Cultural Diversity In Swedish-American Culture
Swedish-American Cultural diversity is what defines humanity. This diversity is directly correlated to the geographic site of the civilization: for example, Sweden. The Swedish are located in the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere, a climate zone known for its harsh winters, short growing seasons and the Viking heritage. Due to this geography, the people of Sweden, who originated from nomadic tribes migrating from Germany, developed in a similar manner to the other civilizations of Europe, inclusive of pagan religions that were absorbed later by Christianity. For the Swedish tribes, many pagan festivals were adopted into daily life alongside Christian traditions, such as the Midsummer’s Day festival. Similarly many Christian rituals from other cultures became a part of Swedish tradition, such as St. Lucia’s Day. When
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Swedish culture diffused to America through waves of emigration, these festivals were brought as well.
While Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are not officially recognized by the American government as national holidays, the majority of Swedish emigrants and Swedish-Americans still celebrate. The festivals of St. Lucia and Midsummer's Day are two Swedish cultural practices embedded with deep religious meaning that over time and with the emigration to America have lost religious meaning as the festivals assimilated with the American standard of faith and became more of a cultural expression, creating the implications that without proper cultural preservation these festivals will be absorbed into other cultural celebrations such as the Italian celebration of St. Lucy’s Day or the Americanized, religiously meaningless May Day festival. The festival of St. Lucia is celebrated similarly all around the globe. On December 13th, the festival begins
the Christmas season for Swedish (Gustavus Adolphus College). While it is celebrated internationally, the Swedish celebration of St. Lucia’s day is different from the Italian-American culture it is being absorbed into in America, but the legend behind her is only slightly different. The legend of St. Lucia, in references to the Swedish tradition of St. Lucia’s Day, is that the she came at a time of great famine in Sweden surrounded by light and gave food and clothes to the poor of Sweden. Her symbolic nature to the Swedes, and to the Italians, is as a beacon of hope and light (Northpark). Because St. Lucia’s name translates to light, St. Lucia can be connected to the paganistic belief in the power of light and the sun. Because Swedish winters were so hard, and this supposed famine occurred during one such winter, it is no surprise that St. Lucia, the patron saint of light, became an idolized martyr in Swedish tradition. Since St. Lucia’s Day is rooted in the religious belief of Protestantism, the national religion of Sweden, when the Swedes first emigrated the festival still held those deeply religious roots. As time progressed, however, and American apathy toward religion grew an increasing amount, the Swedish-American St. Lucia’s Day began to become absorbed into the Italian-American St. Lucia’s Day (World History: The Modern Era). Should the festivals continue to merge culturally as they have been, implications arise concerning the abandonment of this trademark Swedish holiday in favor of the convenience of one festival for all the cultures who celebrate St. Lucia’s life, as convenience is a large motivator in American culture and forces emigrants to assimilate. Like St. Lucia’s Day, the Swedish-American Midsummer’s Day festival also has deep roots in a paganistic ritual and is also threatened by cultural assimilation. While today it is practiced out of a sense of historic tradition this festival was once the turning point of spring to summer, marking the summer solstice on June 21st. The celebration consists of maypoles, wreath making, and traditional dancing all of which are indicative of prior paganistic ritualistic tendencies. This tradition connects back to the days of the Vikings, a culture of warriors and explorers known for their conquest of Northern Europe and vicious battle techniques (Sweden). Because the Vikings were a conquering culture, many other European countries have or had had some form of Midsummer celebrations, such as England or Germany. When Christianity became dominant in Sweden in the late 12th century, Midsummer’s Day took became less religious and more symbolic. This was furthered even more so with the emigration from Sweden. These emigrants brought with them the Midsummer’s tradition to America according to the festival practiced at the time of emigration, when it had already lost the majority of its paganistic meaning. Upon coming to America, and in an attempt to fully assimilate into 19th and 20th century culture, Swedish emigrants and thus Swedish-Americans fully detoured from the festival’s original purpose of celebrating the spirit of summer and the crops in a religious manner (Countries and Their Cultures). The implications for this festival are much the same as the implications for St. Lucia’s Day, meaning with emigration to America Midsummer’s Day