<<

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, 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 in 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 heri- tage 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 . 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 (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 (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, , 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. Most of them also emphasized that kulturarv. Nor did he use folk or com- they wished to create something new on pounds with folk (such as folkvisa or the basis of inspiration from peasant cul- folksaga) nearly as frequently as schol- ture, something that was modern in ars tend to assume.6 He preferred such spirit and would appeal to contemporary words as allmoge (peasantry) or bönder middle-class buyers or readers. Nor did (farmers). Above all, he and his col- reformers such as Lilli Zickerman, the leagues did not debate or theorize the forceful creator of the Swedish homecraft folk or folk compounds. Indeed, "folklife movement (hemslöjdsrörelsen), romanti- research" had not yet been invented. cize the peasants; rather, the peasants Nevertheless, one might speak about the had to be taught to recover some of their last few decades of the 19th century as a forgotten skills to suit a new era (Klein period when an inchoate folklife sphere 2000b). was being shaped, i.e. a sphere in which But it was not only Dalarna and other facets of the life of peasant farmers were favored regions that were given priority drawn into a bourgeois public sphere in the selection processes. Included in the (Klein 2000a). canonized cultural history were also the Another aspect of particular interest cultural expressions of the country's here is cultural difference. It is important most exotic group, the Saami (until the to emphasize that Hazelius and other latter half of the 20th century, referred to intellectuals did not aim to erase such as Lapps) who had long played an im- differences, when they made peasant portant role as Sweden's conquered ex- culture part of a public sphere. On the otic Others. When Skansen opened in contrary, they were eager to select and 1891, the Saami were represented with a celebrate the best and the most original camp of their own, complete with rein- local and regional traditions. Of all the deer; that camp is still there.8 However, regions, Dalarna became the most valo- the culture of other minorities was not rized. Since the Reformation, the peas- similarly exhibited.9 The nomadic Roma antry of Dalarna, had played a special (or Gypsies) were largely excluded, even role in Swedish legendary history and though a gypsy-camp was temporarily now artists, composers, art school teach- arranged at Skansen in 1904. But the ers, economic reformers, literary lumi- Roma were considered too foreign to re- naries, and other intellectuals moved ceive a permanent space there and they there in unprecedented numbers, were long excluded from most public thereby aiding Hazelius in his mission. arenas. Until the end of the 20th century, The midsummer celebrations, costumes, Jews and Jewish culture were, by and houses, and paintings of the region were large, also surrounded by silence in the selected and transferred to Skansen, folklife sphere (Klein 2004). And, as where they were highlighted as the best noted, industrial or urban workers were that Sweden had to offer.7 But neither largely excluded from this sphere until Hazelius nor the artists and intellectuals at least the 1930s.

60 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

In spite of the many exclusions and peoples, albeit in different ways. Despite silences, Hazelius and his collaborators historical differences, different countries performed a bit of magic. They assured have followed, and continue to follow, a Swedes that they aimed to give them a "grammar" of customs and traditions sense of cultural wholeness at the same similar to the one that was shaped in time as they would preserve provincial Sweden.10 With Orvar Löfgren (1993) we customs and dialects. In other words, could perhaps speak about a "tool-kit" maintaining difference was simulta- of symbols. All countries need costumes, neously an act of unification. At Skansen dances, tunes, celebrations, stories, and regional diversity stood out as a mosaic festivals, just as much as they need flags, of differences, enclosed into one unit and national anthems, automobile compa- surrounded by a high fence. These efforts nies, weather systems, and ancient to produce unity out of diverse rural tra- monuments. If they do not have them, ditions became the basis for the devel- they had better make them up. opment of a special cultural repertoire with a distinct "feeling tone" or "struc- The Folk Home, Folklife Research, and ture of feeling" (Williams 1984, 64–88). Cultural Analysis And to this repertoire—easily recognized The tool-kit or grammar also furnished by all insiders—were gradually added the basic genres of phenomena that were other phenomena so that diverse peas- studied within the new scholarly disci- ant traditions came to coexist with flags, pline called "Nordic and Comparative selected literary works, archeological re- Folklife Research" (Nordisk och jämförande mains, and many other phenomena. folklivsforskning). Although the name was With much help from the mass media, coined as early as 1909 (Hultkrantz 1960, Swedes have continued to add pieces to 133), the discipline as such can be said to their national repertoire. It is remarkable have been founded in 1918, when the that this conglomerate of add-ons and Nordic Museum, thanks to a private re-dos continues to produce such deep donation, instituted a professorship in feelings: tears of joyful recognition as the field. In other words, the discipline well as ironic jokes (cf. Billig 1995). To was created because the museum some Swedes this repertoire is not only needed researchers who could study the silly and embarrassing but also a sign of now vast collections of artifacts and texts. murky chauvinism. But to many others The first holder of the new position was it continues to play a powerful role, not Nils Lithberg, but it was in 1934, when least in providing logos for the tourist Sigurd Erixon—the future giant of Swed- industry and symbols of Swedish busi- ish folklife research—was invited to hold ness around the globe, i.e. in "branding" the position, that the discipline and the the country (cf. McCrone, Morris, and two museums established themselves as Kiely 1995). true forces in the Swedish academic and In a still broader perspective, we are political landscape. This was done in speaking about a complex (and still par- ways that differed considerably from tially unwritten) chapter in the history Hazelius' vision.11 of modernity, a chapter that involves all

61 Barbro Klein

However, while kulturhistoria contin- home." As Bo G. Nilsson (2004) observes ued to be an important word, neither in an important essay, the period from Sigurd Erixon nor any of the other emi- 1930–1970 constituted the Swedish "folk nent scholars of his cohort or slightly era," not only in terms of governmental younger than him—such as Sigfrid politics as a whole, but also insofar as Svensson—used kulturarv. The word was Sigurd Erixon and his successor, Mats not banned from their vocabularies, but Rehnberg, placed the discipline of it was seldom used and, above all, not a folklife research in the service of state subject of conceptual debates. Instead, social planning. Both Erixon and the important words to them were tra- Rehnberg were members of various dition, culture and, in particular, folk and planning committees and, for a while, various compounds with folk. In fact, the Erixon collaborated with Alva Myrdal word "folk" was used and debated much who along with her husband, eminent more at this time than during Hazelius' economist Gunnar Myrdal, was one of lifetime. To some extent, its prominence the architects of the Swedish welfare from the 1920s through the1950s was state.12 It was during Erixon's era that a doubtless the result of influence from true "folklife sphere" can be said to have German museums and German scholar- flourished. ship. Not all the inspiration came from Erixon argued that folklife research Germany, however. Erixon and his fol- offers "the kind of information in sup- lowers also studied British social anthro- port of the building of a democratic so- pology, North American cultural anthro- ciety that cannot otherwise be had" pology, and sociology. (Nilsson 2004, 75). Folklife research was In particular, the new discipline of not to be conducted for its own sake; sociology came to have a strong impact rather, researchers were to help the plan- on Erixon and some of his students. As a ners of a modern society to avoid mis- field, sociology was concerned with so- takes committed in the past, for example cial planning, a political activity in which during the break-up of traditional vil- Erixon, along with many other academ- lages. Where modern planners ignored ics, was involved during the 1930s and "the human factor," folklife scholars after World War II. This social planning could step in to fill the gaps. To Erixon was part of a monumental effort to cre- and his colleagues, the first task of the ate a welfare state or a folkhem ("folk folklife scholars at the Nordic Museum home") to use the phrase once proposed was to investigate the life of rural and by radical conservatives in their efforts urban common people during the ap- to unite Swedes, a phrase which, in 1928, proximately 200 years preceding their became a powerful metaphor for the ef- own time; the scholars were to strive to forts of a succession of Social Democratic reach back to "the oldest structure of the governments (Wittrock 2004, 56). And so, contemporary period" (Nilsson 2004, 71). the "folk" discipline, "Nordic and Com- In particular, the immense documenta- parative Folklife Research" went hand in tion of traditional housing and village hand with the shaping of a modern "folk structures undertaken by Erixon and his

