I’ve been watching this old low budget documentary about Norwegians in America and the big take away seems to be that when people immigrate en masse they mentally freeze time in their country of origin and try and preserve those “traditions”. It seems ludicrous hundreds of years later when actual people from Norway come to film them because nobody has dressed or acted like that in their country in like 200 years. At what point do people stop being immigrants and are just “American”?
How are they freezed in that time of their country when they don't even speak the language? Lol they're just larping
Owen Nelson
Most of them are bilingual, faggot. My family is German and did the same thing but stopped during/after WWII to prevent being seen as spies. That's at least what I'm told.
Grayson Anderson
>How are they freezed in that time of their country when they don't even speak the language? The only people preserving it are all extremely old now, and they’re just putting on annual festivals where they all get dressed up in the style of clothes their grandparents who first immigrated would have worn and playing music that hasn’t been popular in their “home” country in 200 years.
Chase King
You're Norwegian. And probably a vegan. I won't hold this crime against you since you're already seething - you're a wuss.
Let's just just agree with that. You've got a government degree and your knees are fat.
You're dickless. Cross-eyed and pale. Freckles in your anus and your breath is stale.
You're stinky. Not the nicest smell. Your winkys like a pinky and your balls as well.
You got dabbed on. By the freshest Canadian. Take a screenshot bitch I know my ass is radiant.
>The only people preserving it are all extremely old now, and they’re just putting on annual festivals where they all get dressed up in the style of clothes their grandparents who first immigrated would have worn and playing music that hasn’t been popular in their “home” country in 200 years.
the whole concept of a insulated group of immigrants being a reflection of a lost culture sounds really interesting though. obviously it wouldnt work in the usa (the destroyer of all cultures) but do you know any other examples of this happening? one i can think of is iceland retaining most of the norse language
Nolan Barnes
I’m curious what that seems like for somebody from Norway. Because to these very elderly Americans they think they’re carrying on the spirit of Norwegian culture. But I have to imagine from your perspective it must look like a perverse funhouse mirror reflecting a distorted image of what vaguely resembles extremely old and out of date cultural practices
Oliver Fisher
Chink
Christian Ward
>but do you know any other examples of this happening? I mean sure it’s happened tons of times throughout US history. It’s why east coast Italians still use slang that was popular at the turn of the last century. Or even more widespread, why the New England accent sounds the way it does. When the first immigrants to that area showed up most people on both continents sounded something like a generic American accent. But because of the heavy trade between England and New England at the time Americans got word that what was becoming “classy” in England was to drop their “r’s” at the end of words. Because it took so long to get across the ocean at that time what that eventually morphed into is the New England accent. It’s Americans doing their best impression of what they had heard British aristocracy were speaking like at the time by word of mouth
Evan Gomez
>they mentally freeze time in their country no they don't. they mentally time freeze in their country
Luke Moore
adjectives come before nouns in English, idiot.
Zachary Johnson
I'd compare them to weebs. They seem to have an extremely romanticized idea of what nordic culture is. Their bunads look really shitty as well, like cheap Chinese knock offs.
Joshua Ortiz
>burger education THEY ARE MENTALLY FROZEN IN TIME THEY ARE MENTALLY TIME-FROZEN
Brandon Harris
>I'd compare them to weebs. Weebs are at least somewhat with the times. The parts of Japanese culture they gravitate towards is largely fringe and marginalized- in that the majority of Japanese people living in Japan aren’t into it, but at least it’s current and up to date. The stuff these “traditionalists” doesn’t seem like things actual modern Norwegians practice. Like do you guys like to get all dressed up in clothes from 1842 and do dances from that era?
Nathaniel White
that's not what you wrote before, dumbass. at least you got it right this time.
Jose Davis
I'm sorry for my rhymes OP I just wanted to talk shit for no reason. I love you.
Also American, chinks can't drop such slick rhymes.
I mean, kinda. We did practice a bit of halling dance in HS gym class. And people still wear bunads when they go through confirmation or on our national day (Mostly women though, most men wear normal suits). They would stick out like a sore thumb here though.
Luke Lopez
there is no such thing as an "American" The USA is an economic colonization zone What gets called "Norwegian-Americans" are actually just Norwegian colonists who have adapted their old culture to their new environs This applies to every single ethnic group who comes here, the founding fathers were Anglo colonists with their own spin on Anglo culture Not even "native-americans" are actually Americans they're just whatever tribe they call themselves
Nicholas Butler
>Or even more widespread, why the New England accent sounds the way it does. When the first immigrants to that area showed up most people on both continents sounded something like a generic American accent Damn that's interesting. i don't get why the american accent didn't evolve much from its original form compared to the british. but the examples (this and norweigan) aren't retaining a full culture, they're just a few isolated cultural practices or pronounciation of a few phrases. i mean are there any examples where the people speak the originla language and retain a virtually identical culture? Wait the amish might count
Robert Collins
>What gets called "Norwegian-Americans" are actually just Norwegian colonists who have adapted their old culture to their new environs i'm an ethnic "swede" and "german", but realistically 99.9% of people like me who claim these ancestries just had one great great great grandparent that immigrated from there. i'm probably only like 2% german lets be real they're adapting their genes too not just culture
Elijah Baker
I mean we had a square dancing segment in PE class, which is largely an out of date tradition, at least in my part of the US, so I guess that makes sense. But would these people seem more like the Americans that get dressed up Civil War reinstatements we have here? Do you guys have an equivalent of some kind of fringe group that’s lived in Norway for generations, but still reenacts things from pagan times or something?
Kevin Lee
>Wait the amish might count The Amish are a group that self insulated themselves from the outside world to form their own unique culture. So because of that they don’t really work as the “time capsule” you sound like you might be hoping them to be. They were forced to internet enough with the “English” that today we all speak a recognizable form of the same language, but they’ve shot off culturally in their own direction for over a century now
