Enacting gemeinde in the language of story: narrative performance among Kansas mennonites from Volyn

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ENACTING GEMEINDE IN THE LANGUAGE OF STORY: NARRATIVE PERFORMANCE AMONG KANSAS MENNONITES FROM VOLYN

J. Mc Cabe-Juhnke

This article examines oral narrative performance within the cultural context of the Swiss Volynian Mennonites in Moundridge, Kansas, whose forbears were members of a congregational group that migrated from Volyn Province in Polish Russia in 1874. A Swiss Volynian Mennonite himself, the author tape-recorded interviews with second and third generation descendants of the Mennonites from Volyn. Using interview transcriptions and participant observation in the Moundridge community as primary data, the author analyzes how the language of storytelling performance both sustains and is shaped by social and cultural norms of Swiss Mennonite Gemeinde. An analysis of the personal and social roles of Swiss Volynian storytellers reflects a fundamental tension between individuality and conformity. Swiss Volynians most frequently perform at the level of natural or unself-conscious narration rather than intentional or public narration, allowing oral narrators to maintain the community norm of self-effacement despite their obvious competence as storytellers. An examination of the written transcriptions of these oral narratives reveals noticeable contextual overtones. The use of dialect, insider's code and community-oriented genres demonstrates the storytellers' evocation of an in-group context for storytelling.

Key words: Swiss Mennonites, storytelling, narrative performance, Kotosufka, German dialect, Moundridge, Kansas.

Мак-Кейб-Янкі Дж.

Лінгвокультурний прояв «Gemeinde/громади» в наративах канзаських менонітів із Волині.

У статті розкрито аспекти вивчення усного наративу в культурному середовищі волинських менонітів швейцарського походження, які зараз мешкають у м. Маундріджі (штат Канзас, США). Їхні пращури належали до конгрегації менонітів, які емігрували 1874 року з Волинської губернії, що на той час перебувала у складі Російської імперії. Ці іммігранти прагнули зберегти чуття Gemeinde (громади) - особливої релігійної спільноти з тісними внутрішньогруповими зв'язками, відокремленої від зовнішніх спільнот. Автор цього дослідження - волинський меноніт швейцарського походження - записав на плівку і взяв за основу свого дослідження інтерв'ю з нащадками волинських менонітів у другому та третьому поколінні з міста Маундріджа. Під час мовного аналізу розповідей виявлено аспекти обопільного соціокультурного впливу громади на формування норм швейцарських менонітів. Подальший аналіз наративів засвідчив той факт, що «швейцарські» волиняни відчувають внутрішній конфлікт між «індивідуальним» і «колективним». У своїх розповідях вони здебільшого виявляють риси природного, несвідомого, аніж інтенційного чи публічного дискурсу. Це свідчить про їхню схильність до «скромності», типової для представників цієї громади, попри їхню очевидну вправність в оповідуванні. У їхніх розповідях також простежуються зумовлені контекстом громади особливі лексико-стилістичні засоби, зокрема діалектизми, «внутрішньогруповий код», послуговування властивими лише для цієї громади жанрами, що є маркерами належності й прояву в мові спільних для носіїв глибинних ознак «Gemeinde».

Ключові слова: швейцарські меноніти, розповідання історій, наративна поведінка, Кутузовка, німецький діалект, Маундрідж, Канзас.

Мак-Кейб-Янки Дж.

Лингвокультурное проявление «Gemeinde»/ «общины» в нарративах канзасских меннонитов с Волыни.

Статья раскрывает аспекты изучения устного нарратива в культурной среде волынских меннонитов швейцарского происхождения, проживающих ныне в г. Маундридж (штат Канзас, США). Их предки принадлежали к конгрегации меноннитов, эмигрировавших в 1874 году из Волынской губернии, которая в то время была в составе Российской империи. Эти иммигранты хотели сохранить ощущение Gemeinde (общины) - особенного религиозного сообщества с тесными внутригрупповыми связями, отделенного от внешних сообществ. Автор данного исследования - волынский меннонит швейцарского происхождения - записал на пленку и взял за основу своего изучения интервью с потомками волынских меннонитов во втором и третьем поколении из города Маундридж. Языковой анализ рассказов показал аспекты взаимного социокультурного влияния общины на формирование норм швейцарских меннонитов. Дальнейший анализ установил тот факт, что «швейцарские» волыняне ощущают внутренний конфликт между «индивидуальным» и «коллективным». В своих рассказах они проявляют преимущественно черты естественного, несознательного, нежели интенционального или публичного дискурса. Это свидетельствует об их приверженности к «скромности», являющейся типичной для представителей данной общины, несмотря на их очевидное мастерство быть прекрасными рассказчиками. В их нарративах наблюдаются обусловленные контекстом общины особенные лексико-стилистические стредства, в частности диалектизмы, «внутригрупповой код», использование свойственных только для этой общины жанров, которые являются маркерами принадлежности и проявления в языке общих для носителей глубинных признаков «Gemeinde».

