The Riddle of Amish Culture

by Donald B. Kraybill

  Fast tempos, quick moves, and rapid changes are suspect in Amish culture. The torturously slow tempo of Amish singing in church reflects an utterly different conception of time.46 Holding church services every other week stretches the temporal span of Amish life. The rhythm of the seasons and the agricultural calendar of planting and harvesting widen the temporal brackets and slow the pace of Amish life. These “wide” intervals of time contrast sharply with the abbreviated slices of modern time dictated by news clips, sound bites, and half-hour television programs diced up by commercials.

  The great irony here is that in Amish society, with fewer labor-saving devices and technological shortcuts, there is much less “rushing around.” In general, the perception of rushing seems to grow directly with the number of “time-saving” devices one uses. Although much time is “saved” in modern life, for some reason there seems to be less of it. Rushing increases as the number, complexity, and mobility of social relations soar. Thus, the simplicity, overlap, and closeness of Amish life slow the pace of things and eliminate the need for time-management seminars. Visiting, the popular Amish “sport,” is often spontaneous. Drop-in visits without warning are welcomed. There are, of course, planned family gatherings, but spontaneity generally prevails in Amish socializing. Children are sometimes told to “hurry up,” but all things considered, the stride of life is slower.

  There are, however, some impending changes. Time clocks, appointment books, and telephones springing up around Amish shops reflect a livelier tempo. Appointments, unheard of in the past, are now commonplace among Amish businessmen, who must synchronize their work with the patterns of the larger society. A “punch-in” time clock in some Amish shops is a sure sign of a new temporal order. Telephones near Amish work sites make it easier to arrange appointments. One person complained: “Now you even have to make an appointment to have your horse shod by an Amish blacksmith. In the past you could just take it there and wait.” Patient waiting, a virtue of Gelassenheit, is now at risk. Moderns, of course, also have moments of waiting and yielding, but they are few. In Amish society, pausing at the yield sign is the way of life.

  UPSIDE-DOWN VALUES

  The social organization and practices of a society constitute an argument about its fundamental values and worldview. The quiltwork of Amish culture is upside down in many ways. The cultural capital and basic values of this community challenge the taken-for-granted assumptions of modernity.47 The implicit arguments flowing from Amish culture contend that:

  The individual is not the supreme reality.

  Communal goals transcend individual ones.

  Obeying, waiting, and yielding are virtuous.

  The past is as important as the future.

  Tradition is valued more than change.

  Personal sacrifice is esteemed over pleasure.

  Work is more satisfying than consumption.

  Newer, bigger, and faster are not necessarily better.

  Preservation eclipses progress.

  Local involvement outweighs national acclaim.

  Technology must be tamed.

  Staying together is the supreme value.

  In all of these ways, the Amish have not capitulated to modernity. Their core value system has withstood the torrents of progress. There is, of course, slippage from the ideal of Gelassenheit. Egocentrism, pride, envy, jealousy, and greed sometimes fracture community harmony. This is not heaven. Sin stalks this community as well as others. There are sporadic cases of sexual abuse and drug use. There is pain, suffering, and depression in this community. At times family or church feuds splinter an otherwise peaceful social order. Even leaders sometimes balk when asked to yield to the authority of elder bishops. Business owners in a competitive world find it hard to abide by the spirit of Gelassenheit. Moreover, the conformity to explicit rules cultivates an attitude of hollow conformity among some members who look and dress Amish but have left the community in spirit. After all, this is a human community and these people are people.

  Despite aberrations and episodes of self-enhancement, Gelassenheit remains the governing principle, the core value, that solves the riddle of Amish culture. Definitions of worldliness and pride are cautiously updated to permit a slow drift forward. But submission, simplicity, obedience, and humility still prevail. They continue to structure the Amish worldview—a sure sign that Gelassenheit has not faded from the quiltwork of Amish culture.

  CHAPTER 3

  Symbols of Integration and Separation

  Telephones, electricity, cars, and tractors set us off from the Mennonites, and then, of course, there is television and all the other stuff.

  —Amish farmer

  THE FLAGS OF ETHNICITY

  The Amish share many cultural objects with other Americans. They read newspapers, jump on trampolines, and barbecue hamburgers on gas grills. Other aspects of their material culture—lanterns, harnesses, bonnets—are unique. Such artifacts serve both symbolic and practical functions in Amish culture. They symbolize Amish identity and also shape daily life. Lanterns, for instance, not only announce the ethnic affiliation of Amish homesteads but also make a practical difference in daily living. Without electricity for television or air conditioners, Amish homes are remarkably quiet. Without dishwashers, manual work increases. Without microwaves, the family usually eats meals together. Amish families are often found gathered in the common room of their home because they use space heaters and have fewer sources of light. And they typically go to bed earlier—often by eight or nine on winter evenings. In these and other ways, the absence of electricity shapes Amish behavior. This chapter focuses on four important symbols—language, dress, horse, and buggy—that shape Amish identity and impact daily life.1

  Like other people, the Amish live in a symbolic world of their own creation. The symbols of Gelassenheit articulate surrender, bond the community together, and mark off boundaries with the larger society. Symbols stir deep emotions. Just as a nation’s flag is not just another piece of cloth to be burned or trashed at will, the horse in Amish culture is not merely another animal; it evokes special memories and meanings. Like flags, Amish symbols represent the very essence of Amish life. Over the years dialect, dress, horse, and buggy have crystallized into durable symbols of Amish identity.

