The Ambiguities of Authenticity in Little Sweden, U.S.A.

Abstract

Throughout the United States many small towns have been reinventing themselves as ethnic–themed tourist towns. Scholars often do not give the culture in these towns a second thought, automatically assuming that the culture on display is no more than a Disneyesque caricature with no grounding in the day–to–day lives of residents. In my exploration of one of these towns, Lindsborg, Kansas, I discovered that such scholarly assumptions are misguided. However, authenticity remains a valuable lens through which to view the struggles between commerce and culture that inevitably arise in such settings. Through an examination of residents' own notions of authenticity, and the ways these notions play out in discussions of the Dala horse (a prominent town symbol), a detailed view of the interactions between tourism and culture emerges.