Ключевые слова: швейцарские меннониты, рассказывание историй, нар - ративное поведение, Кутузовка, немецкий диалект, Маундридж, Канзас.

Narrative performance pervades everyday experience. As we tell others about events in our lives and listen to what others say about us, we cast and recast our experience in ways that affirm our individual and relational identities. Story re-enacts and interprets the past, captures emotion, and expresses value. Our ability to understand each other depends on our facility as storytellers. As Kristin Langellier observes, personal narration is a fundamental mode of human communication [5, 244-245]. volynian transcription storytelling dialect

This article investigates the relationship between storytelling and cultural identity as it emerged in the social interactions among a group of Mennonites, whose ancestors emigrated from Polish Russia in the 1870s and settled in the community of Moundridge, Kansas. Sustained by their Anabaptist Christian beliefs, they worked to establish a community of mutually accountable believers that was independent of the social and political structures of mainstream society. In their native language of German, they called this idea of community Gemeinde. As a result of living in Gemeinde, a distinctive cultural identity endured among second and third-generation descendants of the Swiss Volynians immigrants as evidenced by their ethnic foodways, Schweitzer dialect¹, and religious orientation.

A careful examination of Swiss Volynian oral narration reveals that a primary function of narrative performance is to give momentary substance to a continually evolving sense of community. In other words, by affirming community «connectedness», reinforcing community values, and sometimes questioning the norms and expectations of the community, the Swiss Volynian Mennonites enact Gemeinde in their storytelling.

As a third generation descendant of Swiss Volynian immigrants, I have both a scholarly interest in interpreting the narrative behaviors of this group and a personal interest in recapturing what I fear is a disappearing ethnic heritage. Though the primary «textual» data for this study were obtained through tape recorded interviews, the responses elicited and the interpretations offered are derived as much from my intimate association with the Swiss Mennonites as they are from a careful analysis of the interview transcripts. In order to develop a legitimate analysis of oral narrative in everyday experience, my primary data necessarily come from my personal involvement in the everyday experience of Swiss Mennonite culture. The interviews, then, provided a means for following up on personal insights about the performances I have observed in natural environments and for soliciting the help of my informants in describing such performances.

Background: A historical sketch of the Swiss Volynian Mennonites. In the 1870s the Swiss Mennonites migrated to the United States from the The term «Schweitzer» derived from the German word, Schweizer [Swiss], is used by both community insiders and members of other German communities to refer to the Swiss Volynian people. province of Volhynia in Polish Russia (Zhytomyrska Oblast in present day Ukraine). The majority of Swiss Mennonites originally came from Canton Bern in Switzerland, where they were persecuted for their Anabaptist beliefs. In order to escape religious persecution and to seek new agricultural opportunities, the Swiss Mennonites moved from Switzerland to South Germany, and then to the province of Volyn in Polish Russia. (Actually, the term «Swiss Mennonite» is something of a misnomer since the cultural identity of this group developed during several centuries of experience in Europe and Russia rather than in Switzerland.) In 1861, a Swiss Mennonite congregation was founded in the small town of Kotosufka in Volyn. However, the passing of the military conscription law during the reign of Czar Alexander required yet another emigration. On August 6, 1874, seventy- eight Swiss Mennonite families (nearly everyone in the village) left Kotosufka for New York. According to Swiss Mennonite historian Solomon Stucky, nineteen families chose to settle in South Dakota, while the remaining fifty-nine settled on the prairies of central Kansas. There the Kotosufka congregation established the Hopefield Church and became some of the most significant founding members of the Moundridge community.

Mennonite historian, Harley J. Stucky, observes that these «Russian Mennonites» formed «their own unique communities based on common faith, dialect, [and] occupation.... They tried to perpetuate communities similar to those in the old world primarily on the basis of congregational affinity» [7, p. 33]. For the Swiss Volynians in the late 1800s, the church was the community and the community was the church. This was the essence of the Gemeinde - the notion that members in the church community were wholly interdependent.

