ABSTRACT

The article concentrates on understanding military spouses in contemporary Estonia. Theoretical considerations involve military culture and the storied world. We discuss the dominant and contesting narratives that emerged from 14 interviews concerning patriotism, self-sustainability, freedom of choice and identity as military spouses. The dominant narratives demonstrate a strong adherence to military values though overtly the women identified more with the civilian world. The contesting narratives suggest adverse implications for family well-being.

To conclude, Estonia needs a public discussion concerning families of military service members who find themselves on the cusp of two worlds, the civilian and the military. The ambiguous self-positioning of military spouses between the military and civilian worlds needs acknowledgement and further conceptualization.

摘要

这篇文章专注于了解当代爱沙尼亚的军人配偶。理论考虑涉及军事文化和传奇世界。我们讨论了 14 次采访中出现的有关爱国主义、自我维持、选择自由和军人配偶身份的主要和有争议的叙述。占主导地位的叙事表现出对军事价值观的强烈坚持，尽管女性公开更认同平民世界。有争议的叙述表明对家庭福祉有不利影响。

总而言之，爱沙尼亚需要就发现自己处于平民和军队两个世界的边缘的军人家属进行公开讨论。军民界军人配偶自我定位的模糊性需要得到承认和进一步的概念化。