Cultural Heritage, the Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others1

Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others Cultural Heritage, as the 1970s, Swedes regarded them- the Swedish Folklife Sphere, selves as exceedingly homogeneous with 1 respect to culture, religion, and language. and the Others However, it has become increasingly dif- ficult to maintain such a self-image: dur- Barbro Klein ing the past twenty or thirty years Swe- den has received refugees and immi- Swedish Collegium for grants from all over the globe to such an Advanced Studies (SCAS) extent that now almost one fourth of the Uppsala, Sweden 9 million inhabitants were born outside the country or are children of recent ar- rivals from afar. e are in the midst of a global On the next few pages I will discuss "cult of heritage," asserts the rise of the Swedish word for cultural English geographer, historian W heritage, kulturarv, in a fairly long histori- and professor of heritage studies, David cal perspective. I will concentrate on an Lowenthal (1998, 1–30). Indeed, cultural area of public culture that might be called heritage (or simply heritage) and its the "sphere of the vernacular" or the many equivalents or near equivalents, "folklife sphere" (Klein 2000a). Included such as kulturarv (Swedish, Danish, Nor- in this sphere are a variety of "folk" mu- wegian), Erbgut (German), patrimoine seums and "folk" disciplines, such as and héritage culturel (French), folklore, folklife studies, and ethnology, menningararfur (Icelandic), turath (Ara- and such activities and phenomena as bic), and the recent Chinese coinage the homecraft and folk music move- wenhua yichan, are becoming increas- ments. I will pay particular attention to ingly dominant in cultural politics the the relationship between kulturarv and a world over. This happens at the same few other terms and ideas, notably "folk," time as people and ideas circulate at an compounds with "folk," and "cultural unprecedented pace, as many countries difference." For the sake of concentration, are receiving more refugees and mi- the discussion will be linked to the Nor- grants than ever before, and as more and dic Museum in Stockholm and to the more minorities and indigenous peoples scholarly disciplines that evolved out of are vying for self-determination. In what the concerns of this museum. way is the ascendancy of cultural heritage as term and phenomenon linked to In some ways, this paper can be read the ascendancy of intense multicultural as an historical review of a cluster of con- co-existence? How is the heritage of vari- cepts in relationship to ideological, po- ous ethnic Others to be understood in litical, and social changes. To some read- relationship to that which is regarded as ers the discussion might seem to be Our Own? These questions are unre- mostly a disciplinary history touching on solved and controversial in many coun- well-known as well as less well-known tries, not least in the one which is at the ideas. Yet, in a broad sense, this text is an center of this paper: Sweden. As recently attempt to enter the field of conceptual Cultural Analysis 5 (2006): 57-80 ©2006 by The University of California. All rights reserved 57 Barbro Klein history and to address the question of period of immense societal transforma- how a term emerges and how this emer- tions: agricultural restructuring, popula- gence affects other ideas, phenomena, tion increase, urbanization, industrializa- and concepts (Koselleck 2002). In a still tion, crop failures, emigration, workers' broader sense, this article is concerned movements, temperance movements, with cultural politics. I wish to point to struggles to achieve universal suffrage, some of the forms of political activism and new communication technologies and social planning in which the Swed- such as the railroad and the telegraph. ish folklife sphere has been involved ever This was also a time when new schol- since its appearance and to point to some arly disciplines were created; some of of the forms at issue during the current them, such as art history, archeology, ascendancy of cultural heritage. natural history, and ethnography, evolved in part because of the needs of A Grammar of Forms to Glorify the the museums. Both the museums and Fatherland2 the disciplines were established to serve the nation-states and their moderniza- As early as the 1600s, at the height of its tion. But the nation-states were no is- imperialist ambitions, Sweden instituted lands. Rather, museums and other schol- legislation aimed to protect its monu- arly and scientific establishments were ments, churches, and other remains and developed in a spirit of international co- traditions. The ultimate goal was to glo- operation and competition. To "have" rify the royalty and the nation-state and, culture "was one of the main duties of a in 1666, the Antikvitetskollegium ("Board modern state" (Beckman 1998, 17) and of Antiquities") received the task to the