Got more Norwegian food, entertainers, vendors, raffle
prizes, and demonstrators?
Of course!
You‘ll find it all at the 2009 Norwegian Heritage Festival!
Saturday, April 11, from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. in PLU’s UniversityCenter.
Food: Visit the Norsk
Café in Chris Knutzen Hall , where the food choices will include smørbrød
(open-face sandwiches), delicious småkaker (cookies), ertesuppe (pea
soup), pølse med lompe (a sort of Norwegian hot dog), and fruktsuppe
(fruit soup), in addition to the aforementioned rømmegrøt (soured cream
pudding) and lefse!
Entertainment: While you’re
enjoying the food you will be entertained by several local Scandinavian musical
groups: the Normanna Male Chorus, Nordic Exposure (a folk dance band), the
Embla Lodge Leikarring dance group, and the Smilin’ Scandinavian!
An
exciting addition to the festival: Be
there at 1:30 p.m. to hear the official announcement of the 2009 recipient of
the Greater Tacoma Peace Prize. All of the participating organizations at the
festival support this worthy award.
Vendors: You’ll be
sure to find just the right sweater, lefse stick, or last minute Easter
gift at one of the many vendor booths from all over PierceCounty,
who will offer their unique Scandinavian goods for sale.
Demonstrations: Watch
demonstrations of Norwegian arts and crafts, including Rosemaling, Hardanger
embroidery, spinning, and wood-carving.
Information: Friendly
people at information tables will introduce you to the local Norwegian
organizations that make the Norwegian Heritage Festival possible – Norden Lodge
#2, Sons of Norway; Embla Lodge #2, Daughters of Norway, Nordlandslaget Nordyset,
and the ScandinavianCulturalCenter
at PLU.
Raffle
drawings: Thanks to the vendors and sponsoring
organizations, there will be several great prizes! Drawings will be held twice during the
festival. (You must be present to win.)
The
ScandinavianCulturalCenter: Finally, you
will want to take an opportunity to visit the SCC, which will be open during
the festival. Just take the elevator down to the 1st floor and see
this beautiful addition to the PLU campus, celebrating its 20th
anniversary this year! You won’t want to miss the new exhibit there, In
Nicholas Delin’s Footsteps, a photo exhibition on the historical Swedes and
Swedish-speaking Finns who were influential in early Tacoma
and Pierce County, Washington, from 1850 to 2000.
Greetings
to you and thank you for supporting the ScandinavianCulturalCenter with your
membership. I am grateful and want you
to know that your annual support means that the important and meaningful work
of the center will continue to inspire and enrich the lives of visitors, young
and (well…) not so young.
I
hope you can join us for some of our upcoming events, as we have a great deal
planned for the next couple of months (check out the details in the calendar
section). We began our Nordic Film
Series and have three more great films scheduled. You can read more about
the films in the article by Prof. Troy Storfjell on page 5. Our Norwegian
Heritage Festival is planned for April 11 so be sure to stop by, and a
lecture by Brian M. Magnusson is scheduled for April 5 - the official opening
of our wonderful new Nicholas Delin exhibit.Cooking classes are scheduled, along
with our ongoing language classes as well. Last, but certainly not least, the Annual
Spring Banquet is set for May 30, and I truly hope you will be able to join
us, because it will be extra special this year.
Did you know that the ScandinavianCulturalCenter
was opened in May of 1989? The SCC is 20 years old! We will be celebrating at the Spring Banquet,
so be sure to watch for more information.
Blessings
to all for a wonderful spring!
Hilsen, Lisa Marie
What it
means to be Norwegian today
Maren Anderson
I grew up with a strong sense that I was not simply an
American, rather a Norwegian-American. My grandparents reminisced about their homeland of Norway, telling stories of this
mythical perfection. When I decided to study Norwegian in college, my studies
were driven by a search for identity grounded in my ancestral roots. However, after four years of language and
culture study, my senior thesis opened my eyes to a new understanding of Norway and what
it means to be Norwegian today.
In our Languages and Literatures senior seminar this
fall, the class of 14 participants selected “In the Margins: Language, Culture
and Identity”. With this topic as my
guide, my semester’s work focused on literature published around the
celebration of Norway’s
centennial celebration in 2005.
