Lived Ethos in Norwegian America

311 Pages·2013·3.16 MB·English

by  Erika Claire Strandjord

Lived Ethos in Norwegian America: Rhetorical Education and Practice

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By

Erika Claire Strandjord, M.A.

Graduate Program in English

The Ohio State University
2013

Dissertation Committee:

Nan Johnson, Advisor

Dorothy Noyes

James Fredal

Elizabeth Weiser
Copyright by

Erika Claire Strandjord

2013
Abstract

The rhetorical concept of ethos describes how people create character, authority,
and identity in persuasive texts and acts. While ethos is usually understood as
constructed in the moment, this study extends the scope of ethos to encompass everyday
actions. Cultivating an ethos that is imitated and lived out in daily life and not just in
textual productions means that the ethos becomes what this study calls lived ethos. This
study uses rhetoric and folklore scholarship to theorize lived ethos and the rhetorical
education that teaches this ethos. Furthermore, this study analyzes the rhetorical
education presented by three institutions in the Norwegian-American community in order
to examine how an education in lived ethos functions in the community.
Chapter two explores how the fraternal organization Sons of Norway selected
elements of the Norwegian and Norwegian-American past to create an admirable and
imitable ethos for the present. Using archival materials that from the late years of World
War I through the end of World War II, this chapter argues that Sons of Norway used
exemplars to create a more-than-American identity that Norwegian Americans could
generally identify with and also presented members with exemplars that spoke to the
different interests and demographics in the community.
Chapter three proposes a new site of rhetorical exploration: handcrafts. The work
of two instructors, Harley Refsal and Kate Martinson, at the Vesterheim Museum in
Decorah, Iowa demonstrates how handcraft education persuades students to take up
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Norwegian-American identifications. Martinson and Refsal use historical and
contemporary exemplars, examples of craft, and the teaching of practice to persuade
students to take up practices like woodcarving and nålbinding (a netting technique) as an
expression of a Norwegian-American ethos. The learning and practicing of a handcraft
leads to an ethos that is lived out in the everyday practice of the handcraft.
Chapter four examines how Old World Wisconsin, an outdoor museum focused
on immigrant history, persuades people to identify with their own immigrant history
through the use of imaginative empathy, engaging the senses, and taking action within
historical environments. Two Norwegian immigrant farmhouses and a school give
Norwegian-American visitors a chance to forge identifications with the histories of
inequality, struggle, and tradition portrayed at the sites. Norwegian-American visitors
create a deeper empathetic tie to the past and can reflect on how present-day practices
and everyday life are tied to the past.
Lived ethos links individuals to communities by bringing the past into the present
and by persuading community members to see everyday practices as expressions of
identity. Lived ethos invites scholars to consider how everyday rhetorical acts shape the
world around us and lead to complex identifications that cannot be reduced to a single
label like “American.” The move to a more complicated understanding of ethos as it is
lived in daily life supports an understanding of individuals and communities as
complicated, shifting, and most importantly, mutually sustaining. Lived ethos enables a
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rich understanding of identity and rhetorical strategies that use the past to shape the
present and open doors for analysis, reflection, and pedagogy.
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Dedication

To my parents and my sister, my original (and favorite) exemplars.

Mange tusen takk.

