including English, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Chinese, Swedish, Persian and Hebrew, and published in 65 countries.[1] Kurkov, who has long been a respected commentator on Ukraine for the international media, notably in Europe and the United States, has written assorted articles for various publications worldwide. His books are full of black humour, post-Soviet reality and elements of surrealism.

Andrey Kurkov - Wikipedia

And he has very strong opinions about the language:

Ukraine's star author Kurkov says his native Russian should be curbed

Writer Andrey Kurkov tells Ukraine’s story: ‘It’s my duty. This is my front line’

Putin’s bombs and missiles rain down, but he will never destroy Ukraine’s culture | Andrey Kurkov | The Guardian

ANDREY KURKOV on how citizens are refusing to bend to Russia's bullying  | Daily Mail Online

Andrey Kurkov: “It’s impossible to say that all the world is behind Ukraine”  - New Statesman

Andrey Kurkov: Ukrainians will never be Russians | News | The Sunday Times

'He is ready to die for the country': Famed Ukrainian writer on Zelensky - CNN Video

You can read this in three languages:

The Archeology of War | The New Yorker

Археологія війни | The New Yorker

Археология войны | The New Yorker

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