Constructing a Nordic Community in the Polish Press – Past and Present (co-authored with Maja...

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Chapter 13

Constructing a Nordic Community in the

Polish Press - Past and Present

Kazimierz Musiał and Maja Chacińska

The past century has witnessed a significant change in the perception of the Nordic region abroad. From being regarded as an insignificant and relatively poor region of the continent and at the outskirts of European affairs in the beginning of the twentieth century, the Nordic countries have gained a reputation of being some of the most advanced, prosperous, progressive and happy nations in the world a hundred years later. The real and palpable achievements of the Nordic economies and societies notwithstanding, the main claim of this chapter is that the changing image ofboth the individual countries in the region, and of the Nordic community as a whole, owes much to the construction provided by the printed media.

The significant change in the prosperity and well-being, along with the political and social progressiveness of inhabitants in the Nordic region, has been closely followed by the international press. In this chap ter we look closely at two important periods in modern Nordic history, the interwar period and the years after 1989. The interwar period is often referred to as the foundation years of the Scandinavian model, while the most recent period encompasses the years that followed the end of the Cold War and stands for diversification of the Nordic stereotypes.1 The chapter pursues a working hypothesis that in both periods in question the press has contributed substantially to the conceptualization of the Nordic community by providing a discursive framework in which old and new notions of such a community have been mediated and reconstructed. Furthermore, it is asserted that between the two analysed periods, thanks in part to the international media's growing curiosity about Nordic affairs, the monolithic and often idealized image of the Nordic countries has grown increasingly ambiguous and the image of the Nordic utopia conceived in the interwar period ever more tarnished by dystopian notions of more recent origin.

In the interwar period the international press participated in constructing an almost universal image of Scandinavia, where there arguably existed a progressive

1 Cf. Kazimierz Musiał, 'Reconceptualising Nordic Identities alter 1989: in Madeleine Hurd (ed.), Bordering the Baltic: Scandinavian Boundary-Drawing Processes, 1900-2000 (London and Berlin, 2010), pp. 105-125.

[in:] J. Harvard, P. Stadius (red.), Communicating the North. Media Structures and Images in the Making of the Nordic Region. Ashgate, 2013, 289-318. ISBN: 978-1-4094-4948-5

290 Communicating the North

frame of mind, by virtue of which a change for the better in the domains of both politics and welfare carne to be regarded as inevitable.2 The image of the Nordic community included being progressive and innovative in solving social questions, which became a trademark of the whole region and its people in the post-war period. Furthermore, from being represented mainly by Denmark and Sweden as the most emblematic, progressively-minded Scandinavian states, the Nordic community witnessed a shifi: in its stereotype when smaller national, or sometimes even ethnic, communities from the region also carne to be presented as Nordic to world public opinion.3

While the notion of the uniqueness of a distinctive, middle-way social and political model thrived during the Cold War, in recent decades a significant change in the media's international attention vis-a-vis the Nordic region can be seen. On the one hand, many European governments have looked with envy at the successes of Nokia's company-driven development strategy in Finland, fłexicurity in Denmark and the advanced knowledge society in Sweden. To a great extent, the esteem in which external observers held Nordic technological innovativeness and social progressiveness resembled their admiration of Nordic social and economic originality and efficiency in the interwar period.

On the other hand, however, early in the post-war period some distinctively dystopian images of the Nordic way were already surfacing on both sides of the Atlantic. In 1960, for instance, President Dwight D. Eisenhower criticized Sweden, where socialism had allegedly led to a rising level of alcoholism and suicide, producing a nation of ne'er-do-wells.4 Not only did early sexual education and the alleged lasciviousness of Swedish girls evoke criticism, but, from the perspective of critics of the socialist utopias, the planned economy of the Swedish social engineers also appeared to limit individual freedoms to an unbearable extent.5

2 Kazimierz Musiał, Roots of the Scandinavian Model: Images of Progress in the Era of

Modernisation (Baden Baden, 2002), p. 10. 3 Ibid„ p. 36. 4

For details and further examples of a critique of the American political right, see H. Arnold Barton, 'The New Deal and the People's Home', in Migration och mdngfald (Uppsala, 1999), pp. 213-214.

