LL-L "Culture" 2008.06.26 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

=========================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L  - 26 June 2008 - Volume 08
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please set the encoding mode to Unicode (UTF-8).
If viewing this in a web browser, please click on
the html toggle at the bottom of the archived page
and switch your browser's character encoding to Unicode.
=========================================================================

From: jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>
Subject: LL-L "Culture" 2008.06.26 (01) [E/LS]

Beste Marcus,

at first: another excellent posting of yours! Worth to give a critical
answer...!

You wrote:

*Back to the Northern identity: The Northern identity manifests in memes
like "Fischköppe" (Northerners being called, but also calling themselves
"fish heads"), or a "Rock attitude" (the Rocker subculture and Heavy Metal
are more widespread in Northern Germany than in the south of Germany, as far
as I could observe this). In metal and Rock Northern Germany has much in
common with Scandinavia. They (or "We") even identify them/our-selves with
the Vikings. Or think of Hip Hop bands like Fettes Brot or Fischmob
performing songs in Low Saxon. Like the song "Nordisch by nature". Northern
identity pure. The band Torfrock even combines Viking rock and Low Saxon.
This Northern identity is my hope (actually my only hope) for the future of
Low Saxon.*
**
'Northern idendity' and 'Low Saxon' are different things, as well as Hip Hop
and Metal (the two of them I never would write within one single sentence
*s*).
Having been  in Wacken (meanwhile the world's greatest annual Heavy Metal
festival, in Schleswig-Holstein/Germany; you had mentioned it in a previous
mail) for a couple of times (continuously from 1996 with less than 5,000
visitors till 2002 with more than 50,000!) I didn't feel any smell of LS.
Groups like "In Extremo" became famous with Middle *High* German textes, but
our "Torf-Rockers" never became part of the main actors there, as far as I
remember- they're still our 'local heroes'.

Wacken (standing for the "Mekka" and spirit of *true* Metal fans) is simply
international- you'll find people from Brazil, Southern- and Eastern Europe,
Japan etc. as well as the mentioned Scandinavians. I don't guess that all
these people feel themselves as "Vikings"- as well as I don't ;-)!"
The greater part of Germany's most famous Rock/Heavy Metal bands are
originating from the Western regions ("Blind Guardian" from Krefeld [Lower
Rhine area], "Accept", "Grave Digger" and "Rage" from Essen [Ruhrgebiet],
"Edguy" from Schwaben etc.). Okay- "Helloween" comes from Hamburg, "The
Scorpions" and some more from Hanover.

A 'Northern' identity is something different and as I fear, not appropriate
to save our Low Saxon 'identity'.

Die hard ;-)!

Jonny Meibohm

(BTW: Next year I have to visit Wacken once more with my youngest son- in a
moment of carelessnes I have promised it to him. Perhaps it will become a
family event with all my four sons- the oldest one is same aged as you
are...).
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lowlands-l/attachments/20080626/83219e2a/attachment.htm>