In this essay I have investigated the change of letter-writing Swedish Americans' life stories during the period 1927-1938. The purpose of this study was to investigate the fate of Swedish Americans' life stories in the years 1927-1938. In order to make the study of life stories, I have assumed that in those judgments about the past / present and future as well as assessments of the relationship to their homeland and the new land can be found in correspondence with the home country. To study the life story, I have seen these as indicators of the level from which the following questions are formulated:
* What was the dominant information contained in the Swedish-American newspapers during the different periods?
* What are the flashbacks and the present and future assessments Swedish Americans made in the letters and life stories? *
*How do the writers looked at the Swedish and the U.S society in the letters and life stories?
Research on Swedish Americans' situation in the years 1937-1938 is meticulously with. Has the Swedish American situation studied, it has usually been in a larger study and then have only appeared as parentheses. Research Position regarding emigration and the Great Depression is widespread as separate phenomena. Unite the two, studied Swedish Americans during the recession years are open research issues to be found. Theoretically, my talk dealt with concepts such as identity, culture and narrative elements. The method has been hermeneutic. The study I have concluded that America was a big disappointment for those who just around the Great Depression arrived. Those who went over in the 1920's experienced a few years of good times, but ended abruptly in depression, as reflected in the letters. Exceptions are the unestablished working women who felt they got better. Of the material to judge the weighted otherwise these people the Swedish society more than the U.S.. Often they felt cheated, deceived and betrayed. While they ended up in the crisis, America provided the beginnings of a welfare state building in Sweden. Some returned to Sweden, but many could not afford to do so. The of the hardest hit by the crisis and thus had the greatest reason to yearn for the security of Sweden were often settled in America until the crisis subsided and they could work together money for a passage ticket. Without fully able to confirm it, it seems that the growing security of the new Socialist society in Sweden became more attractive to those who traveled close to the depression and for those most affected.
The Swedish-Americans who had been a long time in America often had a more hopeful attitude, they had known of the bad times in America before. The Swedish-Americans who had been better off had also often a more hopeful attitude. Swedish-Americans who were involved in agriculture seems more have waited out the hard times in America instead of returning to Sweden. They had a more individual approach and in many cases had gone to America as a result of land hunger. Their prospects looked at this way, different than what many of those gainfully employed prospect did. The employed worker perspectives were often shorter and therefore had not the same long-term strategies and hence the same need to confirm the American dream for their environment. Their approach was also more collectivist and were therefore more attracted to the political direction of Sweden took over what the farmers of Swedish-Americans were. In the essay once I have seen how a predominantly hopeful and reflective approach (1927-1930) of its presence in history, the present and the future is shifting into question (1931-1934) and then to action (1935-1938) in his letters home to Sweden. During 1927-1930 presents the most Swedish Americans reflective biographies. They believe the period on American society and looks still a future where, despite the fact that The Great Depression begins to develop. 1931-1934 is considering a questioning attitude in life stories. An increasing number of Swedish-Americans drafted that country they were in did not live up to their dreams and their life story did not include the American dream. 1935-1938, it is not questioning that characterizes the letter writing, but it's determination and transparency. Protective barrier to the home country is gone and the writers acknowledge the greater the distress they experienced. To Sweden attributed the home in terms that they have decided to either stay in America, that they now lived through the worst and that everything can only get better or they write home about her defeat and tells us that they intend to return to Sweden as soon as they can. The relationship to American society against the Swedish follow in much this. During the first period is approaching, most Swedish-American writers in American society. The result is that they are also distancing themselves from Swedish society. During the period of two distances itself a major part of Swedish-Americans away from American society as well as those at the same moment an expression of overtures to the Swedish society. In period three when the goal awareness strengthened by the Swedish-American writers and society business cycle returned upward, it was a third of the writers who clearly distanced themselves from American society. Some of these returned to Sweden, others were not able to do it even though it was their desire.The drawback with the letters as source material has been that the poorest Swedish Americans not been seen partly as a result out of that they had no money for postage and letters and it may have been because they were not literate. Furthermore, the disadvantage of the material to the Swedish-Americans who had an active approach to his Swedish background are not illustrated. These are disadvantages because out there can give a distortion of the source material. The last problem has been partially mitigated by the source material is supplemented with life stories that are recorded afterwards. After all, it has been possible to find biographies of the letters but in the deepest crisis distorted letters to a large extent to the type identities of other Swedish-Americans. This is particularly evident in the letter writer who has a short expectation horizon, ie professional workers. Some time after the crisis, depicting the letters again their own life stories.