5 For a comparative perspective on the stereotype of sexually promiscuous Swedish

women on the continent, see, for instance, the German case analysed by Stephan Michael Schroder, Mehr Spaj mit Schwedinnen? Funktionen eines deutschen Heterostereotyps (Berlin, 1996). A classical and path-breaking critique of the - for the most part - positively connoted Swedish way appeared in Roland Huntford's The New Totalitarians (London, 1971). By 1980 the apparently overregulated and overly ideological Swedish Social Democracy had became an object of criticism from Marquis Childs, who had earlier praised the pragmatism and common sense of this leading Swedish political party. Cf. Marquis Childs, Sweden: The Middle Udy on Trial (New Haven, CT, 1980 ).

Constructing a Nordic Community in the Polish Press - Past and Present 291

Even more gloomy reports saw the light of the day when the Cold War ended, and early in the l 990s, for the more conservative public, poor economic results and high unemployment undermined belief in the viability of thirdway politics altogether.6 On top of this, in 2008 the Icelandic economic crisis made the Icesave investments, worth billions of pounds, a dismal affair for many international investors and, what is relevant with regard to our theme, the dystopian images related to the economic problems almost overshadowed the earli er, predominantly far more positive, success stories coming from the region. The Icesave crash in Iceland demonstrates the paradox whereby the international media's attention can construct almost simultaneously utopian and dystopian images of a given country. 7 The fact that the media disregarded in one country certain issues that attracted great attention elsewhere constitutes a further challenge to our analysis concerning the most recent decades.

Method and Sources

Previous research concerning xenostereotypes of the Nordic countries provides an invaluable point of departure and a framework of reference. A matrix for this kind of analysis has been provided by earlier elaboration of the way in which the British and American press in the interwar period conceived a definite image of some Nordic countries by constructing a 'from rags to riches' success story enjoyed by the Nordics.8 While putting to use similar analytical instruments, our work sketches the discursive reality conceived mainly in journalistic accounts from the Polish press referring to the Nordic countries in the interwar period and in the past two decades.9

The Polish press of the interwar period provided a plethora of dailies and journals representing different political groupings and parties. The main criteria for selecting relevant journals have been linked to their interest in the topics relating to Scandinavia and their representativeness of the main political

Cf. 'Farewell, Welfare', The Economist, 23 Ocrober 1993, p. 43. 7 The failed lcesave investment amounted to an economic catastrophe for many British

households and firmly established Iceland as an object of attention in the British media for severa! months. At the same time much less attention was paid to the Icelandic crisis, for instance, in the Polish press in that period.

Musiał, Roots of the Scandinavian Model, as well as Frederic Hale, 'British Observers of the Swedish Welfare State, 1932-1970', Scandinavian Studies, 81(4) (Winter 2009): SO 1-528. See also Peter Stadius, Chapter 11 in this volume.

Although Poland is geographically a close neighbour of the Nordic countries across the Baltic Sea, images of the Nordic countries in the Polish press - especially from the interwar period - have, for the most part, remained linie researched and, as a result, have not been accessible to the broader international public.

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currents in Polish politics.10 The dailies under scrutiny are the right-wing Kurier Poznański, the socialist Robotnik, and peasant party journals like Piast, Zielony Sztandar and "Wjzwolenie. Magazines like Tygodnik Ilustrowany and Świat are politically unaffiliated but are very rich in articles related to Scandinavia. They can be categorized as dealing with broad socio-political and cultural issues of the day. The search for relevant articles has been guided by earlier research into Polish press images of Scandinavia conducted in 2001, which has also provided grounds for selecting the most representative topics that were typical for Poland's interest in Nordic affairs in the interwar period. 11

The constructs of the Nordic countries after the Cold War have been explicated through a documentary analysis and a close reading of the Polish press between 1989 and 201 O. The analysis of this period employs con tent analysis with some statistical data supporting the conclusions: however, the main emphasis is placed on discourse analysis, which is deemed better suited to providing an understanding of stereotypes and their application in press accounts.