62 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

collaborators was potentially highly use- tuted a peak period for the idea that ful when new housing was to be built Swedes were extraordinarily homoge- for all the members of the rural prole- neous. For example, in 1953, a widely tariat who had migrated to the cities in distributed encyclopedia unabashedly search of jobs. stated that the Swedish population "with In order to further increase the sup- regards to race, language, and religion, ply of knowledge, Sigurd Erixon (to- is more homogeneous than the popula- gether with Gösta Berg and Sigfrid tion of most other countries" (Bonniers Svensson) began, in 1928, to send out Folklexikon 1951–1953). open-ended questionnaires to a network The Social Democratic planning ide- of respondents all over Sweden, an ac- ology during the 1930s–1950s had given tivity for which he had obtained substan- folklife researchers and employees in tial state funding.13 In the 1940s and cultural historical museums a special role 1950s, Rehnberg, in collaboration with in social planning. Yet, a few years later different unions, followed up this effort another scholar was to give folklife re- by distributing questionnaires to urban search an even more pronounced role in and industrial workers. His and Erixon's these activities: Åke Daun. He achieved efforts inaugurated an increasing accep- great visibility as an often highly critical tance of working class life into the folklife member of governmental committees sphere and Erixon further contributed to and as a media personality. His influence this with a book he wrote on harbor was considerable during the late 1960s workers of Stockholm (Erixon 1949). Yet, through the early 1980s, when he was the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie con- involved with community planning and tinued to have a presence at the Nordic housing policies. But where Erixon had Museum, not least due to the work of argued that folklife scholars were useful art historians, such as Sigurd Wallin. because of their familiarity with the Thus, in a limited sense, the "upper housing traditions of the past, Daun classes" were included in the folklife maintained that they were useful be- sphere. cause of their understanding of contem- Yet, in the actual investigations, peas- porary social life. ant material culture before the "structural Inspired by Fredrik Barth, Daun fash- transformations" of the 20th century re- ioned a new kind of "anthropological" mained the most important topic of folklife research.14 To him and his follow- folklife research. With the exception of ers the "folk" terminology was detrimen- research devoted to traditional Saami tal to the development of an academic culture and a few investigations of the discipline. He worked hard to eliminate conditions of Roma and travelers—con- it and was in favor of the name change ducted with the aim to further their as- at all Swedish universities during 1971– similation into Swedish life—little was 1972, when Folklife Research became written by folklife scholars about "eth- European Ethnology or (in daily par- nic" diversity in customs and traditions. lance) Ethnology. Yet, at this very time, Indeed, the 1950s seem to have consti- "folk" and folk cultural research under-

63 Barbro Klein

went an unexpected popular renais- tional Romanticism and to cultural his- sance. Folk music, "back to rural life" torical museums, was a heavy burden to movements, and leftist radical move- be shed. ments stood at their height and univer- However at Lund University, the seat sity courses in folkloristics attracted great of the second major Swedish department numbers of students. However, the em- of Folklife Research/European Ethnol- phasis in these courses remained histori- ogy, the situation was different. Here cal; it was primarily rural traditions of Sigfrid Svensson (who had once worked the past that were taught. Nevertheless at the Nordic Museum with Sigurd the meaning of the word "folk" had Erixon) and his successor, Nils-Arvid changed. It now referred not only to Bringéus, continued to emphasize the peasant culture but, even more, to the rural culture of the past and its links to culture of the industrial proletariat, i.e. the present. But at the same time, the the children of the once impoverished concept of culture was increasingly in rural dwellers who had moved to the focus. It was "culture" that was debated cities or emigrated a few decades earlier. in Lund in the 1970s, not the "folk" or However, the young radicals of the 1970s "tradition," and certainly not "cultural who studied folklore (in the sense of oral heritage." This is true of Bringéus' influ- traditions) and sympathized with a ential introductory textbook, Människan "folk" did not really include studies of som kulturvarelse ("Man as cultural be- minorities and ethnic groups in their vi- ing"), first published in 1976 and reissued sion. And while some had begun taking many times. And culture is even more an interest in the situation of new immi- in focus in a seminal book by Jonas grants, this interest seldom included cus- Frykman and Orvar Löfgren (1979), toms or oral traditions. Nor did the translated into English as Culture Build- young radicals contemplate a broaden- ers. A Historical Anthropology of Middle ing of the concept of the folk to encom- Class Life (1986). Spirited and full of ideas, pass "us all," i.e. the kind of broadening this book combines British anthropologi- that Alan Dundes (1965) introduced in cal structuralism, the thinking of Norbert the United States. Elias, and of sociologists such as Rich- Furthermore, and not surprisingly, ard Sennett into an entirely fresh mix- the term kulturarv was hardly ever used ture; the book inaugurated a special by ethnologists. In Daun's opinion, eth- Swedish ethnological brand of cultural nologists were not at all in the business analysis in which the works of Clifford of "preserving and presenting," neither Geertz were also central (see also Ehn folk culture nor any other kind of cul- and Löfgren 1982). ture of the past or the present. In his view, The new kind of cultural analysis be- the task of ethnologists was to describe came more influential among young contemporary social life in order to bring scholars than Daun's emphasis on social about political changes. To him and to planning, not least because of Billy Ehn's those influenced by him, the past history inspired field investigations of daily life of the field, in particular its links to Na- in medical companies, day-care centers,

