The Concept of Being Scandinavian-American
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10892797 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jørn Brøndal (0000-0001-9089-0382, corresponding author), Dag Blanck (University of Southern Denmark) |
| Year | 2002 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 1-31 |
| Publication date | 2002-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Studies in Scandinavia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0044-8060 • E-ISSN: 0044-8060 |
| Publisher | Copenhagen Business School (PUBLISHER • DK) |
| DOI | 10.22439/asca.v34i2.4397 |
| OpenAlex | W2993459171 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
In 1878 O.L. Kirkeberg, a Norwegian-born pastor working primarily among Danish-American congregations, stopped over in Salina, Kansas, on his way to the settlement of Denmark further out west.Asking a local hotelkeeper whether he knew of any Scandinavians in town, the latter answered in the affirmative.Kirkeberg then wanted to know whether there were any Danes among them, or Norwegians, or Swedes?"No," answered the hotel.keeper,"There don't seem to be representatives of those nationalities, most are Scandinavians."'The episode is interesting because it highlights the terms on which Scandinavian Ameiicans met native-born white Americans in the United States in the late nineteenth century.To the presumably Yankee hotelkeeper, people of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish origin were at most Scandi navians -that term represented his high point of ethnic sophistication -he could not go beyond that level and talk meaningfully about Danes, Norwegians and Swedes.To Kirkeberg, on the other hand, the Scandinavian label represented the lowest conunon ethnic denominator.To him undoubtedly it made even more sense to speak about Danes, Norwegians and Swedes.Indeed, by the second half of the nineteenth century, to many Scandinavian immigrants, even their nationality was only just beginning to take on meaning.Many of them remained steeped in cultural traditions that were rooted in landscapes and even parishes rather than nation states. 2
Genealogy · European and International Law Studies · History
| Citations per year | 0.33 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Highly cited | No |