The storytelling community. Prevalent traces Gemeinde remain in the oral culture of the Mennonites in the Moundridge community. Richard Schrag, a retired Mennonite farmer, remembered it this way: [W]e were conscious of the fact that to misbehave - there may be punishment, and to fallout of favor with the community - the church family - was a real disgrace. And you'd really feel isolated... We were considered - at that time when I was growing up - we were considered a closed group [F:279].¹ Citation designation indicates that Schrag's quotation is transcribed in appendix F on page 279 of: McCabe-Juhnke, J. E. (1991). Narrative and Everyday Experience: Performance Process in the Storytelling of the Swiss Volhynian Mennonites (Volumes and II). (Doctoral Dissertation) UMI (911252). Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The dissertation manuscript and tape recordings are held in the

Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas. The library at Lesya Ukrainka Eastern European National University in Lutsk, Ukraine also holds a copy of the dissertation.

As a second-generation descendant of the Russian immigrants, Richard maintained a strong sense of accountability to community expectations. Richard was one of the thirty-four people from the Moundridge community whom I interviewed for this study, thirty of whom were either first or second-generation descendants of the immigrants from Volyn. The other four included three spouses of Swiss Volynians from other German Mennonite ancestry and one descendant from the Swiss Palatinate group that migrated to Kansas from Iowa in 1874. As a result, the perceptions of «community» as they emerge in this study are those of a specific group of older Swiss Mennonites, who ranged from 60 to 98 years of age at the time of the interviews.

This particular group of Swiss Mennonites, now mostly deceased, was a transitional group. They learned English as a second language. In their childhood homes they spoke German to their parents and siblings, but they spoke English to their own children. They saw remarkable changes in farming practices, from the primitive methods of the horse-drawn plow to the modern technology of motorized tractor. Although their experiences with religion, social life, work, education, and family relationships altered significantly in the course of their lifetimes, they interpreted each of these aspects of contemporary life in light of the clearly defined expectations of their youth.

The Humble Storyteller: A description of Swiss Volynian oral narrators. I began researching this project in 1986 when I was a doctoral student at Louisiana State University. I was an eager and ashamedly naive field researcher, who was on the hunt for individuals with established reputations as storytellers in the Moundridge community. However, my search was fraught with false leads, disorientation, and a general lack of information. My initial inquiry into the storytelling traditions of the Swiss Mennonites left me feeling that I had misjudged my home community and wondering whether any storytellers still lived there. In the rare instance that others identified individuals as good storytellers, the «storytellers» themselves denied the distinction.

Several fundamental assumptions of Swiss Volynian religion and culture undoubtedly contribute to this reticence to acknowledge participation in a storytelling tradition. An oral narrator reared in a religious tradition that, according to S. Stucky, values the «practical life, stressing the dangers of pride and admonition to lead holy lives» [8, p. 101] has plausible reasons for a bias against storytelling, which is associated with frivolity, selfpresentation, and secularism. P. E. Sawin observes, «When modesty and self-effacement are valued,... self-presentation becomes a more problematic rhetorical exercise» [6, p. 195-196].

In addition, the Kotosufka congregation's migration en masse to America perpetuated a closed community based on congregational selfsufficiency they had practiced for nearly two centuries in Europe and Russia. Although their interdependence as a congregation dissipated with acculturation to American society, a measure of clannishness endured. Speaking in 1949 at the seventy-fifth year celebration of the Swiss Volynian migration, R.C. Kauffman, a Mennonite historian, identified the Swiss Mennonites' «most obvious...trai[t] - that, namely, of a strong in-group feeling - the denominational loyalty and separateness that characterizes us» [4, p. 54]. Even after a century of acculturation to American society, the Swiss Mennonites in Moundridge were perceived as a clannish people.

With such a strong cultural bias towards separateness, the Swiss Mennonites maintained a community in which the concern for activities and experiences of those within the group dominates the oral culture of the group. J. O. Schrag characterized the narrow scope of Swiss Mennonite oral narration in the Moundridge community, when he observed, «[W]e developed a lot of little stories (when we were together with our cousins), but no one - they didn't amount to anything outside of your group» [E:258]. Thus, the storyteller in the Moundridge community cannot be distinguished by his or her vast repertoire of traditional folk tales. Rather, the oral narrator tells personal experience stories, family reminiscences, and stories about unusual community events or personalities. It is not surprising then that Swiss Mennonites consider storytelling - in the traditional sense - as an activity foreign to their group.