64 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

and other places of work (Ehn 1981, to preserve and present 400 years of 1983). "Cultural analysis" was in prin- Swedish cultural history and simulta- ciple not adverse to museum work or neously make room on its agenda to in- studies of cultural history. But even so, clude the culture of immigrant groups the proponents of ethnological "cultural and the cultural mixtures that were be- analysis" of the 1980s and early 1990s ing shaped in Sweden. The task did not clearly distanced themselves from "the become easier when, in 1995, the cultural old folklife research" and its emphasis on historical museums—like all other pub- the material traditions of what was of- lic institutions—were given an official ten ironically called "the old peasant so- "diversity mandate" (mångfaldsuppdrag) ciety" (det gamla bondesamhället). (Högdahl 2004; Högdahl and Svensson Furthermore, the term kulturarv 2004) and were enjoined by the govern- played no role in the cultural analysis ment to take into account in all their ac- developed by young ethnologists; if it tivities that Sweden is now multicultural. was used at all, it was in an unmarked To make things even more difficult, the sense. And in many ways, these attitudes museums received little support from prevailed through most of the 1990s: the the ethnologists with whom they were ties between the discipline of ethnology historically linked. Rather, there was sus- and the cultural historical museums picion on both sides, and the Nordic were brittle. At the same time, many eth- Museum, (along with other cultural his- nologists became actively concerned torical museums) had to look elsewhere with studying the migrations that within for inspiration. Its old research ally—an a few years had transformed Sweden ally that the museum itself had into an intensely multilingual and spawned—was no longer a trustworthy multicultural country. Yet, few if any of partner. these ethnological studies concerned cultural history, folklore, or material cul- Cultural Heritage Ascendant ture of the kind that Hazelius and, to a It was in this atmosphere that the terms great extent, Erixon too had placed at the kulturarv (cultural heritage) and center of their work. This was also true kulturarvsskapande (heritage-making) of the studies of immigration and the made an entrance. Undoubtedly, the multicultural society conducted within impetus came from the use of "cultural sociology, anthropology, history, politi- heritage" in English speaking discourses, cal science, and other fields. Research a use that began with UNESCOs heri- efforts concentrated on employment, tage initiatives after the Second World education, and health care, not on the War and increased during the 1970s and arts, traditions and cultural history— 1980s.15 In some ways, it could be said vernacular or otherwise—of the new ar- that the Nordic Museum and Swedish rivals. folklife scholars had been in the business At the same time, a cultural histori- of heritage-making all along, as had the cal museum, such as the Nordic Mu- antiquarians in the 1600s. But, as repeat- seum, was struggling to maintain its task edly emphasized on these pages, these

65 Barbro Klein

earlier efforts were not discussed in it is taken for granted that all human terms of kulturarv. While the term had beings have a right to their own cultural occasionally figured as early as the heritage. In other words, cultural heri- 1970s—together with kulturminne ("cul- tage and cultural diversity are deeply tural memory") and kulturmiljövård ("care linked to one another. If in the year 1900 for the cultural environment")—in texts all nation-states had to have Culture, in produced by the Department of Culture 2000 all human beings have to have a and the Board of National Antiquities Cultural Heritage.16 Heritage has swiftly (Riksantikvarieämbetet), it was rarely used become the valorized term for all the within the cultural historical museums, "threatened facets of the world" (Hufford the discipline of ethnology, or other dis- 1994, 4) deemed worthy to be selected courses until the middle of the 1990s. For for preservation, protection, and presen- example, it is not included in the com- tation in public arenas (cf. Klein 1997, 19). prehensive national encyclopedia In theory, at a given present all individu- (Nationalencyklopedin) that was launched als can select their own heritage. In Swe- in 1993. Then in 1994 and 1995 kulturarv den, as well as elsewhere, heritage is "a appeared as a (fuzzily defined) key con- new mode of cultural production in the cept in government bills concerning cul- present that has recourse to the past" tural politics (Bohman 1997, 40), the very (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 1998, 149, cf. same bills in which museums were given 2004). These new forms of cultural pro- the "diversity mandate" mentioned duction are often linked to powerful above. Not long afterwards, kulturarv emotions and values. was everywhere and it was used about But why is the term so attractive at a variety of phenomena deemed worthy this point in time? The explanations are of preservation, not only archeological legion (Bendix 2000; Lowenthal 1998). remains and historical sites: children's Undoubtedly, one factor is the rise of in- jokes, Swedish jazz, the literary classics. terest in history, historical memory, and Indeed, kulturarv was speedily adopted "roots," an interest that has different ideo- by all kinds of people, not least by mem- logical parameters in different parts of bers of parliament and the government, the world.17 But this explanation is re- to describe some of the most positive and lated to a host of others. Let me point to morally praiseworthy forms of social two of them. One can be called the cata- action in a democratic society. In 1998, log of the ills of late modernity. In an era the Riksantikvarieämbetet changed its of seemingly incessant destruction of official translation into English from the past ways of life, an era of increasingly Central Board of National Antiquities speedy mobility of humans across the into the National Heritage Board. earth, an era of global greed in which In Sweden, as well as in other coun- nature and culture are targets of endless tries, kulturarv is now increasingly spo- exploitation, efforts to preserve the natu- ken about in terms of human rights and ral and cultural heritage are seen as sustainable cultural development (cf. moral imperatives. To be engaged in the Hafstein 2004; Turtinen 2006). Suddenly, preservation of nature and culture is a

66 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

form of political action necessary to pro- less formalized institutes and programs tect life in the future. In that sense, cul- are being discussed in a number of con- tural heritage and heritage-making stand texts (cf. Bolin 2001). And, impercepti- for something normative and binding. bly, in such a way that, at first, nobody A second set of explanations for the seems to have noticed, kulturarv crept attractiveness of cultural heritage is into the cultural historical museums as linked to the first, not least in terms of well. Employees at the Nordic Museum economics. I am speaking about tourism. discovered that the term very well de- Many of the most precious heritage scribes what they had been doing all forms and practices could not survive along. Suddenly, it seemed self-evident without the growth of tourism, increas- to use the word and no real discussions ingly one of the world's most profitable regarding its meanings appeared to be industries. As Barbara Kirshenblatt- necessary. Museum curators now seem Gimblett (1998) reminds us, heritage and to find it self-evident that museums of tourism depend upon one another in cre- cultural history work to discover, select, ating "high density" heritage geogra- protect, and preserve cultural heritage phies and spots to visit or live near: mu- and that they do so to serve democracy. seum rows, eco-museums, world heri- Furthermore, kulturarv is now increas- tage areas, nature reservations. And ingly used by many university-based thanks to all these heritage geographies ethnologists who not so long ago denied and other commercial enterprises people that their field had anything at all to do are able to enter creative dialogues or "in- with efforts to preserve and present cul- volvements" (Lowenthal 1998, 250) with ture or with any other activities tainted their own past or the pasts of others the with the worst aspects of "the old folklife world over. In a liberal market economy, research." Even the long marginalized a symbiosis has developed between cul- study of folklore (in the sense of oral tra- tural preservation, entertainment, and ditions) has now, almost unquestionably, money-making, a symbiosis that builds been absorbed into the study of cultural on processes began long ago by such heritage, which in this context is re- museum founders as Artur Hazelius and garded a component within "cultural takes these processes to ends of which history," a field that is making a victori- he and his contemporaries could not ous comeback, and not only in Swedish have dreamed. academe (cf. Burke 2004).18 To some This leads us back to the current Swedish ethnologists, it now appears popularity in Sweden of the term that cultural heritage combines the best kulturarv. At this point in time the word aspects of ethnological cultural analysis is often used where, not long ago, kultur and the study of cultural history. alone would have sufficed. New profes- The increasing acceptance of kulturarv sorships in kulturarvsvetenskap (heritage within Swedish ethnology also has other studies) have been instituted at dimensions. One has to do with the Linköping University, in some respects discipline's entanglement with political following a British model, and more or action and social planning. In particular