In
1999, the Norwegian government formed a working group called “World Citizens
for 100 years”. The group led efforts to
commemorate the significance of Norway
remaining completely sovereign, examine the modern expressions of
Norwegian-ness, and reflect on how Norwegian identity may change in the next
century. One significant product out of
this working group was the publication of four anthologies on identity. The
anthology entitled Mangfold (Diversity) contains particularly
interesting essays and perspectives on how modern Norwegians express their
relationship to Norwegian nationality.
After analysis of two essays in the anthology, I
discovered surprising perspectives on the strength and sustainability of
national identity in the modern era of globalization. Expressing ideas of
national identity in the 21st century poses a very interesting
challenge because, the essay and anthology suggest, the importance of the
nation-state seems to be dwindling.
Rather, individuals are searching for their understandings of identity in
ideological groups and smaller communities—the all-encompassing metanarratives
are being replaced by smaller more precise narratives that more succinctly
express identity. Individuals are no
longer satisfied by allowing citizenship to be the main determinant of their
identity.
I
began my studies in Norwegian hoping to discover how my identity as a
Norwegian-American may still connect me to the revered land of Norway.
Yet, my senior capstone project has forever shifted my perspective on identity
in the 21st century.
Identity is never static, rather always shifting, and in this modern era
of globalization the understanding of what it means to be a Norwegian depends
more on personal narrative and experience rather than the possession of a
passport.
Scandinavian
Studies Program
A Message from the Chair, Troy
Storfjell
The last few weeks have involved
some hectic moments in planning as this year’s Nordic Film Series finally
got underway. Publicity posters and screening licenses have had to be arranged,
presenters contacted, and brief film summaries written. But, although it has
been a fair amount of work, it has been a pleasure. The attendance at our first
two films has been good, and with the 1995 Dogme film Italian for Beginners
(Italiensk for begyndere, Lone Scherfig, Denmark)
and the 1966 classic Persona (Ingmar
Bergman, Sweden)
we’ve watched two very different films from two very different periods in
Nordic cinema.
Interestingly, though, both films
have been very influential outside of Scandinavia.
Not only have they become required viewing in film studies programs around the
world, they have also gone on to inspire writers and directors in multiple
countries and cinematic traditions, even including Hollywood. While the Dogme movement’s rejection
of overproduction may have been most noticeable for the wave of shaky,
hand-held camera work that exploded onto televisions and movie screens in the
mid 1990s, its insistence on story over spectacle carried over into other sites
of production as well, inspiring a number of independent films that offered an
alternative to the over-the-top, blockbuster mainstream. And Bergman, of
course, has long been considered one of the central figures of the European auteur
tradition, highly respected both inside and outside of Hollywood. Persona itself strongly
influenced such films as Woody Allen’s Another Woman (1988), David
Fincher’s Fight Club (1999), and David Lynch’s Mulholland Dr.
(2001).
What the international reputations
and influences of these Nordic films helps to illustrate is the global nature
of film itself, and how no single national cinema can be understood in
isolation. European, Asian, Latin American, and Hollywood directors have been watching each
other’s works for generations, inspiring and provoking each other in such a way
that the global history of cinema can be viewed as one long conversation. We
hope that you will enjoy participating in that conversation through the
remainder of the Film Series. v
· Sunday, April 5
“Man Without a Past” Aki Kaurismaki, 2002 (Finland)
· Sunday, April 19
“Hunger” Henning Karlsen, 1966 (Norway)
· Sunday, May 10
“101 Reykjavik” Baltasar Kormakur, 2000 (Iceland)
What’s in a
Language?
January Term 2009 Course in Iceland and Norway
Professor Claudia Berguson
Programs of
Norwegian and Scandinavian Area Studies
January
Term 2009 Seminar Leader
In the February 26th edition of the
Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet, one article headline read “Kven er
mest fundamentalist?” (Who is most fundamentalist?). From the headline alone, one might assume
that the article dealt with religious fundamentalism, but it dealt instead with
the latest language debate in Norway. This debate tackles the question of whether
Norwegian national newspapers ought to be required to publish at least some of
their material in nynorsk, one of the nation’s two official forms of
Norwegian, or ought to remain exclusively bokmål publications. While the
debate poses more questions than answers, one thing is certain: Language in the
Nordic region continues to be a source of engaged debate and discussion.
