Heritage on Stage: The Invention of Ethnic Place in America's Little SwitzerlandThe southwestern Wisconsin town of New Glarus--known internationally for its annual Wilhelm Tell festival, and for decades a favorite cultural destination of tourists and visitors to Wisconsin--comes vividly into focus in Steven D. Hoelscher's many-layered examination of the invention of ethnic place in "America's Little Switzerland." Drawing on sociology, social history, ethnic studies, performance studies, geography, and history, Hoelscher opens up a timely, richly informative and provocative discussion of the ways in which landscape, heritage, and the search for authenticity create identity in a unique ethnic American community. The questions Hoelscher raises about the politics of culture, the role of memory, and the willful manipulation of the past will fascinate historians, geographers, and scholars of stage performance and cultural studies, and are sure to stimulate and challenge all readers interested in Wisconsin history. Both a sensitive portrait of a living community's special identity and a probing exploration of the ways this identity is invented, presented for the public, and sustained, Heritage on Stage is a ground-breaking work and a significant contribution toward the understanding of our nation's perception of itself and its ethnicity. |
Contents
A Place More Swiss than Switzerland | 3 |
PART I | 11 |
PART II | 73 |
Copyright | |
10 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
anniversary antimodernism August Cambridge Canton Glarus celebration century Chalet cheese Chicago church commemoration consin Conzen cultural displays David David Hollinger Deutsch Schweizerische Courier diversity drama Edwin Barlow Elda Schiesser Emphasis added Esther Stauffacher Ethnic History ethnic identity ethnic place event festival Folklore Fred Holmes Geographic George George W German GHR-NS Glarners Glarus Historical Society Glarus Post Glarus's Green County groups Hall of History Herbert Kubly heritage Hill homeland interview Invention of Ethnicity Journal of American July Kilbi landscape Landsgemeinde Louis Adamic Madison Millard Tschudy Milwaukee modern Monroe museum National NGHSA Norwegian official culture Old World Wisconsin past performance pioneer Politics Princeton public memory region Rural Schmid Schneider September social Society of Wisconsin Streiff Swiss American Swiss Colony Swiss Historical Village Swiss Village Swisscapes Switzerland Tell Play theme park tion town tradition University of Wisconsin University Press vernacular village's Wilhelm Tell Wiscon WTCGA-ES Yodel York Zürich
References to this book
Race, Ethnicity, and Place in a Changing America John W. Frazier,Eugene Tettey-Fio No preview available - 2006 |