The materiał comes from three Polish newspapers: a daily, Gazeta Uljborcza, and two weeklies, Polityka and U/prost. Gazeta Uljborcza was founded by opposition journalists from the Solidarity movement before the first free election in Poland in 1989 and was subsequently the voice of the organization in, for example, supporting the Catholic Church and its views. Gradually, its value system has become more left-oriented, and today the newspaper is considered to express liberał values. lt is a leading daily paper with the second largest circulation (313,000 in 2011).12 Gazeta Uljborcza is known for its social campaigns that have infłuenced changes in such areas as Childbirth with Dignity, which strives for changes in maternity wards in Polish hospitals, and high-quality education in primary schools, promoting modern education models. 13

10 The Polish public discourse of the interwar period has only very sparingly used the term nordyckie (meaning 'Nordic') because its connotations hint at German racial ideology. For a discussion of this phenomena, see, for instance, Kazimierz Ślaski, Tysi4clecie polskoskandynawskich stosunków kulturalnych (Wrocław, 1977), p. 9. A similar pattern could be observed in other countries too, as demonstrated by Kazimierz Musiał, '"Nordisch - Nordic - Nordisk": Die wandlebaren Topoi-Funktionen in den deutschen, anglo-amerikanischen und skandinavischen nationalen Diskursen: in Alexandra Biinsch and Bernd Henningsen (eds), Die kulturelle Konstruktion von Gemeinschaften: Schweden und Deutschland im Modernisierungsprozp(Baden-Baden, 2001), pp. 95-122.

11 Cf. Paweł Jaworski, Polska niepodległa wobec Skandynawii 1918-1939 (Wrocław, 2001 ). lhis book is the only substantial volume resulting from research related to the topie, conducted using a similar approach and an even more extensive body of sources.

12 http://www.wyborcza.pl, accessed 21 September 2011. Gazeta VVyborcza is sometimes considered to have the largest circulation among non-tabloid newspapers; the newspaper with the largest circulation is the tabloid daily Fakt.

13 Ibid.


Polityka is one of the leading Polish weeklies, founded in 1957 and umil 1990 an officia! weekly paper of the Communist Party. In 1990 its employees founded a cooperative that is to this day the paper's publisher. Between 2004 and 201 O the left-wing liberał Polityka was the largest circulating weekly in Poland.14

11/prostwas founded in 1982 as a regional weekly and since 1989 has been a national paper, with a circulation of around 176,000 in 2011. 15 Between 2004 and 201 O 11/prostwas a right-wing conservative weekly, but in 2010 a new editorin-chief was appointed and the paper has become less conservative.

During the analysed period both Gazeta Uljborcza and Polityka had correspondents in Stockholm.16 lt can be claimed that the views expressed and the images portrayed in the articles largely refłect the values and views of those correspondents, as well as, in the case of Gazeta Uljborcza, the previously mentioned shifong perspective of the paper. An example of this modification can be traced in the changing tone of articles on feminism published in Gazeta Uljborcza during the analysed period. The shift refłects not only the fact that Gazeta Uljborcza has had a different correspondent in Stockholm since 200 I, but also the fact that the newspaper has been changing its approach to the issue as the Polish social and economic reality has changed.

In both analysed periods the newspapers covered a vast range of topics connected with the Nordic countries: in the contemporary materiał more than fifty different categories were identified, with up to 140 articles or references apiece. The space available in this chapter allows analyses of only the most popular topics, each of which was mentioned in 40-140 articles or references.

Happy Welfare States and the Crisis of the Welfare State

Stereotypes in generał, and xenostereotypes in particular, are not simple analytical units, because viewing them as representative of the whole society in which they are coined is problematic. Nevertheless, stereotypes are interesting on account of their long life; they remain valid for severa! generations and ultimately come to be regarded as components of the cultural heritage. Walter Lippmann had already noticed this in the 1920s when he wrote:

14 In 2011 the circulation was c.190,000. See http:/ /www.wirtualnemedia.pl, accessed 14 October 2011.

15 Ibid. 16 lhese were Polish journalists, stationed in Stockholm, but considered to be

Scandinavian or Nordic correspondents. lhey were: Polityka, Tomasz Walat since 1991; Gazeta VVyborcza, Piotr Cegielski 1990-99 and Katarzyna Tubylewicz 2001-06. Jacek Pawlicki has been writing about Nordic countries from Poland since 2007.

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[T]o be sure a stereotype may be consistently and authoritatively transmitted in

each generation from parem to a child so that it seems almost like a biologica!

fact. In some respects, we may indeed have become ... biologically parasitic upon

our social heritage. 17

It has become almost a scholarly truism that xenostereotypes probably tell us more about the condition of the society in which they were coined than about the actual state of affairs in the country they refer to. 18 This might be due to the fact that they are often ideologized and used selectively in order to promote certain desired political programmes and ideas in the community in which they are conceived.