This comes as no surprise to eleven students
who studied “Culture, Language and Identity in Iceland
and Norway”
on a PLU January Term course. The group, led by Professor Claudia Berguson,
spent three days of study on campus
before departing for Reykjavik by way of Copenhagen. After five days in Reykjavik,
the group moved on to Norway. Oslo was the “home base” for the group during the
next two weeks, with several days spent
in Volda/Ørsta and a day trip to Hamar.
During the three weeks abroad, the seminar group met with Norwegian and
Icelandic experts in a diverse number of settings –from national language councils
to national libraries, from urban university classrooms to cultural and
multicultural centers – and heard the common theme that language remains very
relevant to discussions of identity, nation building and globalization in the
small nations of Iceland and Norway. In
addition to guest lectures and presentations, the group met for discussions of
readings and to compare the developing understanding of language as a dynamic
and changing marker of identity.
Not all was study, of course. The group relaxed at Iceland’s famous Blue Lagoon, enjoyed tours of
national museums and cultural sites, and made individual excursions to ride
horses in Iceland, buy
Icelandic and Norwegian literature and DVDs, and brave a snowstorm to see the
statues at VigelandPark. In their final papers, students explored
topics ranging from the future of bokmål and nynorsk in Norway to a cultural comparison of attitudes
toward language preservation in Iceland
and Norway.
The
course was launched this year by the programs of Norwegian and Scandinavian
Area Studies to add depth to the curriculum and provide students with a
hands-on study of language beyond the classroom. Initiative for the course grew out the need
to address students’ questions about the relationship between the Scandinavian
languages, the existence of minority language forms, and the diversity of
accepted forms of written and spoken language.
Interested
in hearing more about the topic of culture, language and identity? Join us for a presentation at the ScandinavianCulturalCenter
on April 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Pekka and Perttu: Superb Performance
by Finnish Virtuosi
Gunnulf Myrbo
On
Friday, February 20th, in the ScandinavianCulturalCenter,
Pekka Pentikainen and Perttu Paappanen presented a highly impressive program of Finnish music. It was titled Finnish Fire and Ice
Accordion and Fiddle, a very fitting description of the performance. Pekka and Perttu both performed expertly on
various sizes of button accordions, while Perttu also performed on the
fiddle. The selections ranged from
traditional Finnish dance music to pieces recently composed by Pekka. The styles of music varied considerably, but
each piece was masterfully performed.
The program clearly impressed and delighted the audience.
The evening ended with
coffee/tea and småkaker (cookies), and an opportunity to meet and
converse with Pekka and Perttu. Again a
delightful evening at the SCC.
C A L E N D A R
EXHIBIT & EVENTS
Current Exhibit: In Nicholas Delin’s Footsteps, a phenomenal photography collection produced by
Professor Brian B. Magnusson. (See the
article in the January/February Scene for more information about this exhibit.)
Official Exhibit Opening and Lecture by Brian B.
Magnusson: Sunday, April 5, 6 PM
Norwegian Heritage Festival: Saturday, April 11, from 11 AM - 3 PM. Free admission, with raffles and
entertainment throughout the day! Join us for an immersion into Nordic culture,
music, dance, food, arts, and crafts. Announcement of 2009 GTPP laureate. (See
page 1)
Special Presentation on January Term Trip: Wednesday,
April 16, 7 PM. Prof. Claudia Berguson
and students will discuss culture, language and identity.
SAVE
THE DATE! May 30, Annual Spring Banquet, Celebrate the SCC’s
20th Anniversary!
NORDIC FILM SERIES in the
SCC - all films start at 3:00
p.m. Free admission!
Sunday, April 5 “Man Without a Past” Aki Kaurismaki, 2002
Sunday, April 19 “Hunger”
Henning Karlsen, 1966
Sunday, May 10 “101 Reykjavik”
Baltasar Kormakur, 2000
CLASSES
Scandinavian Cooking Classes: 10
AM - Noon; $5 per class; No registration required. (Class participants receive
samples of all foods demonstrated.)
