Authenticity and Polish-American Culture
This article is coauthored by David J. Jackson, Ph.D and Lori Liggett, Ph.D. David J. Jackson is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Bowling Green State University. Lori Liggett is Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at Bowling Green State University.
The meaning of authenticity and its multitudinous cultural constructions is central to understanding, or attempting to understand, the state of white ethnicity in 21st century America. While scholars apply critical theories to the historical underpinning of the ethnically and racially diverse society that is contemporary Americanness, local communities are continually exploring ways in which to retain their own ethnic heritage by determining what does (or does not) authentically represent — or aspire to represent — their distinct ethnic culture.
To investigate how aspirational authenticity is tantamount to a specific community, we look at a recent case study of Polish-American festivals in Toledo, Ohio. Beginning in 1983, the Lagrange neighborhood of Toledo hosted the Lagrange Street Polish Festival to honor the community’s immigrant ancestors. Over time, it evolved into a raucous three-day, five street-blocks event featuring Polish food, beer, dance troupes, and polka bands. For 33 years, amid devastating economic decline including the loss of the majority Polish-American population, the closing of Catholic parishes, and the shuttering of businesses, the Lagrange festival became the last vestige of the community’s original Polish immigrant roots. Last year, the festival’s original sponsor, the community organization, United North, announced there would be no festival in 2017 due to a lack of funds, news that brought great sadness to many who had come to think of the event as the cornerstone of Polish-American history in Toledo.
But from the ashes of the Lagrange Street Polish Festival has arisen something else, calling itself “A Real Polish-American Festival” and sponsored by the Polish American Community of Toledo (PACT). The advertising for the upstart event, as well as its name, has drawn skepticism and even some ire among Toledo-area Polish-Americans who perceive a subtext of slight against the authenticity of the original Lagrange Street festival which had evolved over the years to include food and culture of the diverse neighborhood it had become — primarily Latino and black community members. A Real Polish-American Festival will take place in the suburbs, in Holland, Ohio, an area that has no identifiable historical or cultural connection to Polish-Americans in Northwest Ohio.
To begin the exploration of aspirational authenticity within the context of the two non-concurrent yet competing festivals, we examined several advertisements and press releases, as well as comments made by prospective festival attendees on social media. The press release from the new event’s sponsors promises that “the upcoming festival will be quite different from the more recent Polish festivals . . . It will be held in a beautiful 20-acre park-like setting and the major focus of the event will be to exhibit true Polish-American culture through music, food, entertainment and the arts.” The music will be polka, the food available will be “kielbasa, pierogi, galabki, and other delicious items,” and the arts exhibited will be from “European and Polish American artisans and exhibitors.” The press release situates the 2018 festival in contrast to the Lagrange Street event by its choice of adjectives, such as true, park-like setting, and even European — providing a plethora of information about what the festival is not — it will not be what the Lagrange festival had become. To demonstrate its authentic Polish roots, the 2018 event creators made sure to include specific words that are highly identifiable to those who identify ethnically as Polish-American: polka, pierogi, kielbasa.
In a Facebook discussion about the $8.00 admission price for the new festival, one commenter asserted, “8 bucks is a tiny price to pay to NOT have it in the crime ridden North End. This isnt the good old days and the North End isn’t the Polish village anymore.” Another wrote, “the Lagrange polish festival died because they had gotten away from a true polish festival when you have tacos, gyros and ribs and not enough polish foods…” For some social media commenters and the event sponsors, authenticity does not require that the festival take place in one of the area’s formerly Polish-American neighborhoods. But it does require that the arts and crafts on display and for sale be of “European and Polish-American” origins, actual provenance notwithstanding. While some Facebook commenters claimed concerns about safety in the old neighborhood, most who made authenticity comparisons based them on preferences for only “Polish-American” food — and the absence of “tacos, gyros and ribs.”
There are other long-standing Polish-American festivals across the country, many in the Midwest, and all deal with the concept of authenticity in varying degrees of aspirational effort. For example, the American Polish Century Club of Sterling Heights, Michigan sponsors an annual summer festival. Lots of polka bands play, there is a pierogi eating contest, and an outdoor craft show with more than 50 vendors. Promotions for the festival also promise, “The Kielbasa Café is back with the polish nacho, polish sliders and more.” Its authenticity is not so obviously promoted, although a “Traditional Polish Mass” is offered on Sunday, and the organizers explain the location of the festival with a reference to Hamtramck, Michigan — one of the most well-known Polish settlements in the country. “The festival is located in Sterling Heights, MI. This is just a few miles from Hamtramck, MI. Poles are the second largest ethnic group in Michigan and are a significant part of the history of Detroit.”
Milwaukee’s Polish Festival organizers describe their event as “a fun, authentic festival for everyone to enjoy!” There are multiple music and dance stages including the Miller Stage (presenting some polka acts, as well as country, rock, and oldies bands), a Non-Stop Polka Stage, a Cultural Stage (with mostly Polish dance ensembles), a Folk Stage, and a Children’s Stage. Touting itself as “America’s Largest Polish Festival,” it is not surprising that such a diversity of performers would be included. Cultural events include lectures on topics concerning Polish and Polish-American history, genealogy and cooking lessons. There are vodka tastings and a Chopin Youth Piano Competition. The definition of authentic for this festival may derive from the inclusion of such a diversity of arts and culture, ranging from polka to Chopin.
The Twin Cities Polish Festival claims it “will immerse Minnesotans and visitors in ‘all things Polish’, presenting a kaleidoscope of unique cultural and educational displays, food and top-notch entertainment.” They have a Polka Stage, and a Cultural Stage (with diverse offerings such as Polish Tatra Sheep Dogs, Polish dance groups, European cabaret performances, and a trumpeter playing the Hejnal Mariacki — which plays out at the top of the hour from St. Mary’s church on the main square in Krakow). The immersion of visitors in “all things Polish” includes separate spaces for polka and more traditional presentations, as well as a direct musical linkage to Poland through the playing of the Hejnal.
Concerns about the authenticity of cultural celebrations for white ethnic Americans are fraught with questions of differentiation and identity. In the case of Northwest Ohio — the Lagrange Street Polish Festival and A Real Polish-American Festival — there is much to study regarding the branding of events and the identity formation of festival goers. What makes a cultural presentation “real” or “authentic” and others then presumably fake, inauthentic, invalid? Is authenticity the absence of the foods or cultural creations of other ethnicities and races? Is it the similarity between the culture of the ethnic Americans and what they perceive to be the important traditions of the home country, many of which would not be recognized in Poland today? Is it the inclusion of perceived “high culture” (Chopin) along with more pedestrian notions of ethnicity, such as polka music and pierogi-eating contests? Formations of ethnic identities in America are not fixed and static, but constantly changing, and thus notions of authenticity are continually evolving as well. Perhaps we should explore the underlying reasons that ethnic communities engage in aspirational authenticity and the ways in which this is accomplished, sometimes to the detriment of other ethnicities and races, as well as to the exclusion of people in the same neighborhood.