is assimilating to the spring and summer festivals already established, the traditional Swedish practices and meaning are undoubtedly lost. The preservation of the Midsummer’s Day festival of the Swedish and Swedish-Americans can only be achieved by Swedish-Americans embracing their heritage and rejecting the xenophobia and forced assimilation that is melding Swedish-American practices with other American cultural practices. On emigrating to the United States in mostly a singular wave from 1851-1930 the Swedish emigrants continued the tradition of Midsummer’s Day, though with considerable less religious undertones which resulted in an assimilation of Midsummer’s Day with similar already existing festivals (Countries and Their Cultures). In order for the Midsummer’s Day festival to survive in America and among Swedish-Americans — it faces no danger of extinction in Sweden— the Swedish-American population would have to continue celebrating Midsummer’s Day as they have previously with the intention of preserving Swedish-American cultural heritage. The Midsummer’s Day festival is currently celebrated in many various forms by many varying cultures, but is unique to Swedish tradition in the sense of its food and origins. The combination of Midsummer’s Day with the English May Day festival is indicative of forced assimilation with the already dominant English and British-American populations, and implies that this combination will only further until Midsummer’s Day is no longer celebrated by Swedish-Americans. Similarly, to preserve the traditional religious practice of St. Lucia’s Day, Swedish-Americans will have to clearly define and separate the Swedish version of St. Lucia’s Day from the Italian practice. Since St. Lucia’s Day is the patron day of St. Lucia, it is a universal celebration for all those who pray to the patron saint of light, not just exclusively the Swedish (New Advent). Because of this universality, the cultural Swedish differences, such as the Lucia buns for breakfast and the girls in white leading the St. Lucia Day service, in this celebration are disappearing in favor of the more dominant Italian-American culture. The slight variances between the Italian-American and Swedish-American expression of this festival is cultural preference or cultural interpretation of what great deed St. Lucia performed; so with the absorption of the Swedish-American St. Lucia’s Day celebration into the Italian-American St. Lucia’s Day celebration, that particular expression of St. Lucia is lost to future Swedish-American generations. Also a negative implication to the future of this festival is the religious climate in America and the foundational roots of St. Lucia’s day being in religion, though over time this religious motivator has deteriorated into a mild sense of preserving culture versus adhering to a religious script, in combination with the dramatic decrease in religious practitioners (Yasmin). According to a study done by Berkley University, “20 percent of a nationally representative group reported no religious preference” which is “a jump from 1990 when all but 8 percent of Americans polled identified with an organized faith”(Yasmin). Due to this decrease in religious practitioners, the entire festival of St. Lucia’s Day may be lost. The emigration to America has slowly assimilated these festivals with the generalized American belief of religion not being a governing force in daily life, thus allowing for the festivals to lose a religious meaning. Two prominent festivals in Sweden, the Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day, accompanied Swedish emigrants to America where, in order to assimilate quickly into American, the religious meaning behind the festivals began to be replaced by a respect for tradition and culture. Although it is true that culture and tradition are the foundations of human diversity, these festivals are centered around a culture of Protestant religion, and a tradition rooted in the pagan era of Sweden. Should these festivals continue as they have been, they will be lost significance to their Swedish heritage and become synonymous with festivals of other cultures that are similar in expression. The implications of the end of Swedish-American traditional festivals of St. Lucia’s Day and Midsummer’s Day stem from Swedish-American assimilation into the religious dormant culture of America, among other factors. While these festivals are likely to remain so long as emigrants from Sweden continue coming to America, in addition to thriving in the Swedish hearth, the xenophobic tendencies of some Americans would make the continued practice of Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day difficult. In short, the continued trajectory of assimilating these Swedish derived traditions into other, more dominant, traditions of other cultures can only lead to the end of symbolic meaning to Swedish-Americans regarding these festivals. Since history defines defines a culture, and culture defines humanity, Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are reflections of the rich Swedish culture; the modified, Americanized versions of Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are now reflections of Swedish-American culture.