cultural achievements of nations search all around the kingdom to find were repeatedly compared in interna- (upspana) and preserve not only material tional congresses and world's fairs. antiquities but also orally performed leg- ends and ballads. As time went on, these Artur Hazelius (1833–1901) was one ambitions were modified and, during the of several learned and enthusiastic mu- 1700s, the official interest turned to seum founders and system builders. As searching out and describing that which a young man he wrote a doctoral disser- was economically useful for the country; tation on Old Norse literature and, in in particular, Linnaeus' explorations and 1873, he founded the Scandinavian-Eth- travelogues contributed to a new sense nographic Collection, which in 1880 was of discovery of the land. renamed the Nordic Museum (Nordiska museet). At the beginning, it was by no The second half of the 1800s consti- means clear what kinds of materials were tuted yet another era with a heightened to be emphasized: skulls and craniums interest in locating and protecting the were among the possibilities. Eventually, cultural achievements of the nation. But it was decided that the Nordic Museum now the conditions were vastly differ- was to concentrate on the cultural his- ent from what they had been before. In tory (kulturhistoria) of Sweden.3 All so- Sweden as well as elsewhere, this was a cial classes, groups, and geographical 58 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others regions were to be represented: the no- tained. To teach all Swedes to "know bility, the urban bourgeoisie, the trades- themselves" was the great task of the people, the exotic Saami, and the peas- museum, and Hazelius pronounced the antry (the growing numbers of urban/ spiritual and material traditions of the industrial workers were not considered peasantry as the base upon which the as possibilities). Thus, in a broad sense, future cultural repertoires and moral Hazelius was involved in a multicultural standards of the nation were to rest. To experiment. Yet, in actuality, he gave pri- that end, he and his collaborators en- ority to varieties of peasant (allmoge) or gaged in a massive harvesting of peas- rural culture. Initially, this priority met ant material culture and traditions. with resistance from official quarters, but But peasant creations could not be Hazelius prevailed and, in 1891, when exhibited in an urban public sphere in the open-air museum, Skansen, wel- their pristine condition. They had to be comed its first visitors, the emphasis on made pleasing, aesthetically and morally, the peasantry was evident.4 Placed on a to suit refined tastes and discriminating hilly area of Stockholm, not far from the audiences. The shaping of a beautified spot where a new and grand Nordic repertoire of peasant traditions was part Museum building was to be built, of a reform project to educate all citizens, Skansen was organized as a miniature to make them better, more ready to be- of Sweden containing animals, houses, come moderns (Eriksen 1993). What took people, and industry typical of most of place was simultaneously an act of pres- the provinces from north to south.5 ervation and modernization. Historians, The emphasis on peasant culture was, artists, crafts enthusiasts, and others par- of course, entirely in keeping with Ro- ticipated in the massive efforts to study, mantic Nationalism and with Hazelius' preserve, exhibit, celebrate, present, own fascination with peasant customs beautify, promote, or sell the most aes- and, in particular, with peasant cos- thetically pleasing of the costumes, tools, tumes. This emphasis became even more furniture, and other arts of the country pronounced during the first years of the folk. 1900s through the influence of one of the In the context of this article, two as- few academically trained employees at pects of the activities are of particular the museum, Nils-Edward Hammar- interest. One is the terms that were used. stedt (Hammarlund-Larsson 2004, 33). For example, while Hazelius and his col- To him, to Hazelius, and to others, a na- laborators frequently emphasized that tion was "naturally grown" and the peas- the new museum was concerned with ants were closer to its spirit, soul, and kulturhistoria (cultural history), I have soil than other social classes. Hazelius found no instances in which they used thought that if he could open the eyes of kulturarv. The word did exist, however. all Swedes—particularly the urban It is said that Victor Rydberg, a celebrated middle classes—to the beautiful sides of novelist who also called himself a "cul- peasant life, their feelings for the father- tural historian," introduced it into Swed- land would be awakened and main- ish in 1883 (SAOB 1939-; Svensson 2003). 59 Barbro Klein Hazelius often spoke about arvet (the in- thought that preservation was their only heritance) from our fathers but not about goal.

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