by Zoë Roos Scheuerman ’24
The English Department has a reality TV star! On February 9th, during the department’s weekly Coffee House event, English majors, aficionados, and student workers gathered for a showing of the Swedish reality TV series Allt för Sverige (Great Swedish Adventure), starring none other than professor Sally Franson. Originally a Norwegian show about immersing Americans in Norwegian culture, the Swedish version takes that original idea and frames it in a new way: using the family histories of Swedish-Americans to teach them about Sweden’s past and present. The show’s contestants are all Americans with Swedish ancestry. Throughout the series, they explore family history that they often know very little about. The contestants also participate in games and competitions, and the grand prize is a reunion with their living Swedish relatives.
Sally mentioned applying to be on the show as something she did “on a lark.” When the pandemic arrived, forcing the show to pause, she easily accepted that she would probably not appear on it. She had no idea what an impactful experience the show would become. Sally called it “life-changing.” She explained that she knew very little about her Swedish heritage before going on the show, and it was profoundly moving to learn her ancestors’ life stories. Sally recalled learning about two relatives who were peasants working on opposite sides of a river and who eventually fell in love after talking across the water to each other during their lunch breaks. Another story involved a father supporting his daughter after she became pregnant out of wedlock, even as the town shunned her (an apparently uncommon reaction). Many people are often at least vaguely aware of family trees and where their families—if they immigrated—might have come from, but the show’s genealogical research breathes life into these histories, something that many people do not get to experience.
The show doesn’t just connect contestants with the past, but also with the present. Sally said that she became very close with the majority of the cast, building sometimes unlikely friendships across many different ages, walks of life, and places on the political spectrum. She also explained that the raw, unedited experience she had with her castmates was, in some ways, very different from the version that appeared on film. For example, the final cut might only show a couple minutes or seconds of something that was a long, significant experience for the cast. This made being on the show all the more special and the bonding time between castmates even richer and more intimate. The experience has also influenced Sally’s work as an author – she is working on some creative projects related to the experience!