Download - Cultural Heritage, the invention of traditions, authenticity, the production of Swedish culture
Cultural Heritage, the invention of traditions, authenticity, the production of Swedish culture.
Last time
• Exploring everyday culture
• Discussion in group about the metaphore The ”cultural lens” • we all carry • etnocentrism
• The lens – what shapes the lens
• Streckgubben – a picture of ourself as human beings and cultural beings.
Family and home
• The process of building culture, carry and create
• The bourgeoisie 19th Century – in contrast and in revolt – new demands
• We saw Forsters novel, the film ”a room with a view” as an example
• and the Film Fanny and Alexander directed by Ingmar Bergman
• The home full off stuff – overloaded
One group mentioned the great impact of family and the environment you grow up within for shaping your lens – making you as a cultural human being.
A raw material – can´t be human without other humans around.
Changes and questioning the older generation
The children of the bourgeoisie became well educated citizens with great impact on society
• 1930:ies – the functionalism
Today
• Prepare for our trip to Lund next Friday.
• Talk about another kind of creation of cultutral heritage – within science.
• Again – the starting point will be anthropology and my own subject Ethnology
Ethnology
• My subject is a sister discipline of Anthropology. In Sweden it first appeared as a subject in 1863 at the University of Uppsala.
• It was a man called Gunnar Hyltén Cavallius who used the word Ethnology in a title of his dissertation about Wärend and Wirdarna. Wärend is a region in southern Sweden and Wirdarna the name of the people living there.
• The thing about this dissertation, which makes it still worth mentioning is that it was one of the first dissertations dealing with the culture and history of ”common” people.
• The people (in a very public sense) was the main object of the study.
• This in turn was a consequensce of a much broader interest in the ”people” in whole northern Europe at this time.
• An intellectual ideology among students, artists, writers e t c about finding
• the genuine,
• The origin and unspoiled
• And as mentioned before – it was found in nature and among the peasants.
• Two reasons – in contrast to urban life and in contrast to industrialization and modernity.
• The old and traditional life was fading away.
Study peasants and common people to understand the ”Volkgeist” The soul of the people.
• This as a part of understanding the nation not just as a state but also with a people with one shared language and one shared culture.
• Erik Gustafs Geijer Götiska förbundet i Uppsala – study of the german philosopher Herder. Geiger wrote novels about genuine origine models – found in history and among peasants –
• ”the Viking”.• The Farmer from Odal.
• In the text in the compendium – Thomas Hylland Eriksen – you find the same story in Norway – farmers from the specific mountain valleys in southern Norway.
• But this was not just romanticism and part of understanding the origins of the nation.
• “Volkgeist”
• It also became a science – Ethnology – with a scientifical purpose. To map, explain, compare, describe and organize.
• Cultural maps – the same cultural sphere
• This is what Gunnar Olof Hyltén Cavallius was part of when he wrote his dissertation.
Hyltén Cavallius
• He travelled around in the area of Wärend – visiting villages and houses, talking to people and collecting artefacts – tools, bride gifts etc.
• He was looking for evidence of old, original tradition apparent within
• the names of villages, • peoples stories and beliefs and • also in material form. • old fashioned tools in the harvest for example.
• By studying the present time (1860) he searched for traces back to a prehistoric age.
• He was not interested in the present but in reconstruction of the past.
• Find the origin.
• Ethnology as a science at this time was established as the study of people (ethno means people)
• Reconstruction of the past
• Comparative method – compare different areas in Sweden, customs, artefacts, etc. Find the most old fashioned and unspoiled.
• Hyltén Cavallius collected a lot of stuff – brought it back home and eventually opened a more or less permanent exhibition with all items displayed.
• Beginning of a museum.
There was another agenda as well.
• Not just science but also an idea of rescue the traditional genuine, origin life that was disappearing as a consequence of new lifeconditions during 19th century.
• A joke – that Ethnologists at the period worked as firemen – answering to the alarm, running around in rural Sweden trying to save as much as possible.
One of those
• Arthur Hazelius (in todays text) 1833 -1901
• He was a schoolar – history, archeology etc
• Spent the summer holliday in Dalarna (as many intellectuals at the time)
• Do you remember I showed you the painter Carl Larsson. National Romanticism – great influence – his home and family…
• Hazelius at Rättvik – the young girls in the boat over the lake – going to church.
• The red ribbons in their hair and traditional festive clothing.
• Hazelius felt a ”mission” . To save this origin and beauty for the present and coming generations.
• Create a collection and a museum.
• The issue of the article of today.
• Hillström describes how Hazelius created the
• Scandinavian Ethnographic collection (first with basically traditional clothes). 1873
• Later the Nordic Museum• And the open air museum Skansen
• Hillström describes Hazelius mission as not only a part of nationalization,
• Rather an effort to collect Scandinavian culture beyond territorial borders – including Finland, Baltic countries and Northern Germany
• Hazelius interest was to rescue and preserve for coming generations
• Other interests in the museum was of course the creation of something genuinly Swedish – as a way of preserving the original Volkgeist. Politically
• Within Science other considerations – make order, explain etc.
