Central Texas Germans

[plinsenmayer]

Hi --- 

In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Dinah *** <bludger_witch at y...> wrote:

> Weißwürste have nothing to do with German culture. At
> least not in my book. Goethe, Schiller, Thomas Mann is
> German culture. Bach is German culture. 
> 
> Polka and Wurst are sad mirrors of how other nations
> perceive us - even if their ancestors did come from
> here. 

I'm not *exactly* sure what you mean by "Weißwürste."  Maybe if you
elaborate?  

Yes, the Central Texas German & Polish & Czech festivals no doubt
reflect a certain amount of "Texas" culture, including notably the
Tejano influence.  The "Oktoberfest" celebrations that you see all
over the US are "similar" to what you see in Central Texas ... but
there is a unique twist to what you'll see in Central Texas.  And, I
think this is largely because these communities have retained very
strong ties to  German influences.  As I mentioned, many of the
younger kids and most especially the older generations speak German as
their *first* language.  Whatever you may believe, they certainly
identify themselves still as German-Americans, and they've retained
that strong sense of identity over many generations.  I guess they
probably think of themselves more as German-Texans more specifically.
 <g> 

I don't mean to be snippy, but isn't it possible that you have an
image in your mind of what you think these festivals are like that may
or may not match with reality?  Have you attended a Central Texas
"Oktoberfest"?  I'm just curious what your specific objections are ...
since those might or might not be present in what we see here.  Yes,
people dance polkas at these events.  They also dance the Texas line
dances, they two-step, they waltz and there's the obligatory "Chicken
Dance" umpteen times, which I'm quite certain is *Texas* and not
German.  But, if you go in the Little Tent, you see a packed crowd
singing German songs in German that are not "beer hall songs."  I
think you might find it's not so terribly removed from German culture
as you might be imagining... not all of it anyway.

Penny
(who, despite her German surname, is not of German-Texas extraction,
having married into the German-ness ... and is all Anglo and a
first-generation Texan)