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 Science
The 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 cultures
Cultural Historical museums – Civilized cultures
Think of representation
also 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
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Who
Why
How
Representation
Goal