En Sverigebild säger mer än tusen ord : hur bilden av Sverige formas på Svenska Institutet i Paris

Sammanfattning: This master’s thesis explores and discusses the discursive construction of the image of Sweden within the exhibition practice of the Swedish Institute in Paris, France (SI Paris). SI Paris is the only Swedish culture centre abroad and hosts several exhibitions portraying different elements of Swedish culture each year. SI Paris is a part of the larger organisation the Swedish Institute (SI) which operates as a government agency for the promotion of Sweden internationally. The study is a critical discourse analysis (CDA), as developed by Norman Fairclough, with empirical focus on press releases for over fifty exhibitions from the year 2000 and up until the first quarter of 2015. In addition to the CDA-methodology we use new institutional theory combined with new museological theory to better comprehend the many aspects of this uniquely situated cultural institution and its exhibitions. The analysis of the press releases and additional interviews with personnel within the organisation help us to conceive of the image of Sweden as a social construction largely built upon cliché-based and stereotypical ideas of Sweden, forged over decades passed, suggesting the existence and the continual relevance of an essential national identity; a Swedishness. Within the press releases clichés and stereotypes are presented as if logical or natural which obscures their deep-lying ideological tendencies. What tends to be described and perceived as merely a culture centre and an exhibition venue can thus be said to function as a political instrument for the implementation of a positive view on the Swedish way of life and the promotion of Sweden as a potential business partner to the world. SI Paris claims that there are ways of promoting Sweden other than waving a Swedish flag (as one informant puts it). However, our study shows that in presenting and exhibiting cliché-based national symbols, SI Paris is participating in the same narrative and reproduction of traditional ideas of nation and nationality as if they were indeed waving the proverbial flag.