Muus vs. Muus: The Scandal That Shook Norwegian America

Bodil Stenseth; Kari Lie Dorer (Editor and Translator); Torild Homstad (Translator)

ISBN 10: 1681342987 / ISBN 13: 9781681342986

Edité par Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2024

A propos de cet article

Minnesota Historical Society Press, Published 2024. Paperback, xvi, 372 pp.; 23 cm; First Edition (with full number line); illustrated with black-and-white historical photographs and portraits.In Very Good condition. Mild bumping to the edges and corners and mild shelf wear to covers. Binding tight; pages clean and unmarked. A small "SCSH Lending Library" label affixed to the half-title page with handwritten dates; not an institutional ex-library copy. Otherwise unmarked.The first English-language translation of Bodil Stenseth's 2019 Norwegian study Fru Muus' klage, this volume reconstructs the 1880s Minnesota lawsuit in which Oline Muus sued her husband, Norwegian-American Lutheran pastor Bernt Julius Muus, to recover her inheritance. The case became a flashpoint in Norwegian-American religious life: Oline's refusal to defer to her husband and her decision to take her grievance to the secular courts rather than the congregation drew condemnation from the Norwegian Synod, while the underlying questions of inheritance law and women's rights placed the case at the intersection of immigrant assimilation, church authority, and the changing legal status of married women in late nineteenth-century America. Stenseth contextualizes the dispute within the founding of Holden Church in Goodhue County, the politics of the various Lutheran conferences, and the broader social conditions of Norwegian immigrants in Minnesota. Edited and translated by Kari Lie Dorer with co-translator Torild Homstad. Co-published with the Norwegian-American Historical Association.Contents: Prologue; Preface; Part I: Hand in Hand (To America; A Call from God; Land Rush and Pioneer Life; Oline's Disfavor; The Lay People's Church; "My Lost Arlien"; Before Darkness Came; Hellfire and Damnation Sermons; At War with the Dakota; The Churching of Women; A Norwegian Rabble-Rouser; In Sickness and in Health; The Mustard Seed of St. Olaf; In Her Husband's Long Absence; The Church and Women's Emancipation; A Precocious Confirmand; Clergy Shortages and Deceitful Preachers; The Family Gathered; Church Discipline on the Agenda; Hypochondria and Hysteria; The Norwegian American Elite; A Home in Deep Sorrow); Part II: Family Trials (Battle on the Home Front; The Complaint with a Capital "C"; A Psychological Puzzle; Fifteen Days Before the First Congregational Meeting; A Scandal Within the Scandal; Out of Control; Who Was the Complainant?; Like a Bolt of Thunder; Personal Punishment; Under Church Discipline?; The Big Defense Speech; The Money Question; A Christian Husband?; In the Backwoods; The Leadership Takes the Case; A "Spectacle" at the Parsonage; A Doctor, a Horse, and a Crutch; In Loving Jest; False Accusation; The Question of Blame; Staging the Scandal; Case Dismissed; A New Judge Presides; Not Much Merriment; A Troll of a Wife; Intentional Malice; Ghosts; Verdict and Departure); Part III: Disgrace (Helpers in a Time of Need; New Legal Proceedings; Divorce?; The Three Pastor's Wives; A Dangerous Man; Lonely and Abandoned; A Desire for Reconciliation; Mother and Daughter United); Appendix: The Muus Descendants; Editor's Afterword; Timelines; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

N° de réf. du vendeur 20260514003

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Muus vs. Muus: The Scandal That Shook Norwegian America
• Éditeur: Minnesota Historical Society Press
• Date de parution: 2024
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1681342987
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781681342986
• Reliure: Paperback
• État de l'article: Very Good
• Poids: 21 onces
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • History

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

In
1880s Minnesota a remarkable lawsuit posed questions about cultural practices
in an immigrant community and the rights of its members as Americans--inspiring a wide-reaching debate about faith and family.

Copublished with the Norwegian-American Historical Association on the occasion of St. Olaf College's sesquicentennial, Muus v. Muus is the American edition of a volume originally published in Norway. Newly translated, this gripping narrative details a prominent nineteenth-century Lutheran couple's separation, which signaled a cultural shift. Oline Muus was many things: a Norwegian immigrant, a pastor's wife, a mother, and a valued member of her rural Minnesota congregation. But when she sued her husband to recoup her inheritance, she gained notoriety throughout Norwegian America and beyond.

In the eyes of the Norwegian Synod she had erred by not bringing her complaint to the congregation first, and by refusing to defer completely to her husband. In her new home of America, the law regarding inheritance was on her side and the campaign of rights for women was gaining ground. Yet in her own congregation Oline Muus was literally not allowed to speak.

The other half of the story, Pastor Bernt Muus, was acclaimed for his fiery sermons and his tireless recruitment efforts among the faithful, yet also known for his abrasiveness and overweening confidence. This riveting story looks beyond the case of Muus v. Muus to contextualize the arrival of Norwegians in Minnesota, conflicts among various Lutheran conferences, and questions of Americanization--introducing readers to compelling characters and the challenges that come from intertwined lives and conflicting worldviews.

À propos des auteurs

Norwegian historian and writer Bodil Stenseth has a prolific authorship focusing on Norwegian and Western cultural history. For many years she was a regular columnist for the newspaper Klassekampen. Her most recent book, Antikvitetshandler Watchman: familien som ble borte (The Antique Dealer Watchman: The Family That Disappeared), is about the Jewish antiques dealer P. S. Watchman from Oslo and his family, who were killed in the Holocaust. She lives in Oslo.

Kari Lie Dorer holds the King Olav V Endowed Chair of Scandinavian-American Studies at St. Olaf College and is president of Norwegian Researchers and Teachers Association of North America (NORTANA). She is the coauthor of Sett i gang: An Introductory Norwegian Curriculum, the foundational Norwegian language text used by the majority of North American students of Norwegian. She is also the project leader for Godt i gang, a collaborative online intermediate and advanced curriculum. At St. Olaf College she teaches a wide variety of courses in Norwegian language, history, culture, and film. She lives in Minneapolis.

Torild Homstad is a translator and retired Norwegian teacher and administrator for the International Summer School at the University of Oslo. She holds a bachelor's degree from St. Olaf College and a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She lives in Northfield, Minnesota.