Ethnic identities: sentimental, symbolic, substantive

We're back to ethnicity just as the Advent season summons many (Christian) Americans to combine their religious devotions with some performance of the culture of their pre-USA origins.  This will be breaking out all over the St. Olaf campus soon with a sort of camping up of Norwegian-ness by those claiming 100% Viking descent and those whose claim is admittedly fictive.  Yesterday (Rolf) Henry appeared in my office showing off his new tee-shirt . . . printed as if it were a Norwegian sweater and in the bookstore the latest variation of the official St. Olaf Norwegian sweater is on sale.

Tomorrow in class we tackle Michael Aune's essay, "Both Sides of the Hyphen," and his question about how St. Olaf's Norwegian-American founding might matter today.

Contemporary Norwegian Design

Pick one?
A)  Not at all.

B)  It is a sentimental, nostalgia for the great-great-grandparents.  Let's eat some goodies full of butter and almonds and tell some Ole and Lena jokes.  Perhaps this assumes some sort of familial relationship.

C)  It is symbolic of the old traditions.  No reason not to eat those cookies, wear those sweaters, even take a cruise in the fjords.  Why not celebrate the egalitarian values, remember the obstacles overcome, and greet the King and Queen when they are in town.  Maybe this is open to anyone who admires the heritage.

D)  It is substantive, not something dusted off for special occasions, but a living stream that contributes to our collective life together.  This option, as Aune points out, suggests that ethnic identity is dynamic rather than static, something that requires cultivation more than preservation.  This was the default situation for the immigrant generation who often had a "divided heart," but it is harder to sustain in subsequent generations or to share with others.  Does it require an inherited legacy, or is it possible for individuals to adopt this sort of ethnic identification? living 3422044656342204465