After dismissing the notion of a folk tale tradition in the Moundridge community, Schrag went on to address at the heart of Swiss Mennonite narration. «But, there are stories. Sometimes you have to dig a while till you get them out. But there are some stories that have been - especially in their own experiences, you know.... So, they created their own stories» [E:257]. Indeed, «creating one's own story» is a primary function of Swiss Volynian oral narration. Drawing from personal experience, narrators not only affirm their personal identities in oral narration, they also adhere to expectations of truthfulness thereby upholding the integrity of narrative discourse.

Thus, the absence of a generally acknowledged forum for sharing stories among the Swiss Volynians does not necessarily signify the lack of a storytelling tradition. In fact, storytelling is pervasive in Swiss Mennonite culture. Ozzie Goering provided insight into the storytelling practices of the Swiss Volynians.

I think if you were to tell this group that you would like...to hear us tell stories about Eli Schrag (Ozzie's uncle, who was often the butt of jokes) and about people like that, that you would find a wealth of stories bubbling out that there wouldn't be time for them all. I think where you are right is that due to the perceived humility factor or something, the Swiss do not want to be identified as being the storyteller. But you get a group together and get them started talking, there's stories galore about what all has happened [2:55-56]. The designation, [2:55-56], indicates material drawn from the transcriptions of Storytelling Workshops I conducted in Moundridge in the Spring of 1993. The Arabic numeral before the colon indicates the workshop number (1: 3-11-1993, 2: 3-18-1993, 3: 3-25-1993, 4: 4-1-1993) and the numbers after the colon indicate the page numbers of the transcription. The tape recordings and transcriptions of the storytelling workshops are held in the Mennonite Library and Archives, Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas.

As Goering's comment suggests, for Swiss Mennonites, the «traditional» corpus of narratives includes personal experience stories and community anecdotes rather than standard folk tales, legends, or ballads. Stories of community experiences both preserve the «humility factor» and encourage a widespread participation in narrative interactions.

Expressions of community in narrative discourse. As one who feels strongly that narrative performance involves an intimate relationship among the performer, his or her language, and the diverse components of the performance setting, I am reticent to launch an analysis that isolates the narrative «text» (for lack of a better word) from the other aspects of the performance event. While I recognize the artificial nature of this separation, the very act of writing a performance analysis constrains me to select from many worthy objects of attention in order to focus my discussion. I derive some comfort from Dwight Conquergood's suggestion that those who investigate the «swirling constellation of energies» we call «culture» are less bound to «systematic investigation» than to «experience in social life» [3, p. 58]. Indeed, determining the exact point entrance into performance analysis may be incidental to the actual decision to enter. No matter where one enters, one cannot fail to see that the interconnected nature of performance, in which individual performers, their language, their relationships, and their culture continually define and reshape each other.

Mikhail Bakhtin's discussion of literary discourse supports the notion that language - both written and oral - reflects the lived experience of the individual who uses it. Bakhtin recognizes a pervasive tension in spoken and written discourse between language that is «half someone else's» and half «one's own» [1, p. 293]. Because we are constantly using words that have been appropriated from the experience of others, our speech reveals a complex multiplicity of contexts that reflect our own experience as well as the experience of others. As we bring words together in new combinations, we create new contexts for the interpretation of meaning.

Applying Bakhtin's theory of narrative discourse to spoken discourse is warranted since Bakhtin himself derives much of his criticism from the analysis of speech. By examining the linguistic features of oral narrative, I hope to demonstrate how individual narrators create particular «conceptions of the world.» Word choice, style, and narrative technique constitute «contextual overtones» that suggest particular interpretations of a narrator's individual and collective experiences.

On the most fundamental level, the Schweitzer dialect exhibits Bakhtin's concept of polyglossia - the interplay among several national languages. Adina Krehbiel, a first-generation descendant of the Swiss Mennonites from Volyn, noted the dialect «isn't like the [German text]book.... We had Polish and Russian and German in our language which is so easy for us» [A:220-221]. The Mennonites' sojourn through South Germany and Polish Russia has obviously contributed to the multilingual nature of their dialect. Victor Goering gave a clear example of the Polish influence on the Schweitzer dialect. He talked about the traditional after-harvest celebration that his family called objinky. For years he assumed objinky was just a family word for the post-harvest event. However, when he and his wife sponsored some Polish trainees, they discovered that the Polish word for harvest festival is dovzhinky [M:403]. No doubt, the Swiss Mennonite's experience in Polish Russia fostered an assimilation of Polish vernacular in their speech patterns. In the same manner, after more than a century of experiences in the United States, Swiss Mennonites incorporated American English into their dialect as well often using «Germanized» pronunciations of English words in their dialect.