In the interwar period the economic prosperity of the Nordic countries evoked quite substantial interest in Poland. Arguably, this happened mainly because there were striking differences and contrasts between welfare, prosperity and generał civilizational development in the Nordic and Polish societies. As claimed by one journalist in 1934, the distance between Poland and Denmark could not be measured 'in thousands of kilometres or sea miles. Our distance to its culture amounts to some one hundred years .. .' 19 As early as 1918 it was reported that there were 500 millionaires in Denmark among 3 million inhabitants, and that even ordinary people apparently 'had cash in abundance'.20

Apart from the fact that the Nordic countries did not take part in the war, which explained their affiuence for most journalists, it was the evolutionary rather than the revolutionary character of the social change that was highlighted as being key to their success.21

While gradualism and evolution were noted as peculiar features of Nordic politics, the examples substantiating this claim were provided by, among other things, the relationship between the Scandinavian monarchs and the socialists or communists. Peaceful confłict resolution and the lack of radicalism in the socialist movement that later became intrinsic features of the Nordic welfare state were already observable in the l 920s. In Sweden, the leading Social Democratic Party 'fully reconciles with the monarchy', as was noted by a journalist reporting from Stockholm, and he added a joke about the socialist leader, Hjalmar Branting, who allegedly had a photograph of King Gustav V, personally signed,

17 Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion (New York, 1949), p. 92. 18 Cf., for an example, a well-written paper by Ole Bech-Petersen which takes this

conviction as a point of departure, 'Destination U.S.A. The Mid Nineteenth-Century Danish Intellectual Encounter with the United States', Scandinavian Studies, 70 (Winter 1998): 441-460.

19 Józef Radzimiński, 'Czego pan Pasek nie widział w Danii: Świat, 36 ( 1934): 23. 20 'Bogate państwo', U7yzwolenie, 33 (1918): 303. 21 Zdzisław Dębicki, 'Szczęśliwy kraj', Tygodnik Ilustrowany, 30 ( 1923 ): 476.


standing on his desk.22 In generał, the political culture was sophisticated, and one could spot gentlemen in top hats and umbrellas during Communist rallies.23

Even publications printed in the socialist Robotnik described strikes in Sweden as calm events without military or police intervention. This should not be surprising because, as explained by an anonymous interlocutor, 'the military is forbidden by the constitution to intervene within the country', while 'almost all the police officers belong to the socialist party'.24 Similar images were also conveyed from Copenhagen, where the author was amazed by the absence of police and the peaceful character of the massive socialist demonstration. 'Obviously', he concluded, 'if only our socialists were similar, we could put the government into their hands without worrying.'25 With reference to articles describing social and political relations in Scandinavia in the early 1920s and early 1930s, it may be generally stated that regardless of the journals' political affinity, the Nordic example was not only exposed and communicated, but also became instrumental in the political discourse. The direct allusions of journalists to matters back home made Scandinavia a part of a very central debate in Polish politics.

In the early 1920s the disastrous results of the war were still very palpable in Poland, one of the burning social problems being huge numbers of disabled people. This was obviously one of the reasons why a poet and literary critic, Zdzisław Dębicki, remarked in his reports that in Sweden no handicapped person could be seen, commenting;

[T]he youth are healthy, and children are educated in the most beautiful and

the best equipped schools in the world. The mean level of welfare is higher than

that of many other west European countries that have been better equipped by

nature. All people are well and neatly clad ... Sweden undoubtedly counts among

the happiest countries as far as its economy is concerned.26

This prosperity and welfare were warranted by social solidarity that seemed to be accepted by all levels and classes of the society: 'The set-up of all social groupings in the society appears very harmonious, which in other countries is still a distant goal.'27 In the same vein it was universally recognized that one of the main features of the Nordic societies was equality - that is, 'equality of all citizens not

22 JózefWejtko, 'Dusze w równowadze', Tygodnik Ilustrowany, 3 (1932): 41. 23 Ibid. 24 J.M., 'List ze Szwecji', Robotnik, 320, 22 November 1924. 25 Antoni Ludwiczak, 'Uniwersytety ludowe (Wrażenie z Danii)', Kurier Poznański,

217, 22 September 1922. 26 Dębicki, 'Szczęśliwy kraj'. 27 Ibid.


only in social awareness and conviction, but also in practical application, which was superior to the system practised in many republics'.28

Equality meant that no specific difference could be discerned between the intelligentsia, peasants and workers, and hardly any great difference was apparent between the rich and the poor.29 As the average level of income and wealth was higher than in Poland, the journalists highlighted the fact that no slums existed in the cities and that even during the Great Depression the unemployed could count on social assistance and help.

