As Legend Has It: History, Heritage, and the Construction of Swedish American Identity
As Legend Has It: History, Heritage, and the Construction of Swedish American Identity
by Jennifer Eastman Attebery
University of Wisconsin Press, 2023
ISBNs
Cloth: 978-0-299-34470-2
eISBN: 978-0-299-34473-3 (PDF)
About the Book
Spanning more than 100 years of Swedish American local history in the Midwest and the West, Jennifer Eastman Attebery’s thorough examination of nearly 300 historical legends explores how Swedish Americans employ these narratives in creating, debating, and maintaining group identity. She demonstrates that historical legends can help us better understand how immigrant groups in general, and Swedish Americans in particular, construct and perpetuate a sense of ethnicity as broader notions of nationality, race, and heritage shift over time.
The legends Swedish Americans tell about their past are both similar to and distinct from those of others who migrated westward; they participated in settler colonialism while maintaining a sense of their specific, Swedish ethnicity. Unlike racial minority groups, Swedish Americans could claim membership in a majority white community without abandoning their cultural heritage. Their legends and local histories reflect that positioning. Attebery reveals how Swedish American legends are embedded within local history writing, how ostension and rhetoric operate in historical legends, and how vernacular local history writing works in tandem with historical legends to create a common message about a communal past. This impeccably researched study points to ways in which legends about the past possess qualities unique to their subgenre yet can also operate similarly to contemporary legends in their social impact.
The legends Swedish Americans tell about their past are both similar to and distinct from those of others who migrated westward; they participated in settler colonialism while maintaining a sense of their specific, Swedish ethnicity. Unlike racial minority groups, Swedish Americans could claim membership in a majority white community without abandoning their cultural heritage. Their legends and local histories reflect that positioning. Attebery reveals how Swedish American legends are embedded within local history writing, how ostension and rhetoric operate in historical legends, and how vernacular local history writing works in tandem with historical legends to create a common message about a communal past. This impeccably researched study points to ways in which legends about the past possess qualities unique to their subgenre yet can also operate similarly to contemporary legends in their social impact.
About the Author
A study of identity construction through historical legend
Reviews
Winner, Wayland D Hand Prize
— American Folklore Society“Meticulous. . . . Contributes significantly to a better understanding of the role of legend in local histories as part of the more comprehensive identity construction and heritage preservation among Swedish Americans.”
— Journal of American Folklore“An important book. . . . It’s a welcome addition to have a book that can be a model and reference for studies of local history writings, oral history, and family traditions. . . . Rather than getting stuck on questions of veracity, this shifts the focus to values and identities.”
— Alf Arvidsson’s blog
Tags
Swedish Americans, Local history, Folklore, Folklore & Mythology, 20th Century, Cultural & Ethnic Studies, United States, Social Science, History
Open Access Information
Label: Path to Open
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
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