Tuesday, March 10 Swedish Cooking Class
Norden Lodge #233 - Vasa Order of America;
Wednesday, March 11 Norwegian Cooking Class Embla
Lodge #2 - Daughters of Norway
Saturday, March 21 Norwegian Cooking Class
Embla Lodge #2 - Daughters of Norway
Tuesday, March 24 Norwegian Cooking Class
Embla Lodge #2 - Daughters of Norway
Saturday, March 28 Danish Cooking Class
Thyra Lodge #19 - Danish Sisterhood
Intermediate Norwegian
Language Classes: Mondays, 6-9
pm in the SCC
Beginning Norwegian
Language Classes:Tuesdays,
6-9 pm in the SCC
Contact: Audun
Toven 253-536-8392 or tovenat@plu.edu
MEETINGS
Danish
Sisterhood, April 1 at 11 am. Questions, call 253-539-0587
Danish
Sangaften, March 15, April 19, at 6 pm. Questions, call 253-984-6700
Executive
Board Meeting, March 17, 1 PM, UC 212
SCC Council Meetings, March 11 and April 15, 5:30 pm
in the SCC
ALSO OF INTEREST….
Tacoma - AalesundSisterCity
Food and Film Festival
“The
Bothersome Man” (a comedy-drama)
Thursday, April 2, at the Blue Mouse Theater. Tickets: $18. Doors open at 5:45
p.m. Film at 7:00 p.m. Tickets at the
theater (N. 27th and N. Proctor
St.) and at the Pacific Northwest Shop, 2702 N. Proctor St.,
253-752-2242. Norwegian food will be served, followed by cultural entertainment
and the showing of the film.
Visiting
Writers Series: Brad Land – “The Writer’s Story”
Thursday,
April 23: 5:00 p.m. in the Fireside Lounge at the Garfield Book Company,
followed by a reading at 7:00 p.m. in the Scandinavian Cultural Center. Join us
for an evening with Brad Land, author of the best-selling memoir Goat
and the novel Pilgrims Upon the Earth.
Book
signing and discussion: Saturday,
April 25, 3:00 p.m. at the Garfield Book Company
Chuck
Fowler and Capt. Mark Freeman. The co-authors of Tugboats on Puget Sound,
a brand new installment in the Images of America series, will be
in-store to discuss and sign their book.
The Book
Nook - A Time to
Relax and Read
Karen Giguere,Garfield Book Company
DOGHEAD, by Morten Ramsland . Winner of the Danish 'best novel' and 'best author' awards.
This novel about three
generations of a highly dysfunctional Norwegian family is an international
sensation, and is sure to gain devoted fans in the United States as well. The tale begins with the narrator visiting
his dying grandmother, where he finds out that the family stories told down the
generations have been lies, and that his grandfather was not a war hero but a
liar and a cheat, nicknamed “crackpot.”
By the time the real stories unfold, this book, like all great novels,
will never be forgotten.
GREATER TACOMA PEACE PRIZE
MARCH 31 is the Deadline...
to make a nomination for the2009 Greater Tacoma Peace Prize!With committee representation from the SCC,
Embla Lodge (Daughters of Norway), and Norden Lodge (Sons of Norway), the GTPP
is endorsed by the PierceCounty and Tacoma City
Councils and relies on sponsorships and contributions from local
businesses and individuals. The name of the 2009 recipient will be announced on
April 11 at the Norwegian Heritage Festival, and the award will be presented at
the SCC’s Spring Banquet/20th Anniversary Party on May 30. To find out how you
can help, and/or make a nomination for 2009, please call 253-564-2822, or visit
www.tacomapeaceprize.org.
will be several great prizes! Drawings will be held twice during the
festival. (You must be present to win.)
The
course was launched this year by the programs of Norwegian and Scandinavian
Area Studies to add depth to the curriculum and provide students with a
hands-on study of language beyond the classroom. Initiative for the course grew out the need
to address students’ questions about the relationship between the Scandinavian
languages, the existence of minority language forms, and the diversity of
accepted forms of written and spoken language.
GREATER TACOMA PEACE PRIZE