The post-Cold War period brought new topics inro the debate on the issue of the welfare state in the Nordic countries, although the whole discourse rested upon severa! of the older notions, some of which had already been conceived in the interwar period. In all three analysed newspapers, Nordic countries are very ofi:en referred to as welfare states practising the Swedish model or 'the Third Way model'.30 The descriptions of the features of this model refłect the discussions taking place in Poland during the transitio n period, w hen the country was trying to find its place on the political and economic map of Europe. Because of this, the characteristics of the welfare states are viewed as both utopian and dystopian: they are both praised and questioned as the authors try to work out what would be best for Poland and also show all the advantages and disadvantages of the Nordic model.

Nordic countries are ofi:en given as examples of 'wealthy countries' in articles on various topics.31 In an aniele in Polityka about Polish labour emigration in the late 2000s, Joanna Solska writes that Poles ofi:en choose Nordic countries because of their wealth. 32 There are also many articles in which the name of a given Nordic country is preceded by the phrase 'one of the richest countries in „.'. 33 However, the papers do not view 'being wealthy' in only positive terms. Between 2001 and 2009, Tomasz Walat wrote three articles (one significandy tided 'The Culture of Greediness') in which he claims that many Norwegians believe that happiness can be bought and that the country's wealth is causing Norway to abandon its famous egalitarian spirit.34

28 Jan Jedynak, 'List z Kopenhagi', Piast, 23 (I92I): 6. 29 JanJakóbiec, 'Jak żyją w Danii', Zielony Sztandar, I (I937): 7; and Jedynak, 'List z

Kopenhagi', pp. 6-7. 30 There are I I O articles or paragraphs/ references on the topie 'welfare states', 99 on

'wea!thy nations' and 4I on 'high taxes'. 31 Adam Wajrak, 'Dwóch kółek czar', Gazeta U]iborcza, 7I, 25 March I994, p. 4. 32 Joanna Solska, 'Fala nie wraca', Polityka, 2I, 23 May 2009, p. 45. 33 Adam Krzemiński, 'Daleko od Kremla', Polityka, I I, I 7 March 200 I, p. I O. 34 Tomasz Walat, 'Nadbogaci', Polityka, 36, 8 September 2001, p. 44; Tomasz Walat,

'Przeciągi w Edenie', Polityka, 34, 2I August 2004, p. 52; Tomasz Walat, 'Reżim dobroci', Polityka, 44, 3I October 2009, p. 88.


The good life and happiness are other themes connected with welfare that are often mentioned in the Polish press in regard to Nordic countries.35 Polityka regularly publishes the UN Human Development Index, in which the Nordic countries usually make the top ten, and, according to the index in 2004, Norway was the country in which life was the best in the world (Sweden carne in second).36 lnterestingly, in an article published in Polityka just a week after the index was announced, Walat shows the results in a different light.37 The article is called 'Draughts in Eden', and the author quotes a Norwegian poll in which 51 per cent of the inhabitants do not agree with the UN index, complaining, for example, about high taxes.38

High taxes in the Nordic welfare states are ofi:en emphasized in Polish newspapers.39 However, they do not seem to agree on whether this characteristic is positive or negative: in one aniele, high taxes are not an obstacle to economic growth; in others, the system is criticized, and examples are given ofbusinesses and people, such as IKEA and Ingmar Bergman, who have moved out of Sweden in order to pay !ower taxes. 40

Another dubious characteristic ofi:en referred to in the descriptio n of welfare states is an extensive system of social benefits. 41 Again, as in the case of high taxes, some journalists praise the idea and some blame it for the crisis of the welfare state: 'Benefits for renta!, children, in case of sickness, unemployment, benefits like from a horn of plenry; writes Gazeta Uljborcza in 1993. In 2009 Uljborcza claims, slighdy cynically, that Scandinavia is the best place to be unemployed: 'lt is dark and cold here, but you'll get by. The state pays the unemployed 80-90% of the last income even for up to 4 years.'42

35 Piotr Cegielski, ' Szczęśliwi boją się być szczęśliwi', Gazeta U]iborcza, I29, 2 June I992, p. 6.

36 'Polska: mocna 37 pozycja', Polityka, 30, 24 July 2004, p. I6; Grzegorz Sadowski, 'Unia nordycka', Wprost, 42 (2004).