  THE DIALECT OF SEPARATION

  In many ways, people are captives of their language. Vocabulary and grammar construct images of reality in our consciousness. These perceptions of reality, embedded in the mind of a child, are taken for granted as “the way things are.” Because language defines the “way things are,” it is the most powerful means of social control. Language also integrates and separates. It unites those who speak a common tongue and excludes those who do not.

  The Amish speak English and a German dialect known as Pennsylvania German or Pennsylvania Dutch. This dialect, which the Amish call Deitsch, is their native tongue and should not be confused with the Dutch language of the Netherlands. The dialect was once spoken by most Germanic settlers in southeastern Pennsylvania.2 The Amish across North America speak Pennsylvania German and can identify themselves by various regional accents.

  Except for the Amish and a few related Plain groups, the dialect has declined in recent years. In Amish culture, the dialect is the language of family, friendship, play, and intimacy. Most children live in the world of the dialect until they learn English in the Amish school. Students learn to read, write, and speak English from Amish teachers, who learned it from their Amish teachers as well. But the dialect prevails in friendly banter on the playground. The dialect functions primarily as an oral language; however, idioms of it are frequently mixed in with an old form of German in Amish sacred writings.

  By the end of the eighth grade, young Amish have developed basic competence in English, although they often speak with a slight accent. Adults are able to communicate in fluent English with their non-Amish neighbors. When talking among themselves, the Amish sometimes mix English words—chance, surprise, birthday party, refrigerator,
hydraulic, computer—with the dialect. A word such as embalm may be mispronounced embam. Some “high” Amish may use English among themselves to show off their vocabulary by adding an English phrase such as “Well I don’t know” amidst a sentence of dialect. Letters between Amish people are often written in English, with salutations and occasional phrases in the dialect.

  Competence in English varies directly with occupational roles and interaction with outside speakers. Amish businessmen, for example, develop an extensive English vocabulary. They talk about marketing strategies and use legal terminology with ease. But even they stumble when searching for English words to communicate religious ideas. Finally, with a tone of frustration, an Amish person might say: “I could just say it much better in German.” Such acknowledgments underscore the importance of the dialect in creating and perpetuating a different worldview. Numerous Amish note an increased use of English in everyday speech and worry that some children are learning too much English too early. And clearly the dialect itself is changing, drifting farther from formal German and incorporating more and more English words.

  If English is a trade language and the dialect is the mother tongue, German is God’s voice. Old German with Gothic letters is taught in schools and used for religious documents. An editor of an Amish publication noted: “Our policy forbids the publishing of Amish church revered matter in English.”3 Scripture verses, church regulations, religious booklets, and sayings of respected leaders are usually printed in German. Although the Bible, the Martyrs Mirror, and other inspirational materials are read in German, the ability to speak German varies considerably.4 Church leaders speak and read German to the best of their ability. Preachers read from a German Bible or prayer book with the flavor of local idioms, but most sermons are delivered in the dialect. A few English words may even slip in. One preacher, reciting the biblical story of John the Baptist’s execution, referred to Herod’s “birthday party” in his sermon. Concerned that fewer and fewer young people could read German, an Amish publisher printed a book of prayers in both English and German, signaling a shift toward English even in religious writings.5

  Amish schools have been crucial in preserving the dialect and expanding the use of the German. Although all members of the community speak the dialect fluently, the use of written English and German varies considerably by training, occupation, intelligence, and personal motivation. A weekly Amish newspaper, Die Botschaft (The message); a business newspaper, Plain Communities Business Exchange; and a monthly periodical, The Diary, are all published in English. Many Amish receive a daily newspaper and subscribe to the Reader’s Digest as well as other magazines that relate to their work.

  English is viewed as the currency of high culture and worldly society, a language of sophistication at odds with the lowly spirit of Gelassenheit. The Amish note that when “high” families leave the church, they eventually drop the dialect and drift in worldly directions. Knowing that the dialect helps to preserve their ethnic identity, the Amish have refused to concede it to modernity.

  The dialect preserves Amish identity in several ways. It provides a social glue that binds and unites the community into a world of their own. It also links members to their religious roots and to the martyrs of the past. Reading the Bible, the Martyrs Mirror, and other religious materials in the “original” tongue creates a sacred discourse. English is the language of the modern world, the verbal currency of a vain society. To use English in prayers or religious services is considered worldly. A shift to English would erode many oral traditions because the dialect also serves as a depository for folklore, a vehicle for transporting Amish traditions.

  The dialect also separates. Although most Amish can speak English, they are never quite at ease with it. There are moments of hesitation when they grope for an English translation or stumble on an English word. It is difficult to tease, dream, and communicate intimate emotions in a foreign language. The dialect provides a prudent way of keeping the world at bay. It controls interaction with outsiders and stifles intimate ties with non-Amish neighbors. Progressive Amish leaders and businessmen subscribe to magazines such as Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report, and Farm Journal, but the advanced vocabulary of such media keeps it out of the hands of many. In all these ways, the dialect creates a worldview, a way of perceiving reality that obstructs the discourse with modernity.