67 Barbro Klein

as a result of Daun's work during the American folkloristics turned everybody 1970s and 1980s, folklife research/eth- into the "folk." But in European countries, nology developed an ongoing tension including Sweden, a semantic shift of between museum work and cultural that sort never occurred and could not preservation, on the one hand, which occur. Six decades after the Second World were regarded as non-political activities, War, the "folk" has increasingly become and social analysis and social planning, a burden, even though this has not been on the other hand, which were regarded quite as clearly articulated in Sweden as as highly political activities. It seems to in Germany (cf. Bendix and Eggeling me that kulturarv is attractive because it 2004). Now, for more than many decades, dissolves this tension. The term high- the Nordic Museum emphasizes, in the lights the idea that protecting and pre- spirit of Hazelius, that it is a museum serving a vanishing past is just as praise- concerned with the kulturhistoria of all worthy a form of political action as is in- social strata, groups, and geographical volvement in the politics of housing, regions in Sweden. And now "all" poten- health, and primary education. A second tially includes recent immigrants. dimension is that the term is appealingly The ease with which kulturarv has broad in its implications. To study cul- been broadly accepted in Sweden indi- tural heritage is to study much more than cates that it says something important to "tradition," for example. Cultural heri- many. But it also appears that the term is tage involves places, concrete objects, on its way to become ideologically and and concretized memories preserved in politically charged in ways that may not archives. In that sense, the study of cul- have been foreseeable a few years ago. tural heritage speaks to current ethno- logical interests in places and place-mak- The Heritage Sector and the Others ing. Moreover, a number of phenomena can be included under the heading "cul- The large-scale immigration of the last tural heritage" but not under "tradition." few decades has had a profound effect You can hardly speak about the "Holo- on all aspects of Swedish life, on institu- caust tradition," but call it the "Holocaust tions, education, healthcare, and the la- heritage" and you have thereby indicated bor market. It has also changed the that the Holocaust has something to Swedish self-perception so that Swedes teach to humankind and to warn it now often say that not long ago they against. Heritage speaks to contempo- were exceedingly homogeneous cultur- ally, religiously, and linguistically but rary concerns and it is in this sense that it has moved in so easily also into the that this is no longer true.But, as was just folklife/ethnology sphere. What is miss- emphasized, it was not until the mid- ing so far is a broader conceptual debate. 1990s, that the government enjoined all cultural institutions, including that Furthermore, kulturarv makes more which is now called the "heritage sector," sense than folktradition and other "folk"- to take into consideration that the coun- compounds. In a post-"folk home" era, try is now "multicultural." How was this the term "folk" is a burden. As noted, to be done in the face of the idea of basic

68 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

homogeneity with which the sector had changing into a realization that it will lived for so long and in the face of the have new and important responsibilities. widespread feeling that the symbolic Still, one can wonder why the gov- repertoire shaped in the late 19th century ernment thinks it has to be involved in still stands for something basic and pro- promoting cultural diversity (cf. found? How was it to be done when so Beckman 1998). Granted, Sweden has a little research had been conducted on the long history of political planning of de- cultural aspects of the multicultural so- tails in everyday life, an activity that ciety? The unease was great. stood at its height during the social en- To meet the new political demands, gineering of the "folk home." All the the National Heritage Board inaugu- same, one might legitimately wonder rated in 1996, with governmental sup- why the government and its agencies port, a program entitled Agenda kulturarv believe that they have to be involved in (Agenda Cultural Heritage). This pro- actions to promote and protect that gram was designed to broaden the con- which is frequently called the culture of cerns of the sector, away from the strictly "the new Swedes." After all, at present, antiquarian and towards the multitude immigrants (as well as many others) cre- of forms of heritage-making in a cultur- ate a multitude of art forms and stage a ally diverse society. What quickly hap- variety of cultural activities without any pened within the program was an expan- intervention whatsoever from the gov- sion of the idea of "cultural diversity" to ernment or an Agenda kulturarv. Several include gender, generation, social class, accomplished authors who were born disability, and sexual orientation, not abroad create works in Swedish and only ethnic diversity. The new ideas were other languages, among them Theodor expressed in phrases such as the follow- Kalifatides (born in Greece), Mehmet ing, in which one of the architects of the Uhsun (born in Iraqi Kurdistan), and program writes that "the great social re- Rawia Morra (born in Palestine). Further- sponsibility with regards to history and more, immigrants in Sweden, as well as cultural heritage is to guarantee diver- elsewhere, create and perform a great sity and richness, knowledge and depth, many vernacular forms relating to their holism, and broadmindedness" past and present. Indeed, one can argue, (Lindvall 2002, 16). In other words, a as folklorists in North America have broadened notion of "cultural diversity" done for a long time, that traditional and a broadened notion of "cultural heri- songs, celebrations, and holiday foods tage" have now simultaneously become are so flexible and adjustable that they official ideologies. They have both be- can play a particularly important role in come governmental responsibilities; situations of migration and resettlement sometimes it is also stated that both are (Klein 2001). These forms are embodied essential to efforts to achieve "integra- and sensory: they live in gestures and tion." Agenda kulturarv has been rather color combinations, when people move successful insofar as the unease within together to the sound of familiar music, the heritage sector a few years ago is now or when the aroma of selected foods

69 Barbro Klein

wafts through the air. Through such re- produced in Modesto, California. Many peated expressions and performances, other forms of heritage are created or images of the past are "stored" in bodily maintained diasporically on the internet. memories (Connerton 1989) and trans- In fact, debates on the net suggest that ported across oceans. For people who creating heritage forms is sometimes have fled from one part of the world to more important than the realization of another, a lullaby or a dish of food can political hopes. incarnate a precious inheritance that Another example of heritage-making is must be preserved or reconstituted. As the so-called "Wednesday feast" or North American folklorists have repeat- charshanbé soori with which Iranians in Swe- edly observed, immigrants from far den conclude the old year and inaugurate away—sometimes even more than the celebration of the new. A highlight of people who have lived in one environ- the feast occurs when people jump over ment for generations—use vernacular little fires to cleanse themselves of the pol- expressive forms as special resources to lution they have accumulated during the debate, understand, or joke about their past year. Since the 1980s, many thousands lives. They use them to enter into dia- of Iranian-Swedes (and increasingly their logue with their history and their senses Swedish guests) have celebrated this event of themselves. Indeed, when people of on a big football field outside of Stockholm. the "second" generation no longer speak Many older immigrants from Iran assert the languages of their ancestors, dances, that a mass event of this kind does not take foods, festivals, and other forms that do place there—at least it did not when they not depend on language proficiency can grew up. Jumping over little fires was a tra- become especially important. dition linked to the family, the neighbor- Great varieties of cultural forms are hood, or the village. Since the 1979 revo- currently shaped among immigrants in lution in Iran, the tradition has officially Sweden. Many groups, such as Croatian- been frowned upon or forbidden as pre- Swedes and Ethiopian-Swedes, create muslim or Zoroastrian. But outside the their own more or less private museums country it has assumed importance as a in order to celebrate their history. It large-scale political protest against the would be an interesting task, indeed, to present regime (Klein 2001). Recently, compare these museums with those of there have been reports that charshanbé Croatian or Ethiopian immigrants in soori has turned into a ritual of political other countries. Many Swedish-born protest inside Iran as well. The develop- Assyrians (who are Christians and ment from village ritual in the old coun- whose parents have often fled from try, to a celebration of "our" heritage south-eastern Turkey or north-western among exiles, to a large political mani- Syria) have long been engaged in estab- festation among exiles around the world, lishing symbols of a new homeland, an and the return back to Iran as a political Assyrian nation. It is a homeland they manifestation is an intriguing example can visit primarily on the internet where of developments that can take place in a many of the Assyrian sites were long globalized world.

