Abstract
Drawing on Richard Schechner’s ideas of performance, modern ritual theory (especially the work of Seligman, Weller, Puett and Simon), and Butler’s considerations of performativity, this article considers that the performativity of Nordic Space is located in the tension between ritual and sincerity. Using examples from the 150th televised installment of Allsång på Skansen (a Swedish community sing-along event) I examine how repetition affords us the opportunity to create and re-create a sense of what Nordic could mean in a variety of arenas. Repeating Nordic Space as a blend of memory and re-creation continually reestablishes the refreshing tension between ritual and sincerity.
Keywords
ritual, sing-along, sincerity, Sweden, performativity
How to Cite
Bergman, C. E., (2010) “A PERFORMATIVITY Of NORDIC SPACE”, Ethnologia Europaea 40(2), 77-89. doi: https://doi.org/10.16995/ee.1070
Publisher Notes
- This article was previously published by Museum Tusculanum Press.