Kafferep som kulturarv
Author
Summary, in English
This thesis in applied cultural analysis investigate the phenomenon of “kafferep” (coffee par-ty), a Swedish term that is usually described as a social gathering where women meet in the home to drink coffee, eat cookies and cake, and talk. A gathering commonly popular in the late 19th century that today has been revitalized, where young women dress up in 50’s clothes and perform their idea of the past. The aim of this thesis is to investigate how the idea of a "past" is staged and performed through kafferep and how the participants through this relate to what they see as their cultural heritage. The study builds on previous Swedish ethnological research about coffee and everyday life. The material consists of interviews, participant ob-servation, question lists and Internet-based ethnography which was collected and analyzed through a phenomenological approach. The ambition is to regard heritage as a process where the individuals’ perception and meaning making is in focus. By using Bourdieu’s ideas of habitus, the field and symbolic capital as a theoretical framework, kafferep, and in the long term heritage, is analyzed in terms of inclusion and exclusion.
By seeing the performance of kafferep as a form of revitalization I show that the idea of heritage is something that creates cultural heritage in itself. By studying the various compo-nents that are highlighted in the performance of kafferep, such as vintage clothes and cakes, with the help of Daniel Millers theory of objectification I show how values of relationships and gender are baked in to the cakes. Through this analysis I show how ideas of the past is shared and valued equally by the participants of the kafferep and how this creates a notion of belonging to a "past" and a "present". It also requires certain things by the ones participating in the performance, and thus just some can regard this as part of their heritage. This leads into a discussion about heritage as something you can have and mentally relate to but also that this has to be taken into consideration for institutions working with cultural heritage.
By seeing the performance of kafferep as a form of revitalization I show that the idea of heritage is something that creates cultural heritage in itself. By studying the various compo-nents that are highlighted in the performance of kafferep, such as vintage clothes and cakes, with the help of Daniel Millers theory of objectification I show how values of relationships and gender are baked in to the cakes. Through this analysis I show how ideas of the past is shared and valued equally by the participants of the kafferep and how this creates a notion of belonging to a "past" and a "present". It also requires certain things by the ones participating in the performance, and thus just some can regard this as part of their heritage. This leads into a discussion about heritage as something you can have and mentally relate to but also that this has to be taken into consideration for institutions working with cultural heritage.
Department/s
Publishing year
2013
Language
Swedish
Full text
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Document type
Student publication for Master's degree (two years)
Topic
- Cultural Sciences
Keywords
- tradition
- småkakor
- revitalisering
- vintage
- kaffe
- husmorstrend
- genus
- kvinnligt kulturarv
- kulturanalys
- fenomenologi
- etnologi
- kafferep
- kulturarv
Supervisor
- Karin Salomonsson (Ph.D, Senior Lecturer)