Cultural Diversity In Swedish-American Culture
Swedish-American Cultural diversity is what defines humanity. This diversity is directly correlated to the geographic site of the civilization: for example, Sweden. The Swedish are located in the upper latitudes of the northern hemisphere, a climate zone known for its harsh winters, short growing seasons and the Viking heritage. Due to this geography, the people of Sweden, who originated from nomadic tribes migrating from Germany, developed in a similar manner to the other civilizations of Europe, inclusive of pagan religions that were absorbed later by Christianity. For the Swedish tribes, many pagan festivals were adopted into daily life alongside Christian traditions, such as the Midsummer’s Day festival. Similarly many Christian rituals from other cultures became a part of Swedish tradition, such as St. Lucia’s Day. When
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While Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are not officially recognized by the American government as national holidays, the majority of Swedish emigrants and Swedish-Americans still celebrate. The festivals of St. Lucia and Midsummer's Day are two Swedish cultural practices embedded with deep religious meaning that over time and with the emigration to America have lost religious meaning as the festivals assimilated with the American standard of faith and became more of a cultural expression, creating the implications that without proper cultural preservation these festivals will be absorbed into other cultural celebrations such as the Italian celebration of St. Lucy’s Day or the Americanized, religiously meaningless May Day festival. The festival of St. Lucia is celebrated similarly all around the globe. On December 13th, the festival begins
While Midsummer’s Day and St. Lucia’s Day are not officially recognized by the American government as national holidays, the majority of Swedish emigrants and Swedish-Americans still celebrate. The festivals of St. Lucia and Midsummer's Day are two Swedish cultural practices embedded with deep religious meaning that over time and with the emigration to America have lost religious meaning as the festivals assimilated with the American standard of faith and became more of a cultural expression, creating the implications that without proper cultural preservation these festivals will be absorbed into other cultural celebrations such as the Italian celebration of St. Lucy’s Day or the Americanized, religiously meaningless May Day festival. The festival of St. Lucia is celebrated similarly all around the globe. On December 13th, the festival begins