  THE GARB OF HUMILITY

  Dress speaks. It communicates membership, commitment, and social status. Their dress unites the Amish as a community and also sets them apart. Dress has provided a means of separation since their beginning.6 As manufactured clothing became popular in the twentieth century, dress became an even more distinctive badge of Amish identity, a defensive tactic that sharpened their cultural boundaries.

  Both Amish and Moderns dress for success, but the standards of success differ radically. In fact, the two cultures use dress in opposite ways. In modern society, dress is used to express individual preference, social class, and wealth. It is a tool of self-adornment that communicates individual taste, highlights the body, and signals social status. In Amish society, dress signals group membership and submission to the moral order. Amish people forgo the right of self-expression and don the communal garb that serves as an ethnic name tag. Modern dress accents the individual, whereas Amish dress builds group solidarity.

  The number of outfits in contemporary wardrobes reflects the complexity of modern social structure. Multiple roles require specialized outfits—swimming trunks, sweat pants, casual wear, and tuxedos. The more simple Amish social structure requires fewer outfits that loosely fit around three occasions: work, dress up, and church. The church’s ability to dress its members in the “company uniform” reveals the strength and scope of religious control. Because their world is sacred and they are always “on duty,” the Amish always appear in uniform.7

  Amish dress serves a variety of functions. The ethnic garb: (1) signals that a member has yielded to the collective order, (2) prevents dress from being used for self-adornment, (3) promotes equality, (4) creates a common consciousness that bolsters group identity, (5) increases social control because members are expected to “act Amish” when in uniform, (6) projects a united public front, which conceals diversity in other areas, and (7) erects symbolic boundaries around the group—the equivalent of a cultural moat.

  Relinquishing control over the presentation and ornamentation of one’s body is a fundamental offering—the supreme sign that the self has yielded to a higher authority. Dressing in prescribed patterns day after day symbolizes one’s surrender to the supremacy of the group. Indeed, the details of Amish dress provide subtle clues to an individual’s conformity to the standards of the church. The width of a hat brim, the length of hair, the length of a skirt, the size of a head covering, and the color of shoes and stockings quietly signal a member’s compliance with the church. Subtle variations announce whether one is liberal or conservative, showing off or obeying the church, “jumping the fence” or falling in line.

  The language of dress communicates without words. Common dress unites members and makes it impossible to blend into the cultural mainstream. Dressed like their parents, children learn to act, think, and feel “Amish” from birth. Dress regulations have been encoded in the oral tradition of the church and are usually not justified by moral or biblical arguments. Thoughtful leaders sometimes offer explanations based on biblical principles of modesty or simplicity, but regulations are not tied to specific scriptures.8 Central to both self and group identity, Amish dress is the language of loyalty and belonging. The dress code is usually accepted as simply “the way our people dress.”

  Amish garb unites members and separates them from the non-Amish, as a crowd observes the filming of Witness in the village of Intercourse.

  The style and color of dress signify a host of meanings related to at least nine dimensions of Amish life: (1) gender, (2) age, (3) marital status, (4) Plainness, (5) membership, (6) authority, (7) mourning, (8) sacred-profane boundar
ies, and (9) private-public domains. The cultural maze of these dimensions creates a complicated grammar of dress that specifies what is appropriate in a particular setting for a person in a certain role. The recipe for a particular role provides psychological clarity and identity for the individual and communicates acceptance of the role to others as well. However, within the prescribed recipe there is some freedom for flexibility. A mother can dress her young boys in shirts of various colors. Young women have some choice in the style of the aprons they wear. To the outsider the Amish appear to dress alike, but a closer glance reveals a mosaic of details that signal important meanings within the culture.

  Many items in the Amish wardrobe are homemade. A member described the process: “The Amish mother sews all the dresses, capes, aprons, and head coverings for the girls and herself as well as the pants and shirts for the men and boys. Most of the underwear is bought except some slips and panties may be homemade for the girls. Men’s overcoats and dress suits are made by a seamstress, usually an older single woman who makes a living by sewing for other folks.” In recent years more and more women are buying readymade clothing from Amish dry goods stores.

  THE WOMAN’S WARDROBE

  Baby girls wear a small head covering when they first come to church at six weeks of age. At about the age of four, girls begin wearing an adult-style head covering for Sunday services but not for other activities.9 The coverings are made of Swiss organdy and are almost always white, with one exception. From age thirteen until marriage, most girls wear a black covering when attending church services. The coverings vary slightly in style and size. Younger girls and more liberal women wear a covering with a larger, heart-shaped back, narrower front, and longer, narrower tie strings. Ministers’ wives and women age fifty and older wear a covering with a wider band at the bottom of the back. Older women have the pleat through the middle of the back pressed rather than sewn in. One member said, “The covering is a symbol of subjection to God and to man. Amish women wear them, or at least a bandana or scarf to cover the head at all times, especially while praying or in the presence of men.”