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Acknowledgments

This project never would have happened without the support of many different
people and institutions. My thanks first to the staff of the sites where I conducted
research. Jeff Sauve and Gary De Krey at the Norwegian-American Historical
Association archives in Northfield, Minnesota provided invaluable assistance in locating
historical materials produced by Sons of Norway. My thanks also to NAHA for allowing
the use of images of Sons of Norway texts. Kate Martinson, Darlene Fossum-Martin,
Charlie Langton, and Harley Refsal all generously gave their time to make my research at
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum a success. Their interest in and enthusiasm
for my project reminded me that my work matters beyond the academy. Finally, thanks
to the curatorial staff at Old World Wisconsin who took time from their busy schedules to
provide interviews and training materials that gave me a behind-the-scenes look at the
museum and its operations. Without the support of everyone at these sites this project
could not have happened.
Many thanks are due to my committee. Nan Johnson knew when to push, when to
question, and when to say “go for it!” She has influenced me as a scholar and a teacher,
and I hope to follow her example. The excellent reading suggestions and insightful
criticism that Dorothy Noyes gave added a new and necessary dimension to my work as a
rhetorician. James Fredal introduced me to the study of rhetoric at the graduate level, and
his enthusiasm for the subject and support of my work made graduate school more
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enjoyable. For her enthusiasm about my project alone Elizabeth Weiser deserves thanks,
but her ability to see the arguments I was trying to make in early drafts of chapters helped
me more than I can say.
Without Elizabeth Brewer and Deborah Kuzawa the early chapters of this project
would have been much harder to write. Their support, comments, and conversation
reminded me that scholarship should be an interesting discussion that invites people to
contribute. Julia Voss, Jen Herman, and Katherine DeLuca provided wonderful
encouragement and aid during the final weeks of writing and revising. Annie
Mendenhall and Paige Banaji deserve thanks for the many intangible contributions they
made. Taylor came to the rescue more than once, and his unflagging support of and
confidence in my abilities made all the difference.
Finally, without my parents and my sister this project never would have happened. Thank
you for introducing me to Norwegian America even though you had no idea that those
“heritage trips” would end up inspiring this project. Thanks also for being with me and
cheering me on every step of the way. Every page of this dissertation is for you, but I
will not make you read it.

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Vita

2002................................................................River Valley High School

2006................................................................B.A. English, Luther College

2008................................................................M.A. English, The Ohio State University

2009 to 2010 Graduate Administrative Associate,
Department of English, The Ohio State
University

2010 to present Graduate Teaching Associate, Department
of English, The Ohio State University

Fields of Study

Major Field: English

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Table of Contents
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments ......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Introductory Anecdote .................................................................................................................. 1
Chapter 1: Lived Ethos and Rhetorical Education .................................................................... 4
Learning and Living Ethos: Rhetorical Education and its Effects ........................................... 12
Usable Pasts and Exemplars in Lived Ethos .............................................................................................. 24
The Role of Tradition in Lived Ethos ............................................................................................................ 35
The Education in and Expression of Lived Ethos through Practice ................................................ 50
The Results of Lived Ethos ................................................................................................................................ 59
Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................ 67
Chapter 2: “To maintain and further interest in everything that is good and noble”:
History, Exemplars, and Lived Ethos in Sons of Norway, 1918-1946 ..................................... 71
Sons of Norway: History and Ethos in New Contexts .................................................................. 74
The Usable Past: Crafting Ethos in Times of Change .................................................................. 88
Customizable Exemplars: Norwegian National Heroes, Workers, and Women ............. 122
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 139
Chapter 3: Lived Ethos and Handcraft Traditions: Rhetorical Education at Vesterheim
Norwegian-American Museum ................................................................................................. 142
Handcrafts at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum .................................................... 148
Exemplars of Lived Ethos, Exemplars of Craft ........................................................................... 156
History, Examples, and Practice as Rhetorical Education ..................................................... 171
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 202
Chapter 4: Living History and Lived Ethos: Rhetorical Education at Old World Wisconsin
...................................................................................................................................................... 206
Old World Wisconsin as an Institution of Rhetorical Education ......................................... 211
Complicating Ethos through History ............................................................................................ 222
Constructing a Norwegian-American Ethos at Old World Wisconsin ................................ 238
Imaginative Empathy as Paths to Ethos ................................................................................................... 241
Engaging the Senses as Rhetorical Education ....................................................................................... 250
Action as Rhetorical Education .................................................................................................................... 260
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 271
Afterword: Reflections on Living and Teaching Ethos .......................................................... 274
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 286
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