70 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

Yet, the research on symbolic events Sweden, one example being "The Art of such as this remains remarkably sparse Celebrating New Year Nine Times" at the in Sweden. The few scholars who call in 2002, in themselves folklorists often do not con- which Jewish, Sikh, Chinese, Hindu, sider themselves competent to work Muslim, and other forms of New Year's with "immigrant" materials and general celebrations in Sweden were appealingly ethnologists do not see themselves as stu- displayed. A comparable example is fur- dents of vernacular performances. For a nished by Skansen which, for many long time, some even stated that they years, has staged an annual costume wanted to be concerned with more im- parade. For a long time, the first to enter portant things, such as education, em- in the parade were people from differ- ployment, and health care, and not with ent Swedish regions whose costumes "culture's Sunday varnish" (kulturens were explained in elaborate terms. To- söndagsfernissa). Nevertheless, recently ward the end came "South African" cos- some museum professionals and other tumes or "Thai costumes" which were heritage workers are beginning to rec- sometimes barely commented on at all.19 ognize the significance of doing research Events such as these, i.e. parades of cul- in areas in which they have never before tures within a Swedish frame, are simi- been involved. A few recognize that the lar to the mosaic of diverse Swedish re- "creation of cultural heritage is a process gional customs once created by Hazelius that takes place all around in society and or the "immigrant parades" that have a not only through the activities of mu- long history in the United States (Eaton seum professionals" (Silvén 2004, 209). 1932; Bronner 1998, 414–423). Indeed, the Some museum professionals are eager basic idea is not unlike the "common- to conduct research on the cultural heri- wealth of cultures" within one frame tage of immigrant groups, because they (Hufford 1991) that is being created at think that through such research they can the Smithsonian Folklife Festival (for- help to combat xenophobia and foster merly the Festival of American Folklife), integration into Swedish society. staged annually on the Mall in Washing- A great deal has happened in Swed- ton, D.C. In the latter case, the aim is to ish museums in just a few years and, no include all kinds of peoples in a celebra- doubt, there are better solutions regard- tion of diversity within an American ing exhibitions and presentations of the heritage umbrella. The grammar has re- cultures of the Others today than there mained the same through decades and were some years ago (cf. Klein 2000a). centuries and despite cultural differ- Furthermore, ambitious exhibitions can ences. be expected at the new Museum of Still, as many scholars and museum World Culture that opened in Göteborg employees recognize, there are difficul- in December 2004. In the meantime, a ties with attempts to re-establish the old few recent exhibitions and events in grammar of genres (albeit in a new for- other museums have focused on the ritu- mat). There are difficulties involved, als and clothing of diverse groups in when colorful vernacular practices of

71 Barbro Klein

immigrant groups are to be exhibited litical establishment" or the "intelligen- and celebrated and made into heritage tsia." He suggests that a partial answer in such public arenas as cultural histori- to the question could be that "by includ- cal museums and when immigrant tra- ing the immigrant cultures in the muse- ditions are turned into components of the ums, the majority culture could also in- symbolic system of the new land. As clude them in … their own value hierar- anthropologist Mikael Kurkiala (2002) chies, thus making the display of cultural remarks, such ambitions can also be det- difference an expression of overarching rimental to the discussion of true differ- equality" (Rekdal 1999, 116; cf. Klein ences. "Diversity is celebrated, difference 2000a). There is a great deal to this ob- is shunned," he says, as a sort of "feel- servation and to the critique it implies. good" diversity is established. It seems Indeed, Rekdal's observations apply to to me that this has often been true within many of the processes of heritage-mak- the heritage sector. Indeed, given the ing in Sweden, Norway, and other coun- broadened understanding of cultural tries from Hazelius' era and onwards. diversity that is guiding a program such But, as Rekdal himself seems to recog- as Agenda kulturarv there is a risk that nize, the question is: what alternatives ethnic differences disappear among a are there? If people live in a new coun- multitude of diversities and identities try and become citizens of it, should they and are made invisible.20 The reason for not also be included in its public institu- the reluctance to single out ethnic differ- tions? It seems to me that inclusions and ence can be laudable: scholars or cura- invitations into the public sphere must tors wish to avoid stereotyping, take priority over exclusions and si- "culturalizing" or exoticizing the Others. lences. This does not mean that muse- Yet, the upshot can also be that other ums or other institutions should impose cultures, religions and languages stand upon immigrants (or anyone else) forms out as something disagreeable that of representation that they do not want. should be avoided. In this context, we Rather it means that immigrants—just can find many examples of the observa- like other citizens—are to be given an tion that heritage processes can trivialize, opportunity to be included in the cultural debase, ignore, or simplify difficult issues political efforts of their new country, if (Bendix 2000; Ronström 2001). that is their wish. After all, both Norway In a provocative article published in and Sweden say that they are willing to 1999, Per Rekdal of the University Eth- protect the cultural heritage of all as long nographic Museum in Oslo wonders as it does not infringe upon the rights of why it is important to the government others. The questions involved here are in a country such as Norway that muse- fraught with difficulties and balance be- ums include immigrant cultures. After tween exclusion on the one hand and all, says Rekdal, the desire to be included forced inclusion on the other. in a cultural historical or ethnographic Perhaps some of the difficulties will museum often does not come from im- be resolved when immigrants and their migrants themselves but from "the po- descendants themselves become in-