37 Walat, 'Przeciągi w Edenie'. 38 Ibid. 39 Leif Davidsen, 'Ptakom najlepiej leci się w kluczu', Polityka, I 6, I 7 April 2004,

p. 62; Witold Gadomski, 'Wzloty i upadki państwa dobrobytu', Gazeta U)iborcza, 26I, 8 November 2003, p. I 9;Jędrzej Krakowski, 'W obronie Europy socjalnej', Gazeta U)iborcza,

67, 20 March 2007, p. I8. 40 Jacek Żakowski, 'Mister IKEA', Polityka, I 7, 24 April 2004, p. 46; 'Szwecja znosi

podatek majątkowy', Gazeta U)iborcza, 296, I 9 December 2007, p. 26; Wołodia Zbiniewicz, 'Raj utracony i obca Europa', Gazeta U]iborcza, 243, I 6 October I 993, p. I 6.

41 Maria Kruczkowska, 'Recepta na najlepszą szkołę świata', Gazeta U]iborcza, 44, 2I February I992, p. 4; Jerzy Eysymontt, 'Dylematy budżetowe', Gazeta U]iborcza, 30, 5 February I993, p. I2; Klas Eklund, 'Co się popsuło w szwedzkiej gospdoarce', Gazeta

U)iborcza, 24, 29 January I 996, p. 3. 42 Agnieszka Mitraszewska, 'Jeżeli miałbyś stracić pracę, to najlepiej w Skandynawii',

Gazeta U]iborcza, 115, 18 May 2009, p. 32.

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The papers also give examples of benefits that are rath er appalling for Polish readers: premature retirement at the age of thirty, sick-leaves that last for severa! years because ofburn-out, and all coming out of'taxpayers' money'.43 Even social benefits due to 'heavy metal music abuse' are mentioned.44

However, the strongest dystopian image of welfare states was conveyed in the early l 990s as a result of the economic crisis faced by the Nordic countries.45

There are sixty-eight articles and paragraphs on the topie or mentioning the crisis. The titles alone can show how the situation was evaluated at that time: 'The Bankruptcy of the Great Protector',46 'Crisis a la Sweden',47 'Something is Rotten in the State ofSweden',48 'The Paradise Lost and Strange Europe'49 and 'Is it the End of the Swedish Model?'50 The authors of the articles are very critical of the welfare state and sceptical about its survival.51 However, the image changes slightly again in the 2000s, when the press starts to praise the Nordic welfare state - with the exception of Iceland - especially for handling the 2008 crisis SO well.52

Modernity, Innovativeness, Competitiveness

Like the Anglo-American press reporting from Scandinavia, in the interwar period Polish journalists also discovered this region as a model of modern development.53 Scandinavia provided patterns of technical innovation and this was symbolized by mass access to the telephone - something that could be envied by other states:

43 Katarzyna Surmiak-Domańska, 'Wypaleni', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 22, 14 June 2004, p. 1. 44 Jacek Pawlicki, 'Chory na Black Sabbath', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 147, 26 June 2007, p. 9. 45 Piotr Cegielski, 'Kryzys po szwedzku', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 420, 30 October 1990, p. 4;

Andrzej Szoszkiewicz, 'Druga Europa', VVprost, 42 ( 1998). 46 Danuta Zagrodzka, 'Bankructwo wielkiego opiekuna', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 24,

29 January 1994, p. 10. 47 Cegielski, 'Kryzys po szwedzku'. 48 Alina Białkowska, 'Źle się dzieje w państwie szwedzkim', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 437,

20 November 1990, p. 4. 49 Zbiniewicz, 'Raj utracony i obca Europa'. 50 Ryszard Szulkin, 'Czy to koniec modelu szwedzkiego', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 33,

8 February 1992, p. 16. 51 'Pora na zmianę stylu', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 612, 21June1991, p. 8. 52 Jacek Pawlicki, 'Szwedzi polubili prawicę', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 219, 18 September

201 O, p. 9; 'Gospodarka w skrócie', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 155, 6 July 201 O, p. 24; 'Nowy człowiek stary model', Polityka, 38, 23 September 2006, p. 18.

