Ethnicity on Parade: Inventing the Norwegian American Through CelebrationWhy do people at certain historical moments choose to define themselves in terms of their ethnicity? What concrete concerns are embedded in such identification? What does the creation of this identity mean in the larger context of history and social relationships? These are some of the questions April R. Schultz addresses in this interdisciplinary study of the way in which ethnic identity has been shaped and expressed in American culture. Drawing on the work of historians, anthropologists, literary critics, and cultural theorists, Schultz analyzes one national celebration - the 1925 Norwegian-American Immigration Centennial - as a strategic site for the invention of ethnicity. She shows how Norwegian Americans used this ceremony to create a distinctive vision of their past and present - a social and cultural construction that both accommodated and resisted dominant Anglo-American conceptions of assimilation. By taking a close look at the experiences of a white, middle-class, Protestant ethnic community, this book challenges many assumptions about the "Americanization" of immigrant groups and offers new insight into the uses of historical memory. |
Other editions - View all
Ethnicity on Parade: Inventing the Norwegian American Through Celebration April R. Schultz No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
according activity American culture argued assimilation Association audience became become better Bothne called celebration century Challenged church Cities civic claim committee complex connection construction context continued contributions created debates demonstrate dominant early efforts ended essay ethnic evidence example exhibits experience festival followed heritage historians ideals identity immigrants important institutions interest invention issues land language larger linked living Lovoll meaning memory Minneapolis Minnesota movement narrative nationalism nativism nature Norse Norse-American Centennial Papers Norway Norwegian Norwegian-American noted organizers pageant participants particularly past patriotism period pioneer points politics position powerful present President Press progressive Quoted radical recent reference religious rhetoric Rolvaag romantic scene sense served signified social society specific speech story struggle supported symbolic threat tion traditions United University Press values Viking vision wegian women World wrote York