72 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

volved in the Swedish heritage sector, the recognized Others in a harmonious something which is likely to happen diversity encircled by a fence. Moreover, when they have accumulated a history immigrants themselves often select a in Sweden. Many are likely to come for- similar grammar of forms and use the ward wishing to study and display their same toolkit when they display their cultural heritage as it has been shaped vernacular cultural heritage in the Swed- in the new country and in the diaspora. ish public sphere. On the heritage stage, This is a process that has already taken the idea of a nation full of appealing di- place in "older" immigrant nations, such versity is on display and some of its fea- as Australia and the United States. tures will undoubtedly be added to the Swedish repertoire of add-ons and re- Concluding Remarks dos. It is highly uncertain to what degree the established nation grammar will be The Romantic Nationalism of the days broken up to include "more diverse arts, of Hazelius may be long gone, the folk cultures, and traditions . . . in a multi- and the "folk home" may be dying, plex public sphere" (Clifford 1997, 214). folklife research may no longer exist, and Furthermore, while many conversations folkloristics as a field may be marginal take place between the heritage sectors in an era in which the heritage paradigm in separate countries and such suprana- is taking over some of the older terms tional institutions as UNESCO, the ac- and concerns and as new disciplinary tual effect of these conversations on the alliances and allegiances are being national agendas is unclear. shaped. One such alliance that is cur- rently taking shape in Sweden combines Another point concerns the extent to ethnology, archeology, history, cultural which there is now a new reformist heri- geography, business management, and tage ideology, every bit as moralistic as tourism studies. the various agendas that inspired Hazelius, Erixon, and Daun. In govern- Yet, the remarkable thing is that ment circles the protection of cultural through all the transformations, the heritage is seen as an unquestionably grammar of genres, established by the moral good, as a democracy issue of high world's fairs and by museum builders dignity, as an important part of a civil such as Hazelius, is still being used or society, and as a human right. Heritage debated, when the cultural heritage of issues are entangled with hopes for im- new immigrants is to be included in an proved integration and, therefore, rep- "Us." Costume parades, dances, festivals, resentation in such public arenas as mu- and food displays remain viable alterna- seums is seen as a task of importance to tives now, just as they were, when all. Yet, as has been noted, one must Skansen and other museums incorpo- ask to what extent inclusion in these rated different rural Others into an ur- arenas will serve to hide actual in- ban, bourgeois public sphere. What is equalities in order to celebrate a har- happening now is a process similar to monious diversity? And what happens that which took place then: inclusion of to all those (primarily young) people

73 Barbro Klein

who regard themselves as mixtures of Notes all kinds of cultures and backgrounds? 1This text is based on a workshop and a lec- Will they forever be stereotyped in the ture given at the Reykjavik Academy in Janu- heritage sector as examples of the excit- ary 2004. Many thanks to Valdimar Tr. ing youth cultures brewing in "our" im- Hafstein and Ólafur Rastrick for inviting me migrant suburbs? Will the traumas and and many thanks to them and to the other stigmatizations suffered by some groups participants on these occasions for the stimu- lating discussions. The article is to be seen be endlessly trivialized in new forms of as one result of the project "Folklore, Heri- exploitation not unlike those that have tage Politics, and Ethnic Diversity," which I taken place as some memorials of trauma directed in 1997–2000 together with Anna- (such as Holocaust memorials) have be- Leena Siikala, Pertti Anttonen, and Stein come tourist attractions (Finkelstein Mathisen. Unless otherwise noted, all trans- 2000)? What happens to all those forms lations are mine. of heritage that are offensive, frighten- 2 In part, the discussion in this section draws ing or incomprehensible? on the following: Aronsson 2004; Beckman Cultural heritage—as phenomenon, 1993a, 1993b, 1998; Bohman 1997; Ekström concept, and discourse—does not pose 1994; Eriksen 1993; Frykman and Löfgren 1986; Hammarlund-Larsson 2004; Klein danger in and of itself; in all likelihood, 2000a; O'Dell 1998; Stoklund 1993; Sörlin it is here to stay for a long time. The dan- 1998. gers lie in a naïve, uncritical, unhistorical, 3 In 1919, it was officially decided that the and untheorized understanding of cul- Nordic Museum was to be responsible for tural heritage and its ideological param- Swedish cultural history from the 16th cen- eters in an era in which the boundaries tury and onwards. Thus, the beginning was "between culture and politics and be- set at the period of King Gustav Vasa, i.e. at tween cultural production and the mar- the Protestant (Lutheran) Reformation. The ket" are becoming increasingly blurred Historical Museum was to be responsible for (Bendix and Welz 1999, 123).This holds earlier periods, i.e. the Pagan and Catholic true whether we are dealing with a "ver- eras. Long housed inside the National Mu- nacular sphere" in one specific country, seum, this museum was moved into a build- ing situated a few hundred meters away as has been the case in this paper, or ex- from the Nordic Museum in 1943. pand our concerns to cover a greater 4 See Beckman 1998, 17. It is not unimpor- spectrum of heritage issues. The term tant to take note of this resistance: many con- heritage is not innocent; we must pon- temporary scholars seem to take it for der its role in the ongoing worldwide re- granted that the inclusion of the rural folk mapping of ideological, political, eco- in 19th century public arenas was universally nomic, disciplinary, and conceptual land- greeted with jubilation. scapes. 5 Skansen is frequently called the world's "first" open-air museum. However, this is probably an overstatement. As Bjarne Stoklund (1993) shows, precedents can be found, not least in 19th-century international exhibitions.

74 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

6 Observations in this paper regarding the lecturer (docent) in "Folk Memory Research" frequency with which a word is used by a (folkminnesforskning) was active at Lund particular author or during a particular pe- University: Carl Wilhelm von Sydow. Then, riod are based on impressions formed in the in 1946, Lund University received its first reading of relevant texts, not on close tex- chair in "Nordic and Comparative Folklife tual analysis or statistical evidence. Research" and, one year later, a department 7 Dalarna is comparable to Karelia in Finland, with the same name was founded at Uppsala Hardanger in Norway, Appalachia in the University. In 1972, "European Ethnology" United States, Dogon land in Mali, and other (etnologi, särskilt europeisk) was adopted at all "old-fashioned" or "relic areas" far away from Swedish universities and Folkloristics was a capital. This is one of the senses in which named a subfield thereof. Unlike other Nor- ethnology, folklore, and related efforts can dic countries, Folkloristics has never been a be said to have been "born in an act of love separate discipline in Sweden, although between the province and the nation-state" Uppsala University cultivated such a spe- (Noyes 1999, 258). cialization until the middle of the 1980s. 8 As early as the late Middle Ages, it was cus- 12 One can detect parallels here to develop- tomary to bring reindeer and accompany- ments in the United States, where folklore ing Saami as diplomatic gifts during state study expanded after World War II. This ex- visits abroad. Saami were also featured at a pansion is linked to President Roosevelt's number of the world's fairs and, in many New Deal, the Federal Writers Project, respects, it was self-evident that they would unionizing, and the folk song movement (cf. be included at Skansen and the Nordic Mu- Abrahams 1999). seum from the very start (Klein 2000a). 13 See Nilsson 2004, 90. Although the last few 9 Since 2000, five groups in Sweden are offi- years have seen many changes, this activity cially designated minorities, whose mem- still continues at the Nordic Museum and a bers speak five officially recognized minor- few other institutions. ity languages: Saami, Meänkieli (Tornedal 14 My comments on Daun are in part based Finnish), Finnish, Romani, and Yiddish. on his fascinating recollections of the devel- 10 There are considerable differences in the opment of Swedish ethnology during the historical circumstances that have led to an 1960s and 1970s (Daun 2003). emphasis on certain materials over others, 15 According to David Lowenthal (1998), the as countries have built up their national rep- first documented use of "heritage" is to be ertoires. In Iceland the saga manuscripts found in the St James Bible (Psalms 16:6: "I came to play an early and central role have a goodly heritage"). Margaret whereas in Finland and Estonia the shaping Thatcher's inauguration of the National of national epics on the basis of oral tradi- Heritage Act in Britain (in 1983) and Ronald tions had overarching importance. Indeed, Reagan's prominent collaboration with the in Estonia and other countries in Eastern Heritage Foundation (founded in 1973) in Europe, the national symbolic repertoires the United States most likely contributed to were essential during the processes of recon- the world-wide increase in the use of "heri- struction after the years of Soviet rule. tage" in the 1980s. 11 Folklife research is, of course, one of many 16 I will not attempt here to discuss the ex- names for the "folk disciplines" in different ceedingly complex issues at hand. It has been countries. In Sweden alone a multitude of argued that modern societies need this kind names have circulated. From 1912 to 1944, a of functional differentiation, since they can

