The Village and Ethnology
The village Föra on the island Öland has twice been the object of study for curious ethnologists. In 1935 John Granlund made a thorough documentation of the "work and rhythm" of the village, focusing mainly on the old and traditional. In 1997 the author of this article has approached the same village as part of her work to analyse the relationship between people and landscape. This article outlines the changes that this village has been going through during the 62 years since Granlund' s visit; it also contains a discussion about the alterations that ethnology has been going through during the same period. The main questions are: How should ethnologists today deal with ethnological knowledge produced in what is often talked about as a different paradigm? Does today 's research really have nothing in common with ethnology written before the 1960s?
The village that in 1935 was studied as a relict area has since then gone through the same kind of modernization as many places in the Swedish countryside. Small farms, schools and shops have been closed down as the population has decreased. In summertime, however, the entire island Öland is turned into a tourist attraction. As ethnology has always followed in the footsteps of people, we are now - again - directing our attention to the country side. Maybe it is about time now for modem ethnology to find a way to treat country side in a serious way, as part of the society that we are analysing, and not just as a peripheral holiday setting.