Swedish culture diffused to America through waves of emigration, these festivals were brought as well.
While Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are not officially recognized by the American government as national holidays, the majority of Swedish emigrants and Swedish-Americans still celebrate. The festivals of St. Lucia and Midsummer's Day are two Swedish cultural practices embedded with deep religious meaning that over time and with the emigration to America have lost religious meaning as the festivals assimilated with the American standard of faith and became more of a cultural expression, creating the implications that without proper cultural preservation these festivals will be absorbed into other cultural celebrations such as the Italian celebration of St. Lucy’s Day or the Americanized, religiously meaningless May Day festival. The festival of St. Lucia is celebrated similarly all around the globe. On December 13th, the festival begins
the Christmas season for Swedish (Gustavus Adolphus College). While it is celebrated internationally, the Swedish celebration of St. Lucia’s day is different from the Italian-American culture it is being absorbed into in America, but the legend behind her is only slightly different. The legend of St. Lucia, in references to the Swedish tradition of St. Lucia’s Day, is that the she came at a time of great famine in Sweden surrounded by light and gave food and clothes to the poor of Sweden. Her symbolic nature to the Swedes, and to the Italians, is as a beacon of hope and light (Northpark). Because St. Lucia’s name translates to light, St. Lucia can be connected to the paganistic belief in the power of light and the sun. Because Swedish winters were so hard, and this supposed famine occurred during one such winter, it is no surprise that St. Lucia, the patron saint of light, became an idolized martyr in Swedish tradition. Since St. Lucia’s Day is rooted in the religious belief of Protestantism, the national religion of Sweden, when the Swedes first emigrated the festival still held those deeply religious roots. As time progressed, however, and American apathy toward religion grew an increasing amount, the Swedish-American St. Lucia’s Day began to become absorbed into the Italian-American St. Lucia’s Day (World History: The Modern Era). Should the festivals continue to merge culturally as they have been, implications arise concerning the abandonment of this trademark Swedish holiday in favor of the convenience of one festival for all the cultures who celebrate St. Lucia’s life, as convenience is a large motivator in American culture and forces emigrants to assimilate. Like St. Lucia’s Day, the Swedish-American Midsummer’s Day festival also has deep roots in a paganistic ritual and is also threatened by cultural assimilation. While today it is practiced out of a sense of historic tradition this festival was once the turning point of spring to summer, marking the summer solstice on June 21st. The celebration consists of maypoles, wreath making, and traditional dancing all of which are indicative of prior paganistic ritualistic tendencies. This tradition connects back to the days of the Vikings, a culture of warriors and explorers known for their conquest of Northern Europe and vicious battle techniques (Sweden). Because the Vikings were a conquering culture, many other European countries have or had had some form of Midsummer celebrations, such as England or Germany. When Christianity became dominant in Sweden in the late 12th century, Midsummer’s Day took became less religious and more symbolic. This was furthered even more so with the emigration from Sweden. These emigrants brought with them the Midsummer’s tradition to America according to the festival practiced at the time of emigration, when it had already lost the majority of its paganistic meaning. Upon coming to America, and in an attempt to fully assimilate into 19th and 20th century culture, Swedish emigrants and thus Swedish-Americans fully detoured from the festival’s original purpose of celebrating the spirit of summer and the crops in a religious manner (Countries and Their Cultures). The implications for this festival are much the same as the implications for St. Lucia’s Day, meaning with emigration to America Midsummer’s Day is assimilating to the spring and summer festivals already established, the traditional Swedish practices and meaning are undoubtedly lost. The preservation of the Midsummer’s Day festival of the Swedish and Swedish-Americans can only be achieved by Swedish-Americans embracing their heritage and rejecting the xenophobia and forced assimilation that is melding Swedish-American practices with other American cultural practices. On emigrating to the United States in mostly