Polyglossia abounds in Swiss Mennonite oral narrative. The Schweitzer dialect occurs most often in passages of reported speech. However, narrators generally translate the Schweitzer dialect into American English in order to accommodate the unfortunate ignorance of their interviewer. As a third generation descendant of the Volynian immigrants, I understand very little of the Schweitzer dialect. Storytellers maintain the dialect when recounting bits of dialogue originally spoken Schweiter - in effect to demonstrate the «truthfulness» of the narrative.

Often when storytellers render reported speech in dialect, the quoted passage has a special intensity or significance to the event being described. Notice for instance William Juhnke's fervent plea to his neighbor for help with the runaway horses. «[Val Krehbiel] saw that my horses were running. And...I yelled, `Stop mei Geil! Stop mei Gel [`Stop my horses! Stop my horses!']... He couldn't stop them» [C:245]. In the face of an apparently life-threatening situation, the young William called out in desperation. At this point in the story, a measure of intensity appropriate to the impending danger accompanies the verbal command, and the shift into dialect highlights the urgency of the moment for the narrator.

Swiss Mennonite storytellers also used the Schweitzer dialect to highlight the punch line of a story. Richard Bauman suggests that although some stories have a primary focus on events, in anecdotes that make use of quoted speech, the primary focus is the dialogue - «the conversational encounter that culminates in a punch line» [2, p. 74]. Especially for the older Swiss Volynian storytellers, memorable conversational encounters were those in which dialect was used to poke fun at someone. J.O. Schrag laughed about fellow Schweitzer Fred Grundman, who finally managed to start his dilapidated car after repeated efforts and then triumphantly exclaimed «Entlich uf hoch!» [«Finally I'm on high!»] [E:260]. Ellen Schrag and Erwin Goering told stories about Andy Unruh, a stuttering Low German farm hand. Their stories also achieved humor by quoting Andy's lines in German [N:457-459; I:23].

The humor of a punch line spoken in dialect is sometimes elusive when the phrase or sentence is translated into English. J.O. Schrag told a story about a member of the Hopefield Church choir, John Strauss, who was «the butt of a lot of stories....»

He couldn't sing very well but then, he would try it. Well, we had a cantata. And at the dress rehearsal...John Strauss wasn't there. So at the time for the rendition he was there. Now then he walked up and said, «Where do I sit?» And at that time Ed P. Goering was still alive...and Ed P. said, «Das wees nurre der Gott und der Neuenschwander.» Now, Neuenschwander was our preacher. «Only God and Neuenschwander know where you're going to sit!» [E:259].

On the surface the literal translation of Mr. Goering's comment seems marginally humorous at best. Yet, the oral narrator laughed when he finished the telling. Of course, some of the humor arises from knowing the people involved in the incident, but the oral narrator's direct quotation indicates an interest as well in the specific phraseology of the comment. Part of what makes the line funny is the fact that it is stated in dialect. These Schweitzer storytellers typically enjoyed the special finesse that the Schweitzer dialect lent to the spoken word, and they readily acknowledged that funny statements frequently lose their humor when translated into English.

The Swiss Mennonites' appreciation of the distinct character of the German language was demonstrated in reluctance among storytellers to offer English translations of reported speech without acknowledging that the quotations were originally spoken in German. Notice Delbert Goering's account of a challenge to the Bьcher Beer, a traveling book (Bьch) salesman who depended on his customers for food and shelter. «Somebody asked him once about going where you're not invited. And he said in German, `They didn't ask me not to come'» [B:228]. Richard Schrag made a similar acknowledgement in his story about trying to refuse gracefully wine from his wife's grandfather.

So I thought, «...maybe I can wiggle out of it because of my stomach trouble.» So I said, «Well, I don't want to [drink wine] on account of my stomach.» He said, «The Apostle Paul» - he said it in German - «The Apostle Paul told Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's sake.» And I was stuck [F:270].

