Archaeological Perspectives on American White Supremacist Appropriations of Viking Heritage

Summary

This paper explores American conservatism using the lens of contemporary archaeology to rethink connections between the rise of the alt-right (white supremacy) and the appropriation and fabrication of Norse heritage in North America. Recently emphasized by white supremacist and Seattle murderer, Jeremy Christian’s use of the phrase "Hail Vinland," Viking imaginaries play an important role in certain white supremacist narratives. I approach these narratives as heterogeneous assemblages of people, things, landscapes, and hybrids thereof. I focus on the ways in which Viking imaginaries are established and manipulated through, with, and by the material world. I emphasize the ways in which these examples of appropriated heritage link directly to contemporary issues of race, sexuality, and gender in America and how they attempt to justify inequality while establishing a Eurocentric, colonial, and heteronormative order.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Excavating reaction and regression: American conservatism in Material perspective   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 349