By Karin Dean
After the annexation of Crimea by Russia, many international journalists flocked to the Estonian border town of Narva – 210 km from Tallinn and 160 km from St Petersburg – to investigate whether it will be next. The Estonian public, journalists and politicians alike categorically rejected this line of thought, pointing to fundamental differences. Narva’s people were tired and irritated by this question. In 2024, this issue resurfaced only in retrospect.
What instead put the spotlight on Narva for many in Estonia, was the 2019 release of the rap song Privet, gorod Narva (Hello, Narva town), with an official title für Oksana, by rappers nublu (Markkus Pulk) and Gameboy Tetris (Pavel Botšarov). The video of the rap song continually and randomly switching between the Estonian and Russian languages captures some of Narva’s colorful life, moving from the Soviet era apartment blocks to its unique waterfront of canals and boat houses along the Narva reservoir, known as Narva Venice. The lyrics describe locals crossing the border to buy cheap petrol on the Russian side, and the Estonian and Russian youth speaking English to each other in order to communicate. Every Estonian youth can sing its chorus rhymes in Russian, including the ethnic Estonians with no knowledge of Russian, while the video has 7,5 million views on YouTube (note: Estonia has 1,3 million people).
The text and scenes in the video reflect the cultural fusion in Narva resulting from its most recent epoch – that of the Soviet occupation (1944-1991). But its turbulent and complex past goes back much further. Mentioned in historical records as early as in 1172, the town developed into a well-known trading hub with its first, wooden castle built during Danish rule around 1256. The Swedish rulers in 16-17th centuries built an extensive baroque town centre and united Narva with Ivangorod on the other side of the river into one city to facilitate eastern trade. This Old Town was completely destroyed in the bombardment by the Soviet air forces in 1944, and Ivangorod separated from Narva to be a town under Russian jurisdiction. The Narva River was turned into the border between occupied Estonia and Soviet Russia – regardless of the 1920 Treaty between the Republic of Estonia and Soviet Russia, whereby Ivangorod, or Jaanilinn in Estonian, was recognized as a suburb of Narva. Most of Narva‘s original inhabitants – of whom 65% were ethnic Estonians according to the 1934 census – were banned from returning to Estonia after the Soviets took power. Instead immigrant workers were moved in from Russia. These developments wiped Narva of its Estonian past and put it on the margins of Estonian society culturally, linguistically, politically and socially. Today 93 percent of its inhabitants speak Russian as their mother tongue – and furthermore, about a third hold Russian passports.
Since regaining independence, Estonian governments’ efforts to reduce Narva’s peripheral position and develop its infrastructure and social services have not been overly successful, combined with Narva’s own political disengagement. Definitely, Estonian state integration and social cohesion policies have never come close to the success of the song by nublu and Gameboy Tetris in getting young Estonians interested in Narva.
Further complex issues loom large over Narva and its surrounding region today. Estonian state’s commitment to shut down energy production from oil shale in Eastern Estonia by 2035 brings along a loss of jobs and uncertainties, even as other industries are introduced. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has produced ideological polarization among Estonian Russians. While increasingly more Narvans have applied for Estonian citizenship, others continue following the news and propaganda from Moscow, this divide often breaking down along generational lines. The border that generated economic activity and enabled cheaper products and services for many Narvans was closed to automobile traffic in February 2024 by Russian authorities with the pretext of construction work on the Russian side. Finally, on September 1, 2024, the state launched the transition to an entirely Estonian-language education for the 14 percent of school students in Estonia conducting their studies in Russian, with the lion’s share of efforts focused on Narva. The revocation of local voting rights for Russian passport holders is among most recent topics in the headlines, debated in the Estonian Parliament.
There is one thing that both the local Narvans and the politicians in the capital Tallinn see eye to eye – it is the town’s own political undercurrents and a strong and unique, locally embedded sense of place that do not follow any established patterns or precedents. This is what was captured and recognized quintessentially – and poetically – in the rappers’ rhymes. The photos present moments of autumn and daily life on the banks of the ever-present border river that in today’s geopolitical context separates two sharply different worlds.
Click the images to read the captions.