75 Barbro Klein

no longer attempt to integrate all members Works Cited within one overarching human value sys- Abrahams, Roger. 1999. American tem. They need systems of rights in plural. However, in his recent work on the origin of Academic and Public Folklore. human rights, sociologist Hans Joas (in Late-Twentieth-Century press) is critical of this functionalistic expla- Musings. Journal of Folklore nation. Research 36(2/3):127–137. 17 See, for example, Selberg 2002. A great deal Aronsson, Peter. 2004. Historiebruk—att has been written on the distinctions between använda det förflutna. Lund: the concept of history and the concept of Studentlitteratur. heritage (Lowenthal 1998). However, the Beckman, Svante. 1993a. Om distinctions are often difficult to grasp, in kulturarvets väsen och värde. particular in discussions comparing cultural In Modernisering och kulturarv. heritage and historiography. Essäer och uppsatser. Edited by Contemporary China constitutes one ex- Jonas Anshelm. Stockholm: ample of the multiplex use of cultural heri- Brutus Östlings Bokförlag tage in the creation of a new ideology. I am Symposion:64–95. indebted to Marina Svensson, Department of East Asian Languages, Lund University, _____. 1993b. Oreda i fornsvängen. In for her insightful comments on the politics Kulturarvet i antikvarisk teori och of heritage in China today. praktik. Edited by Gunnar 18 For example, folklorists and ethnologists Friberg. Stockholm: at the University of Oslo in Norway now Riksantikvarieämbetet:30–44. work within a Section on Cultural History _____. 1998. Vad vill staten med and, recently, Arne Bugge Amundsen, as kulturarvet? In Kulturarvets editor of the pan-Nordic journal Arv, re- natur. Edited by Annika Alzén placed the journal's emphasis on folklore and Johan Hedrén. Stockholm/ with a focus on cultural history, including cultural heritage. One might well wonder, if Stehag: Brutus Östlings such a shift will spell the end of folkloristics Bokförlag Symposion:13–50. as a field in the Nordic countries. The ab- Bendix, Regina. 2000. Heredity, Hy- sorption of folklore/folklife into cultural bridity, and Heritage from One heritage/cultural history can be observed all Fin de Siècle to the Next. In over Europe. For example, the recently (2000) Folklore, Heritage Politics, and launched Hungarian yearbook, Hungarian Ethnic Diversity. A Festschrift for Heritage, contains articles on the kinds of top- Barbro Klein. Edited by Pertti J. ics that, not long ago, were called folklore Anttonen, et al. Botkyrka: and folklife. Multi-Cultural Centre:37–56. 19 Also, I have been told that Skansen has _____, and Tatjana Eggeling, eds. 2004. plans to invite a variety of ethnic and reli- gious groups to celebrate their traditional Namen und was sie bedeuten. Zur festivities there all around the year. Namensdebatte im Fach 20 This is to some degree true of the unprinted Volkskunde. Beiträge zur document "Kulturarv är mångfald! ("Cul- Volkskunde in Niedersachsen, tural Heritage is Diversity!"), circulated by 19. Göttingen: Volkskundlichen the Swedish Heritage Board (Rik- Kommission für santikvarieämbetet 2004). Niedersachsen.

76 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

_____, and Gisela Welz. 1999. Introduc- Eaton, Allen H. 1932. Immigrant Gifts to tion. Journal of Folklore Research American Life. Some Experiments in 36(2/3):111–126. Appreciation of the Contributions of Billig, Michael. 1995. Banal Nationalism. Our Foreign-Born Citizens to London: Sage Publications. American Culture. New York: Bohman, Stefan. 1997. Historia, museer Russell Sage Foundation. och nationalism. Stockholm: Ehn, Billy. 1981. Arbetets flytande gränser. Carlssons. En fabriksstudie. Stockholm: Bolin, Hans, ed. 2001. Bokförlaget Prisma. Kulturarvsvetenskap— _____. 1983. Ska vi leka tiger? Daghemsliv utbildningar och sektorsbehov. ur kulturell synvinkel. Malmö: Stockholm: Liber Förlag. Riksantikvarieämbetet. _____, and Orvar Löfgren. 1982. Bonniers Folklexikon. 1951–1953. Entry Kulturanalys. Lund: Liber Förlag. "Sverige," vol. 5. Stockholm: Ekström, Anders. 1994. Den utställda Albert Bonniers tryckeri. världen. Stockholmsutställningen Bringéus, Nils-Arvid. 1976. Människan 1897 och 1800-talets som kulturvarelse. En världsutställningar. Stockholm: introduktion till etnologin. Lund: Nordiska museets handlingar. Liber förlag. Eriksen, Anne. 1993. Den nasjonale Bronner, Simon J. 1998. Following kulturarven—en del av det Tradition. Folklore in the Dis- moderne. Kulturella perspektiv course of American Life. Logan: 1:16–25. Utah State University Press. Erixon, Sigurd. 1949. Burke, Peter. 2004. What is Cultural hamnarbetare före History? Cambridge: Polity fackföreningsrörelsens genombrott. Press. En etnologisk studie. Stockholm: Clifford, James. 1997. Routes. Travel and Nordisk Rotogravyr. Translation in the Late Twentieth Finkelstein, Norman G. 2000. The Holo- Century. Cambridge: Harvard caust Industry. Reflections on the University Press. Exploitation of Jewish Suffering. Connerton, Paul. 1989. How Societies London: Verso. Remember. Cambridge: Cam- Frykman, Jonas, and Orvar Löfgren. bridge University Press. 1979. Den kultiverade människan. Daun, Åke. 2003. Med rörligt sökarljus. Malmö: Liber. Den nya etnologins framväxt _____. 1986 [1979]. Culture Builders. A under 1960- och 1970-talen. Historical Anthropology of Middle Stockholm/Stehag: Brutus Class Life. Translated by Alan Östlings Bokförlag Symposion. Crozier. New Brunswick: Dundes, Alan, ed. 1965. The Study of Rutgers University Press. Folklore. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Hafstein, Valdimar. 2004. The Making Prentice-Hall. of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

