Materialities on the Move : Identity and Material Culture among the Forest Finns in 17th Century Sweden and America
Ekengren, Fredrik LU
(2013)
In Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology
37.
p.147-165
- Abstract
- This chapter takes its departure in the persistent mythology surrounding the so-called forest Finns who migrated from Finland to Sweden and further on to America in the seventeenth century. The forest Finns have traditionally been regarded as a clear-cut and bounded ethnical group, represented by a specific suit of material culture and practices. However, by comparing archaeological remains and written sources from both Sweden and America, it can be argued that the Finnish-speaking migrants fairly quickly transformed their traditions from the homeland and melded their material culture together with practices of various origins. It is suggested that while certain practices may have been used to inscribe the new environment with a sense of... (More)
- This chapter takes its departure in the persistent mythology surrounding the so-called forest Finns who migrated from Finland to Sweden and further on to America in the seventeenth century. The forest Finns have traditionally been regarded as a clear-cut and bounded ethnical group, represented by a specific suit of material culture and practices. However, by comparing archaeological remains and written sources from both Sweden and America, it can be argued that the Finnish-speaking migrants fairly quickly transformed their traditions from the homeland and melded their material culture together with practices of various origins. It is suggested that while certain practices may have been used to inscribe the new environment with a sense of familiarity, perhaps as part of a strategy to retain the link to a perceived cultural background, this was likewise an amalgamation where old practices blended with new ones. The forests Finns were thus living within a field of tension between difference and hybridity—a testament to the diversity of early modern Sweden and America. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3119321
- author
- Ekengren, Fredrik
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2013
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Forest Finns, New Sweden, Sweden, Identity, Ethnicity, Material culture, Amalgamation, Colonial America, Archaeology, Colonialism
- host publication
- Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity : Small Time Agents in a Global Arena - Small Time Agents in a Global Arena
- series title
- Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology
- editor
- Naum, Magdalena and Nordin, Jonas M.
- volume
- 37
- pages
- 147 - 165
- publisher
- Springer
- ISSN
- 2628-8125
- 1574-0439
- ISBN
- 978-1-4614-6201-9
- 978-1-4939-0141-8
- 978-1-4614-6202-6
- DOI
- 10.1007/978-1-4614-6202-6_9
- project
- Sweden in the Delaware valley. Everyday life and identities in the seventeenth century colony of New Sweden
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 34cc2081-0575-434a-8aec-7fa502e75317 (old id 3119321)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 10:14:55
- date last changed
- 2025-12-30 16:49:51
@inbook{34cc2081-0575-434a-8aec-7fa502e75317,
abstract = {{This chapter takes its departure in the persistent mythology surrounding the so-called forest Finns who migrated from Finland to Sweden and further on to America in the seventeenth century. The forest Finns have traditionally been regarded as a clear-cut and bounded ethnical group, represented by a specific suit of material culture and practices. However, by comparing archaeological remains and written sources from both Sweden and America, it can be argued that the Finnish-speaking migrants fairly quickly transformed their traditions from the homeland and melded their material culture together with practices of various origins. It is suggested that while certain practices may have been used to inscribe the new environment with a sense of familiarity, perhaps as part of a strategy to retain the link to a perceived cultural background, this was likewise an amalgamation where old practices blended with new ones. The forests Finns were thus living within a field of tension between difference and hybridity—a testament to the diversity of early modern Sweden and America.}},
author = {{Ekengren, Fredrik}},
booktitle = {{Scandinavian Colonialism and the Rise of Modernity : Small Time Agents in a Global Arena}},
editor = {{Naum, Magdalena and Nordin, Jonas M.}},
isbn = {{978-1-4614-6201-9}},
issn = {{2628-8125}},
keywords = {{Forest Finns; New Sweden; Sweden; Identity; Ethnicity; Material culture; Amalgamation; Colonial America; Archaeology; Colonialism}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{147--165}},
publisher = {{Springer}},
series = {{Contributions To Global Historical Archaeology}},
title = {{Materialities on the Move : Identity and Material Culture among the Forest Finns in 17th Century Sweden and America}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6202-6_9}},
doi = {{10.1007/978-1-4614-6202-6_9}},
volume = {{37}},
year = {{2013}},
}