53 Jaworski, Polska niepodległa wobec Skandynawii, pp. 351-352.

Constructing a Nordic Community in the Polish Press - Past and Present

A telephone in Sweden is as indispensable a component of life as, let's say, a bicycle

in Denmark or Holland or radio in Berlin. Rooms to !et without a phone are not

advertised - they do not exist.54

299

Another device that symbolized Swedish modernity for the same author was the radio. He was informed about how advanced radiophones and broadcasting were in Sweden:

Each young Swede is a dedicated radio amateur. In Uppsala, Dalarna or Skane I

saw aerials and telephone wires over each settlement in the countryside. These are

the mar ks of culture, the existence of which I could never imagine before. 55

Like Sweden, Denmark was also called 'the kingdom of the radio', as a result of over half a million radio receivers being registered in the country.56 For the Polish journalist and his readers, the Nordic countries epitomized a highly developed technical civilization.

Somewhat surprisingly, even in the post-Cold War period high-end technical devices provide a proof of Nordic superiority in technology and innovation:

Lovers of modernity can compare coming to the capital ofFinland to ascending to

heaven: you are not in paradise yet, but certainly on your way to a better world.57

There are mobile phones everywhere, Internet in almost every house and an

interactive TV in your hotel room - this is the best ofSweden.58

In analysed articles from the l 990s and 2000s Nordic countries are often described as modern, innovative and competitive. This description was the sixth most popular in the papers: it was mentioned 105 times in analysed articles and paragraphs. The papers usually estimate the level of modernity by the number of telephones and computers and the amount of Internet access, and Nordic countries are often given as examples of best practice in those areas. Since 1995 the papers have emphasized that mobile and stationary phones are widespread in Nordic countries. 59 In 1996 Gazeta Wyborcza calls Sweden 'The Phone

54 Władysław Burkath, 'Szwecja współczesna', Świat, 43 (1935): 9. 55 Ibid. 56 Władysław Burkath, 'Artystyczna włóczęga', Kultura, 4 (1937): 2. 57 Dariusz Bartoszewicz, 'Ład świata', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 99, 28 April 1998, p. 8. 58 Joanna Kowalska, 'Najbardziej komputerowy naród świati, Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 272,

22 November 2000, p. 26. 59 Paweł Rożyński, 'Komórki w ataku i obronie', Gazeta Vf;Jborcza, 194, 22 August

1995, p. 14.


Kingdom'.60 A year later Gazeta states that 'Scandinavian countries have the leading position in the number of mobile phones per 100 citizens'.61 According to Gazeta, Finns who were asked what makes them proud of their country gave one of three answers: sauna, mobile phones and nature.62

Other signs of a modern country, according to the analysed papers, are the number of computers in schools and well-developed Internet access. Hence, the papers declare that Sweden has the best-developed Internet in Europe,63 that Finland has the world's greatest per capita number of computers connected to the lnternet,64 and that the Nordic countries lead the new economy and should be called 'the Vikings of the lnternet'.65

In the 2000s the papers also publish e-readiness rankings in which the Nordic countries usually top the list.66 The other ranking ofi:en quoted by the papers, and in which Sweden, Norway and Finland always make the top ten, is the competitiveness report.67 In the analysed period those facts, statistics and rankings are most ofi:en put into a Polish context as journalists try to draw encouraging comparisons for their Polish readers. The papers emphasize that not so long ago the Nordic countries were poor and insignificant and 'similar to Poland, for decades they were the peripheries of the modern world'.68 lt is also stressed that such development would not be possible without high expenditure on education and research, which Poland lacks.69 The picture of the modern North is not clouded by many negative examples from this area, the exception being one article in Polityka on computer game abuse.7° By and large, the image