• Scandinavia, Baltic countries and northern Germany a common cultural area – very different languages – but artefacts, beliefs myths, and traditions resemblance.
Within ScienceThe main theory connected to method
• 1. The idea of evolution (Darwin 1859)
• Evolutionism – inspired all kind of science – Cavallius in his reconstruction of the past – studied evolution – the traditional old fashioned development…
• Also social sciences – evolution to explain class differences Herbert Spencer
Possible to study evolution
• Typographical method
• Oscar Montelius – (in the text – the one that takes over responsibility for the Nordic Museum after Hazelius death in 1901.)
Typological method
• Classification according to general type.
• Classifying items in order of their objective characteristics
• Order items in series of development
• From simple to more elaborated
• The language – origin. Heritage – relatives. (family metaphore)
• August Strindberg – mocking this science wrote a pamphlett called
• Buttonology
• Organising buttons (knapplådan).
• Evolution and progress – but also the idea of devolution – the golden era of the past disappearing
• The genuine unspoiled people –the decadence of modernity, industrialization, urbanization and consumtion.
Diffusionism
• Diffusionism
• Follow the items and map how the diffuse are spread in and between different areas – goal to find the origin – where did it start.
”Cartography”
• Making maps – to understand geographical prevalence
• Flail – a tool or machine with a swinging action used for threshing – separeting grain from corn – different construction in different times.
• A map put a pin for each – different dots
• This is described also in the article. Montelius finds Hazelius collection as chaotic – without order.
• He suggests that all items in collection is ordered geographical and chronological.
• Instead of displaying all guilded items (clocks) from Germany, Scandinavia and Baltic countries in one room/cabinet…
• Display all ”Swedish” items in one room, in order and chronologically – following type and time.
A new idea
• Connection between territory item and origin
• A thing made in Sweden by a Swedish artisan is Swedish.
• A cupboard made in Netherlands for example – made for export to Sweden can never be Swedish.
• A understanding of heritage almost as relation by blood.
• The article discuss how a kind of open minded Haphazard (mostly gifts) collection is reshaped into a scientific and political project.
• Science – evolution, relation and development connected to geography – suggesting that items are genuinely ”Swedish”, ”Norwegian”, ”Finnish”,
• ”Danish” or ”German” because of connection to territory.
• Closing borders
• A political project
• Hazelius ”scandinavist” – belived in a Scandinavian nation.
• Up until 1809 Finland was part of Sweden
• 1814 Denmark and Norway parted and Norway entered into a union with Sweden (ended 1905).
• Politically interest in stressing ”Swedish” in contrast to ”Norwegian”.
• This is the background of many of the ethnographic museums today – collection in order to show local, regional or national identity.
• Division mentioned in text
Ethnographic museums – primitive culturesCultural Historical museums – Civilized cultures
Think of representationalso mentioned in the text
• The British museum, London• Albert and Victoria museum, London
• Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford (the shop of black magic at Diagon alley in Harry Potter)
• The Nordic Museum – the open air museum in Stockholm Skansen
• And Kulturen – a cultural history museum
• Geographical representation – chronological display – the stone axes –
•
• Reflexion – why this collection/ who made the selection – why
• Whos story origin is represented – who are absent, scilenced.
Final thought/theory
• The use of history in creating a cultural heritage
• History, Myths and Identity equal history and myth.
• Often we think of history as something objectiv – its there ready to find describe and collect.
But it is also subjective and somehow mythical since:
• 1. History is a second place reconstruction. Simplifying a complex reality. It is based on selection in turn based on forgetfulness and purpose (creation of nationalism)
2. History and ideology walks hand in hand – EU Museum of history in Copenhagen common,Funnelcup culture
• 3. History says more about the present than about th past – connected to purpose – make Scandinavianism or Swedishness
• 4. There is not one history but many – depending on who is the narrator – always exclusive and inclusive in the same time.
• Every time I start to tell a story this process of exclusion of the other and inclusion of the we starts
• 5. History is mythological since one purpose is to explain origin – it places us as human beings in a greater context – explains and shows in what ways we do belong together.
• Imagined community
To examples
• Janson – one woman Artemisia Gentilezky
• Janson Evolution cultural evolution shaping the western/european understanding of the world
• Iran Iraq – Greece, Rome and the the civilisation of Euorpe (Mesopothania)
• Women art and sociolgy
• Not a part of the great history in Janosn – separated – parallell – marginalized?
Linnés Råshult
• Authenticity?
Bring all these questions with you to the museum
• Who• Why• How• Representation• Goal