more on the lärabar

Just to make it clear: å, ä, and ö (Å, Ä, and Ö) are actual individual letters in the Swedish alphabet. They have distinct sounds that differ from each other, and from that of the a and the o. When they are scattered in an English context, a Swedish person pronounces them in Swedish until she is reminded to disregard the dots because it is English and no one understands what she says. When the letters are used to make something look ethnic, it's funny to me. But it's also interesting in a cultural sense. In a way, the å, ä, and ö are used in much the same manner as the pinata, or the chips and salsa, or the Chinese chicken salad. Appropriations of culture. Moving things out of old contexts and into new ones, and in the process reshaping, inventing, or attaching new values to them.