“For Preservation of the Frisian Legacy”

Abstract

The American-Frisian bulletin Frisian Roundtable was published between 1975 and 1986 in New York City. Above all, the magazine tried to raise a ‘Frisian awareness’ especially among the North Frisian emigrants in the US which finds its expression in the areas of culture, identity and origin. In my paper I describe what the intentions of the two North Frisian editors were with the Frisian Roundtable. Against this background, particular attention is given to the concept of (North)Frisian identity (in general and for the North Frisian emigrant community in the US), as developed in the magazine. The meaning of the languages used and their mode of usage for the fulfillment of the self-imposed tasks of the Frisian Roundtable are also examined.