Hip heritage and contemporary tastes. Packaging the Nordic in the American cultural market

Authors

  • Lizette Gradén Lund University
  • Tom O’Dell Lund University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5617/nm.6397

Keywords:

heritage making, cultural economy, hip heritage, museums, curatorial agency, Nordic culture, Nordic-America, Swedish-America

Abstract

This article focuses on two institutions, the American Swedish Institute
and the Nordic Heritage Museum that have spent the first part of the twenty-first
century thinking and rethinking what the heritage under their auspices can be. In
doing this, the text problematizes the manner in which elements of Nordic history
and identity are being re-thought and re-framed in the cultural and economic
context of the American heritage market. The article asks, how is heritage affected
when it is increasingly framed as a marketable commodity? As part of the analysis
the article discusses the manner in which these museums are intensively and
consciously striving to be cool and chic, but even trend and fashion sensitive as
they position themselves in the growing and competitive market of what we call
hip heritage.

Author Biographies

Lizette Gradén, Lund University

Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences

Ph.D., Associate Professor

Tom O’Dell, Lund University

Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences

Professor of Ethnology



Downloads

Issue

Section

Articles