a singular wave from 1851-1930 the Swedish emigrants continued the tradition of Midsummer’s Day, though with considerable less religious undertones which resulted in an assimilation of Midsummer’s Day with similar already existing festivals (Countries and Their Cultures). In order for the Midsummer’s Day festival to survive in America and among Swedish-Americans — it faces no danger of extinction in Sweden— the Swedish-American population would have to continue celebrating Midsummer’s Day as they have previously with the intention of preserving Swedish-American cultural heritage. The Midsummer’s Day festival is currently celebrated in many various forms by many varying cultures, but is unique to Swedish tradition in the sense of its food and origins. The combination of Midsummer’s Day with the English May Day festival is indicative of forced assimilation with the already dominant English and British-American populations, and implies that this combination will only further until Midsummer’s Day is no longer celebrated by Swedish-Americans. Similarly, to preserve the traditional religious practice of St. Lucia’s Day, Swedish-Americans will have to clearly define and separate the Swedish version of St. Lucia’s Day from the Italian practice. Since St. Lucia’s Day is the patron day of St. Lucia, it is a universal celebration for all those who pray to the patron saint of light, not just exclusively the Swedish (New Advent). Because of this universality, the cultural Swedish differences, such as the Lucia buns for breakfast and the girls in white leading the St. Lucia Day service, in this celebration are disappearing in favor of the more dominant Italian-American culture. The slight variances between the Italian-American and Swedish-American expression of this festival is cultural preference or cultural interpretation of what great deed St. Lucia performed; so with the absorption of the Swedish-American St. Lucia’s Day celebration into the Italian-American St. Lucia’s Day celebration, that particular expression of St. Lucia is lost to future Swedish-American generations. Also a negative implication to the future of this festival is the religious climate in America and the foundational roots of St. Lucia’s day being in religion, though over time this religious motivator has deteriorated into a mild sense of preserving culture versus adhering to a religious script, in combination with the dramatic decrease in religious practitioners (Yasmin). According to a study done by Berkley University, “20 percent of a nationally representative group reported no religious preference” which is “a jump from 1990 when all but 8 percent of Americans polled identified with an organized faith”(Yasmin). Due to this decrease in religious practitioners, the entire festival of St. Lucia’s Day may be lost. The emigration to America has slowly assimilated these festivals with the generalized American belief of religion not being a governing force in daily life, thus allowing for the festivals to lose a religious meaning. Two prominent festivals in Sweden, the Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day, accompanied Swedish emigrants to America where, in order to assimilate quickly into American, the religious meaning behind the festivals began to be replaced by a respect for tradition and culture. Although it is true that culture and tradition are the foundations of human diversity, these festivals are centered around a culture of Protestant religion, and a tradition rooted in the pagan era of Sweden. Should these festivals continue as they have been, they will be lost significance to their Swedish heritage and become synonymous with festivals of other cultures that are similar in expression. The implications of the end of Swedish-American traditional festivals of St. Lucia’s Day and Midsummer’s Day stem from Swedish-American assimilation into the religious dormant culture of America, among other factors. While these festivals are likely to remain so long as emigrants from Sweden continue coming to America, in addition to thriving in the Swedish hearth, the xenophobic tendencies of some Americans would make the continued practice of Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day difficult. In short, the continued trajectory of assimilating these Swedish derived traditions into other, more dominant, traditions of other cultures can only lead to the end of symbolic meaning to Swedish-Americans regarding these festivals. Since history defines defines a culture, and culture defines humanity, Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are reflections of the rich Swedish culture; the modified, Americanized versions of Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are now reflections of Swedish-American culture.