In this case the narrator made a false start, interrupting himself to insert a footnote about the original language of the quotation, as if he failed to recognize the inadequacy of the translation until he uttered it aloud. Both narrators reveal a reticence to delete completely the influences of the German language on the oral culture of their people.

In Richard's example there is a further indication that for previous generations of Swiss Mennonites the German language was vested with religious authority. Prior to World War I, the Mennonite churches in Moundridge used German for Sunday morning worship services. Although their education in American schools had fostered the general adoption of

English for communication in the home and at the work site, Swiss Volynians continued to worship, pray, and read the Bible in German. Therefore, the grandfather's quotation from the Bible would naturally have been spoken in German rather than English. Richard's need to acknowledge the German original no doubt arises from a keen awareness of the significance in earlier years of using German in all forms of religious discourse.

Schweitzers of my generation are more indifferent toward the German language. The spiritual aura that once surrounded the language has all but vanished. Ellen Kling recalled a conversation that provides a good example of the Schweitzer's shifting attitudes toward the German language.

...Joe said that those older people were convinced that in heaven German would be the only language spoken. And then they started to laugh and Donald [Ellen's brother] said, «Yes, but do you remember, Sis...that Dad agreed for a while. But then he said, `No, that can't be. Because there aren't enough cuss words in German'» [J:339].

The remark by Ellen's father, Dan Waltner, clearly typifies his feisty nature, and at the same time debunks the idea that the German language is sanctified in some way. It also reveals the absurdity of ascribing sanctity or profanity to particular words in any language. After all, if the language in heaven includes a healthy proportion of cuss words, then we ought not to be offended by a little swearing here on earth.

Instances of language play between German and English sometimes highlight words that sound the same in both languages but have different meanings in each. Dan W. Goering remembered that he was teased as a child for wishing it would be more hell [bright] outside on dreary days. He and Erwin C. Goering told differing versions of a story about a Mennonite farmer who asks a neighboring «English» woman for a Kisse [pillow] for his sore buttocks.

In Dan's version the protagonist was supposedly one of Andy J. Goering's relatives in South Dakota who was clearing a field of stones with a stone sled [H:304], and in Erwin's the main character was an Eden- Hopefield Mennonite who was hauling hogs to Halstead with a lumber wagon [N:451-453]. Both accounts develop in a similar fashion. After several hours of riding, the metal seat of the wagon or sled became irritating to the Mennonite farmer. So he decided to stop at a roadside farmhouse and ask for a pillow to ease his sore buttocks. When he called at the door, an English lady answered. And suddenly the farmer panicked, unable to remember the English word for pillow. He said, «Excuse me miss, but I wonder if you could give me a Kisse.» From her shocked response, the farmer could tell that he had made a grave error. So he added, «Oh no, no, no. Not a Kisse here [pointing to lips]. A Kisse there [pointing to buttocks].»

The polyglot in the Swiss Mennonites' oral culture indicates the variety of cultural influences that have shaped Swiss Volynian experience. Though predominantly German, the Schweitzer dialect also includes words from Poland, Russia, and the United States. Because of this unique mingling of national languages, the dialect is difficult to decipher for any group other than the Swiss Volynians. Unlike numerous other immigrant groups, the term «bicultural» is inadequate to characterize the heritage of the Swiss Volynians. Indeed, their oral discourse reflects a multi-cultural experience. Ironically, the multi-cultural nature of their dialect functions to limit, rather than to broaden the base of their communication. When Swiss Volynians speak in the «mother tongue», they can be understood fully only by other Swiss Volynians. The dialect affirms their distinctive cultural identity and enables Swiss Mennonites to perpetuate their separation from the American mainstream.

Conclusion. Indeed Swiss Volynian oral narration reflects the inevitability of contextual overtones within story texts. The storyteller's participation in community life is apparent in the preponderance of dialect, which promotes an in-group identity. The predominance of community anecdotes, family reminiscences, and personal experience stories demonstrates an overriding interest in life within the fairly limited scope of community experience.

The linguistic structure of Swiss Mennonite oral narratives in this study is clearly shaped by community experience. In addition to reflecting a broad spectrum of community concerns, structural elements function to locate story action within a mutually understood context of people and places. Thus, even an analysis that focuses specifically on «textual» considerations of Swiss Mennonite oral narrative reveals that narrative structures function both to recall and to evoke the essence of Swiss Volynian Gemeinde.

References

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