My son is in high school and is going to be an exchange student in Sweden next year.
Our family background is Swedish. His first name is a typical American name, but his middle name is Swedish, and our last name is Swedish.
For example, John Sture Andersson.
Nobody calls him Sture in the US; people can’t pronounce it. But he has been asking Swedish people who he’s met (so far, as part of the exchange program process) to call him Sture.
Is that weird; if he asks people in Sweden to call him Sture, will Swedes make fun of him or think that his request is bizarre, since he is called John in the US? And is the name “Sture” a nice name?
Thanks.
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The original was posted on /r/sweden by /u/CraftAccomplished784 at 2024-03-27 13:08:14+00:00.
henfodi at 2024-03-27 14:37:38+00:00 ID:
kwsxtadWhat is the point of the distinction then? Why not call everyone Swedish if it fills no practical purpose? I think the cultural distinction is the only useful one.
My girlfriends best friend is adopted from Rwanda, she is as Swedish as you can be (in response to the line about Swedish blood, whatever that means).
But calling someone who “just” lives here Swedish fills no purpose. Like you get no information that is not conveyed by just saying “lives in Sweden”. Being something is about identity, not location.
bobbylaserbones at 2024-03-27 14:46:55+00:00 ID:
kwszgd6Lol if you have a swedish passport you’re of course swedish, don’t be silly.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-27 14:57:07+00:00 ID:
kwt19roWhat if you have double citizenship and only have it for convenience? Not really disagreeing per se, but it should at least be required that you identify as “Swedish”. You may be Polish and move here at 50, then after five years become a citizen while identifying entirely as Polish. That’s not “being Swedish” to me
Obligatorium1 at 2024-03-27 16:16:11+00:00 ID:
kwtfjd8Why can’t you be both Swedish and Polish at the same time?
I think it’s much more reasonable to separate personal identity from outside perception. No one but you get to decide your own personal identity, and you can pick that at random if that’s what you want. It just doesn’t mean other people have to view you the same way as you view yourself.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-27 16:25:00+00:00 ID:
kwth5ziHe can be, but only if he considers himself to be that way. The basic requirements for group membership should at least be:
I will never be Swedish if I don’t see myself that way nor will I be if people that are Swedish don’t consider me to be. I would also not be an African-American simply because I choose to see myself that way because people that are actually African-American would never view me as a group member. Of course it’s arbitrary when you “get” to belong to a certain group but there is some degree of requirement
henfodi at 2024-03-27 14:54:21+00:00 ID:
kwt0rsbHaving a Swedish passport is a pretty big reduction from what the comment above me described.
Also there is a discussion to be had in wheather Swedes should get Swedish passports or if you become a Swede from getting the passport. I tend towards the former as I see no reason to introduce people who have no interest in being part of the cultural sphere to the citizenry. There are many opinions about this however. If my friend who lives in Switzerland gets a child there who is raised Swiss I see no practical reason to call them Swedish even though they probably would be entited to Swedish citizenship.
I think fundamentally you have to chose to be part of the culture. That is however my opinion.
bobbylaserbones at 2024-03-27 14:59:55+00:00 ID:
kwt1rwjIf you live in sweden you’re gonna have some form of residence or citizenship is what I meant.
Why would you call a Swiss person swedish? That’s something a yank would do
henfodi at 2024-03-27 15:07:13+00:00 ID:
kwt32a8I disagree with the passport (or another administrative document) “making” anyone anything but that is again a matter of opinion.
Like if a person has perfect cultural and linguistic understanding but no documents is more Swedish than the description the commenter above described who just speaks Swahili but has a passport.
bobbylaserbones at 2024-03-27 15:37:36+00:00 ID:
kwt8i6hNo, a yank who likes meatballs and “feels connected” to Sweden is not more swedish than Somali Momo and his swedish passport. He is just a distant descendant of swedes. If momo has swedish citizenship his passport will say “Swede”, regardless of Yankee feelings about genealogy.
If momo flies home to Somalia, and they ask where he lives, he says Stockholm, is he not then a Stockholmer? And if he resides in Sweden isn’t he swedish.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-27 14:55:10+00:00 ID:
kwt0x2pI’m a Dane who lives here currently and please please PLEASE do not consider me Swedish
SuspiciousBoat at 2024-03-27 15:03:56+00:00 ID:
kwt2hj2Oh we’d rather die before calling a Dane Swedish
Precioustooth at 2024-03-27 15:09:14+00:00 ID:
kwt3f3vThank you, I appreciate that!
Obligatorium1 at 2024-03-27 16:14:23+00:00 ID:
kwtf7gpSorry, I will consider you Swedish (and probably Danish too, since it sounds like you spent a lot of your life in Denmark and possibly have a Danish citizenship). That doesn’t mean you have to do it as well, though. You can consider yourself a Dane, a Great Dane or an Oompa Loompa if you want - I have no stake in that.
Precioustooth at 2024-03-27 16:27:15+00:00 ID:
kwthlatBut I don’t see myself as Swedish, thus I cannot be a part of this identity (is what I argue anyway). Doesn’t mean I have anything at all against Sweden or Swedish people, don’t get me wrong… If Jehova’s Witnesses view me as a member of their cult for whatever reason it doesn’t mean that I become a part of that identity just on that basis.