Tales of Contact and Change:
Traditional Stories of Immigration

November 11, 12, & 13, 2004
Location: The Pyle Center in Madison, Wisconsin
Free and open to the public

The Max Kade Institute and the Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures present a unique educational experience. Join international scholars in exploring traditional narratives in a regional and global context, and listen to stories from a diverse range of ethnic communities in the Upper Midwest reflecting the immigration experience from the nineteenth century to the present.

Tales of Contact and Change:
Immigrant Stories from the Upper Midwest and Around the World

Most of us living in the Upper Midwest are either descendants of immigrants or immigrants ourselves. During the nineteenth century, many newcomers to this region hailed from Europe, especially German-speaking Europe. Once in their new homeland, they encountered people who not only spoke different languages but also had different cultures and traditions. These might have included Yankees from the East Coast, immigrants from elsewhere in Europe (especially Scandinavia, but also Southern and Eastern Europe), and Native Americans, not to mention other German-speakers from European regions different from their own. In this century, Wisconsin and neighboring states are still a crossroads for people of different backgrounds, but now the new immigrants come from Asia, Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, Bosnia, Croatia, or Albania. And in the ever-changing flow of global migration in this century, German-speaking countries in Europe have also become a destination for immigrants.

No matter where they came from and when they moved, immigrants have faced an unparalleled, life-changing experience that has been talked about and processed in a multitude of different forms of narrative. We have all heard stories of immigration told in letters, journals, or articles and retold in family stories, jokes, and songs. Today many immigrants also use video and audio tape to share their experiences. In a more subtle way, immigrants alter traditional tales by adding elements of a new neighbor’s tradition to the story line or by using expressions from a different language. On the other side of the coin of contact, the receiving society adds elements from immigrants’ cultures and languages to its own narratives.

In all these stories, however, we find common themes. This conference on “Tales of Contact and Change” brings together scholars, storytellers, and the public to explore these themes and to listen to the fascinating, traditional, often personal and funny stories that weave the narrative fabric of our multicultural, global society.

Schedule of Events | Conference Report | Complete list of storytellers and scholars | Lecture abstracts | Story concerts
Conference Papers | Sponsors

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Max Kade Institute | Center for the Study of Upper Midwestern Cultures
New publication: Memories of Lac du Flambeau Elders