Serious Nonsense
Groundhog Lodges, Versammlinge, and Pennsylvania German Heritage
Seiten
2016
Pennsylvania State University Press (Verlag)
978-0-271-07118-3 (ISBN)
Pennsylvania State University Press (Verlag)
978-0-271-07118-3 (ISBN)
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Explores Pennsylvania German versammlinge (meetings), where participants celebrate and preserve their heritage and culture. Argues that these gatherings, conducted in the Pennsylvania German Deitsch language, are rooted in American communicative styles that date back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, before mass and electronic media.
Versammlinge—community events filled with songs, performances, speeches, and skits that celebrate Pennsylvania German heritage and culture—are held entirely in the Pennsylvania German Deitsch language. Some, the “groundhog lodges,” feature a ceremony honoring the groundhog, while others do not. These unique meetings, expressions of a distinctive ethnic identity in the context of a rapidly changing society, have become a traditional mainstay among Pennsylvania Germans who have worked to preserve their language and culture into the twenty-first century.
Serious Nonsense introduces readers to Pennsylvania German cultural practices that tourists rarely see and that outsiders, including most scholars, rarely learn about. The book explores the origins of the versammlinge and details the practice’s significance since the 1930s, when the first meetings of the Pennsylvania German groundhog lodges were held. Much as they did then, versammlinge today follow a pattern of prayers, patriotism, and speeches extolling values associated with Pennsylvania German identity, as well as theatrical and oral events that humorously contrast a simpler past with a more complex and confusing present. And the groundhog lodges feature one Pennsylvania German tradition that has become familiar in popular culture: groundhog weather prognostication.
Versammlinge—community events filled with songs, performances, speeches, and skits that celebrate Pennsylvania German heritage and culture—are held entirely in the Pennsylvania German Deitsch language. Some, the “groundhog lodges,” feature a ceremony honoring the groundhog, while others do not. These unique meetings, expressions of a distinctive ethnic identity in the context of a rapidly changing society, have become a traditional mainstay among Pennsylvania Germans who have worked to preserve their language and culture into the twenty-first century.
Serious Nonsense introduces readers to Pennsylvania German cultural practices that tourists rarely see and that outsiders, including most scholars, rarely learn about. The book explores the origins of the versammlinge and details the practice’s significance since the 1930s, when the first meetings of the Pennsylvania German groundhog lodges were held. Much as they did then, versammlinge today follow a pattern of prayers, patriotism, and speeches extolling values associated with Pennsylvania German identity, as well as theatrical and oral events that humorously contrast a simpler past with a more complex and confusing present. And the groundhog lodges feature one Pennsylvania German tradition that has become familiar in popular culture: groundhog weather prognostication.
William W. Donner is Professor of Anthropology at Kutztown University.
List of Illustrations
Preface
Introduction
1The People and Language That the Versammlinge Celebrate
2Making Tradition: The Origins and Development of the Versammlinge
3“Let Us Deitsche Be What We Are”: The Structure of Versammling Events
4Theatricality: Performing Tradition
5The Message of the Versammlinge: The Reverend Clarence Rahn and the Main Speech
6Region and Nation: Contexts for the Versammling Movement
7The Future of Pennsylvania Germans and Their Versammlinge
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 23.04.2016 |
|---|---|
| Reihe/Serie | Keystone Books |
| Zusatzinfo | 42 Halftones, black and white |
| Verlagsort | University Park |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 203 mm |
| Gewicht | 340 g |
| Themenwelt | Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Geschichte / Politik ► Allgemeines / Lexika |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Altertum / Antike | |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Kulturgeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Spezielle Soziologien | |
| ISBN-10 | 0-271-07118-4 / 0271071184 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0-271-07118-3 / 9780271071183 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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