77 Barbro Klein

Tradition and Authenticity, Joas, Hans. In press. Max Weber and the Community, and Humanity. Origin of Human Rights. A Study Unpublished Ph.D. disserta- of Cultural Innovation. tion, University of California, Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Barbara. 1998. Berkeley. Destination Culture. Tourism, Hammarlund-Larsson, Cecilia. 2004. "I Museums, and Heritage. Berke- denna tid af slapp ley: University of California nationalkänsla." Om Artur Press. Hazelius, vetenskapen och _____. 2004. Intangible Heritage as nationen. In Samhällsideal och Metacultural Production. framtidsbilder. Perspektiv på Museum International (May, Nordiska museets dokumentation 221–222):52–65. och forskning. By Cecilia Klein, Barbro. 1997. Tillhörighet och Hammarlund-Larsson, Bo G. utanförskap. Om Nilsson, and Eva Silvén. kulturarvspolitik och Stockholm: Carlssons:11–66. folklivsforskning i en multietnisk Högdahl, Elisabeth. 2004. Kritisk värld. Rig (1–2):15–32. kulturarvsforskning— _____. 2000a. Foreigners, Foreignness, diskussionsunderlag. Unpub- and the Swedish Folklife lished manuscript, Riksantik- Sphere. Ethnologia Scandinavica varieämbetet, Stockholm. 30:5–23. _____, and Thommy Svensson. 2004. _____. 2000b. The Moral Content of Kritisk kulturarvsforskning, Tradition. Homecraft, Ethnol- utmaningar och möjligheter. ogy, and Swedish Life in the Unpublished letter. Twentieth Century. Western Hufford, Mary. 1991. American Folklife. Folklore 59 (Spring):171–195. A Commonwealth of Cultures. _____. 2001. More Swedish than in Washington, D.C.: American Sweden, More Iranian than in Folklife Center. Iran. Folk Culture and World _____. 1994. Introduction. Rethinking Migrations. In Upholders of the Cultural Mission. In Con- Culture Past and Present. Edited serving Culture. A New Discourse by Bo Sundin. Stockholm: The on Heritage. Edited by Mary Royal Swedish Academy of Hufford. Urbana: University of Engineering Sciences (IVA):67– Illinois Press:1–14. 80. Hultkrantz, Åke, ed. 1960. International _____. 2004. Silences, Cultural Histori- Dictionary of Regional European cal Museums, and Jewish Life Ethnology and Folklore. Vol. 1. in Sweden. Ethnologia Europaea Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and 33 (2):121–131. Bagger. Koselleck, Reinhardt. 2002. The Practice Hungarian Heritage. 2000–. of Conceptual History. Timing History, Spacing Concepts.

78 Cultural Heritage, The Swedish Folklife Sphere, and the Others

Translated by Todd Samuel Noyes, Dorothy. 1999. Provinces of Presner et al. Stanford, CA: Knowledge. Or, can you get Stanford University Press. out of the Only Game in Town? Kurkiala, Mikael. 2002. Business as Journal of Folklore Research 36(2/ Usual? Critical Remarks on the 3):253–258. Trivialization of Difference and O'Dell, Tom. 1998. Junctures of Diversity. LBC Newsletter Swedishness. Reconsidering (January, no. 2):22–25. Representations of the Na- Lindvall, Karin. 2002. Mot en ny tional. Ethnologia Scandinavica kulturarvsideologi. In Agenda 28:20–37. Kulturarv—Inspiration, Rekdal, Per. 1999. No Longer Newly Diskussion. Edited by Karin Arrived—Museum Presenta- Lindvall and Birgitta Johansen. tions of Immigrant Cultures in Stockholm: Nations with Dominant "Indig- Riksantikvarieämbetet:4–19 enous" Cultures. Nordisk Löfgren, Orvar. 1993. The Cultural Museologi 1999(1):115–124. Grammar of Nation-Building. Riksantikvarieämbetet. 2004. Kulturarv The Nationalization of Nation- är mångfald! Fördjupad alism. In Nordic Frontiers. Recent omvärldsanalys för Issues in the Study of Modern kulturmiljöområdet. Stockholm: Traditional Culture in the Nordic Riksantikvarieämbetet. Countries. Edited by Pertti J. Ronström, Owe. 2001. Anttonen and Reimund Kulturarvspolitik. Vad skyltar Kvideland. Turku: Nordic kan berätta. In Kritisk etnologi. Institute of Folklore:217–239. Artiklar till Åke Daun. Edited by Lowenthal, David. 1998. The Heritage Barbro Blehr. Stockholm: Crusade and the Spoils of History. Bokförlaget Prisma:60–108. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni- SAOB. 1939–. Svenska Akademiens versity Press. ordbok. Volume 15, entry McCrone, David, Angela Morris, and "kulturarv." Lund: Berlingska Richard Kiely. 1995. Scotland— Boktryckeri. the Brand. The Making of Scottish Selberg, Torunn. 2002. Tradisjon, Heritage. Edinburgh: Polygon. kulturarv og minnespolitik. Å Nilsson, Bo G. 2004. Framtidens salt. iscensette, vandre i og fortelle Om museernas och om fortiden. In Historien in på folklivsforskarnas bidrag till livet. Diskussioner om kulturarv folkhemsbygget. In och minnespolitik. Edited by Samhällsideal och framtidsbilder. Anne Eriksen, Jan Garnert, and Perspektiv på Nordiska museets Torunn Selberg. Lund: Nordic dokumentation och forskning. By Academic Press:9–30. Cecilia Hammarlund-Larsson, Bo G. Nilsson, and Eva Silvén. Stockholm: Carlssons:67–139.

79 Barbro Klein

Silvén, Eva. 2004. I samtiden eller för framtiden. Om ett kunskapsbygge i senmoderniteten. In Samhällsideal och framtidsbilder. Perspektiv på Nordiska museets dokumentation och forskning. By Cecilia Hammarlund-Larsson, Bo G. Nilsson, and Eva Silvén. Stockholm: Carlssons:104–219. Stoklund, Bjarne. 1993. International Exhibitions and the New Museum Concept in the Latter Half of the Nineteenth Century. Ethnologia Scandinavica 23:87– 113. Svensson, Birgitta. 2003. Victor Rydberg som kulturhistoriker. Saga och Sed. Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademiens årsbok:15–30. Sörlin, Sverker. 1998. Artur Hazelius och det nationella arvet under 1800-talet. In Nordiska museet under 125 år. Edited by Hans Medelius, Bengt Nyström, and Elisabet Stavenow-Hidemark. Stockholm: Nordiska museets förlag:16–39. Turtinen, Jan. 2006. Världsarvets villkor. Intressen, förhandlingar och bruk i internationell politik. Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Stockholm Studies in Ethnol- ogy, 1. Stockholm: Stockholms Universitet. Williams, Raymond. 1984 [1961]. The Long Revolution. Hammondsworth: Penguin Books. Wittrock, Björn. 2004. The Making of Sweden. Thesis Eleven 77(May):45–63.

80