Serious Nonsense: Groundhog Lodges, Versammlinge, and Pennsylvania German Heritage Contributor(s): Donner, William W. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0271071184 ISBN-13: 9780271071183 Publisher: Penn State University Press OUR PRICE: $28.45 Product Type: Paperback Published: May 2016 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Ethnic Studies - General - History | United States - State & Local - Middle Atlantic (dc, De, Md, Nj, Ny, Pa) - Social Science | Customs & Traditions |
Dewey: 305.893 |
LCCN: 2015038258 |
Series: Keystone Books |
Physical Information: 0.5" H x 5.9" W x 8.1" (0.60 lbs) 208 pages |
Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - German - Chronological Period - 20th Century - Geographic Orientation - Pennsylvania |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Versammlinge--community events filled with songs, performances, speeches, and skits that celebrate Pennsylvania German heritage and culture--are held entirely in the Pennsylvania German Deitsch language. Some, the "groundhog lodges," feature a ceremony honoring the groundhog, while others do not. These unique meetings, expressions of a distinctive ethnic identity in the context of a rapidly changing society, have become a traditional mainstay among Pennsylvania Germans who have worked to preserve their language and culture into the twenty-first century. Serious Nonsense introduces readers to Pennsylvania German cultural practices that tourists rarely see and that outsiders, including most scholars, rarely learn about. The book explores the origins of the versammlinge and details the practice's significance since the 1930s, when the first meetings of the Pennsylvania German groundhog lodges were held. Much as they did then, versammlinge today follow a pattern of prayers, patriotism, and speeches extolling values associated with Pennsylvania German identity, as well as theatrical and oral events that humorously contrast a simpler past with a more complex and confusing present. And the groundhog lodges feature one Pennsylvania German tradition that has become familiar in popular culture: groundhog weather prognostication. |
Contributor Bio(s): Donner, William W.: - William W. Donner is Professor of Anthropology at Kutztown University. |