The renegotiation of Swedengate : A temporal and discursive examination of a viral phenomenon

Sammanfattning: This study examines the discursive development of the viral online phenomenon known by the hashtag #swedengate. Having originally revolved around Swedish dinner customs, the discussion and the meaning of ‘Swedengate’ soon came to encompass more serious themes, including various forms of criticism directed at Sweden. Due to the political significance such a development could imply, this study aims to map the renegotiation of meaning of the phenomenon over time and analyze it using a discourse theoretical framework. Moreover, to reflect upon the political aspect of such renegotiation, by contrasting Swedengate to literature on hashtag politics, virality and nation branding. Empirically, the study draws on Twitter hashtag data that represents concurrent hashtag usage related to the hashtag #swedengate within a time span of 39 weeks. Using social network analysis, this data is visualized and presented as a network graph offering a discursive and temporal representation of the interaction that is constitutive of Swedengate. With reference to several of Laclau and Mouffe's key concepts, the analysis shows that the graph can be understood as an articulation process, within which the hashtag #sweden functions as a floating signifier whose meaning is negotiated upon by various antagonistically positioned discourses. As a result of the floating signifier being articulated differently and through the formation of equivalence chains, the meaning of Swedengate came to include everything from vaccine skepticism to criticism of the Swedish government. Consequently, the study discusses the possibility of phenomenon such as Swedengate being exploited by actors with a specific political ambition.