PERFORMING A PRESENT FROM THE PAST : The Värmland heritage gift, materialized emotions and cultural connectivity
(2010) In Ethnologia Europaea 40(2). p.29-46- Abstract
Drawing on actor-network theory and theories of performance, this article discusses gift-giving as an expansive form of materializing relationships and delimiting boundaries between nations, regions, organizations and individuals in the wake of migration. Initially, I discuss gift-giving as a way of materializing relationships and building networks. Thereafter, I map out the social life of the Värmland Gift to America, a collection donated by the Värmland province in Sweden to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis in 1952. I suggest the coinage of heritage gift as a term to describe gifts with dense biographies which contain and enact multiple performances that simultaneously create and recreate the idea of gift-giving in its... (More)
Drawing on actor-network theory and theories of performance, this article discusses gift-giving as an expansive form of materializing relationships and delimiting boundaries between nations, regions, organizations and individuals in the wake of migration. Initially, I discuss gift-giving as a way of materializing relationships and building networks. Thereafter, I map out the social life of the Värmland Gift to America, a collection donated by the Värmland province in Sweden to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis in 1952. I suggest the coinage of heritage gift as a term to describe gifts with dense biographies which contain and enact multiple performances that simultaneously create and recreate the idea of gift-giving in its role as an activity that binds people together. The analysis of the Värmland Gift shows how such a heritage gift kept on the move over time involves not one but a series of performances which have fostered dynamic transatlantic relationships for over fifty years.
(Less)
- author
- Gradén, Lizette LU
- publishing date
- 2010
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Emigration, Gift-giving, Heritage gift, Performance, Transnational relationships
- in
- Ethnologia Europaea
- volume
- 40
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 18 pages
- publisher
- Open Library of Humanities
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:84859240454
- ISSN
- 0425-4597
- DOI
- 10.16995/ee.1067
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 846deec7-a7a3-48ed-ba9d-17e08715f229
- date added to LUP
- 2025-10-25 10:37:45
- date last changed
- 2025-11-11 09:35:33
@article{846deec7-a7a3-48ed-ba9d-17e08715f229,
abstract = {{<p>Drawing on actor-network theory and theories of performance, this article discusses gift-giving as an expansive form of materializing relationships and delimiting boundaries between nations, regions, organizations and individuals in the wake of migration. Initially, I discuss gift-giving as a way of materializing relationships and building networks. Thereafter, I map out the social life of the Värmland Gift to America, a collection donated by the Värmland province in Sweden to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis in 1952. I suggest the coinage of heritage gift as a term to describe gifts with dense biographies which contain and enact multiple performances that simultaneously create and recreate the idea of gift-giving in its role as an activity that binds people together. The analysis of the Värmland Gift shows how such a heritage gift kept on the move over time involves not one but a series of performances which have fostered dynamic transatlantic relationships for over fifty years.</p>}},
author = {{Gradén, Lizette}},
issn = {{0425-4597}},
keywords = {{Emigration; Gift-giving; Heritage gift; Performance; Transnational relationships}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{2}},
pages = {{29--46}},
publisher = {{Open Library of Humanities}},
series = {{Ethnologia Europaea}},
title = {{PERFORMING A PRESENT FROM THE PAST : The Värmland heritage gift, materialized emotions and cultural connectivity}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.16995/ee.1067}},
doi = {{10.16995/ee.1067}},
volume = {{40}},
year = {{2010}},
}