60 Paweł Rożyński, 'Królestwo telefonów', Gazeta Uljborcza, 104, 6 May 1996, p. 24. 61 Paweł Rożyński, 'Komórkowa eksplozja', Gazeta Uljborcza, 104, 2July 1997, p. 17. 62 Dariusz Bartoszewicz, 'Finowie mają lepiej', Gazeta Uljborcza, 99, 28 April 1998,

p.4. 63 Piotr Cegielski, 'Uwaga nadjeżdża metro', Gazeta Uljborcza, 109, 12 May 1997,

p. 16. 64 Rożyński, 'Królestwo telefonów'; Dariusz Bartoszewicz, 'Życie z komórką', Gazeta

Uljborcza, 99, 28 April 1998, p. 8. 65 Marzena Hausman, 'Wikingowie internetu', wprost, 2(2001 ). All the wprost articles

are from the newspaper's Internet archives, at http://www.wprost.pl, accessed August 2011. 66 Zbigniew Domaszewicz, 'Gotowi na nowe', Gazeta Uljborcza, 118, 22 May 2000,

p. 28; Hubert Salik, 'Otwarty na sieć jak Skandynaw', Gazeta Uljborcza, 95, 22 April 2004. 67 Patrycja Maciejewicz, 'Mali na wielką skalę', Gazeta Uljborcza, 88, 15 April 2002,

p. 27; Edwin Bendyk and Grażyna Morek, 'Co zrobić, żeby Polacy mieli pracę', Polityka, 19, 13 May 2006, p. 4; Waldemar Kedaj, 'Japończycy europy', wprost, 45 (2005); Paweł Białobok, 'Europejskie oazy szczęścia', wprost, 112 (2010).

68 Bendyk and Morek, 'Co zrobić, żeby Polacy mieli pracę'; Stefan Bratkowski, 'Wielka Finlandia, mała Ameryka Europy', wprost, 1 (2005).

69 Bendyk and Morek, 'Co zrobić, żeby Polacy mieli pracę'; Erkki Tuomioja, 'Skandynawski sekret', Gazeta Uljborcza, 277, 26 November 2001, p. 29.

70 Tomasz Walat, 'Zetnij głowę Azjacie', Polityka, 12, 24 March 2007, p. 60.


of the high-tech Nordic region is clearly conveyed in almost all articles about the technical aspects of modernity.

Equal Rights and Feminism

In 1930 Tadeusz Boy Żeleński, a medical doctor, writer and one of the most famous Polish journalists of the interwar period, wrote a collection of essays that became a signum temporis with respect to women's rights and contemporary attitudes to maternity. The volume was entided Piekło Kobiet (Women's Hell) and it caused great debate by describing the consequences of the penalization of abortion and the double standards for men and women that were sanctioned by the conservative and wealthier strata of society.71 Obviously, Boy Żeleński was not alone in his criticism, and his essays brought into the limelight issues that had already been debated for a long time. Arguments stemming from the Nordic countries carne in handy and were eagerly employed in such a debate.

The question of maternity and familywelfare in generał appeared in Robotnik in 1932 when Denmark changed stipulations of its penal code concerning abortion, making them less restrictive. Robotnik quoted a medical doctor, working for the Danish police, who criticized the old penal code's 'murder paragraph' which protected an unborn child even though some newborn babies were ofi:en bound to starve. Referring to the new Danish legislation, the author asked the Polish government to do away with the 'senseless law' that severely punished abortion in Poland.72 lt was no coincidence that even the wording of the Scandinavian argument was borrowed for use in the concurrent debate in Poland. In the Polish discourse concerning Scandinavia, the case of abortion was perhaps one of the most evident examples of what the renowned Swedish ethnologist Orvar Lofgren has called contrastive designation and symbolic inversion.73 The idea underlying these phenomena relates to an assumption that what one says about others is a mirror of how one views oneself. In the case of the Polish abortion debate, a Danish doctor quoted in the Polish socialist newspaper spoke words that could actually be ascribed to any proponent of changes in the Polish penal code.

Although the issues of equal rights between the sexes, as well as those of the feminist movements, have become obvious brands to be studied in the Nordic societies today, reports on the position and status of women were part of a broader picture of the Nordic countries presented by the journalists in the

71 Tadeusz Boy Żeleński, Piekło Kobiet, (Warsaw, 1930). 72 Cf. 'Coś się poprawiło w państwie duńskim', Robotnik, 24 December 1937. 73 Orvar LOfgren, 'Pa jakt efi:er den borgerliga kulturen', in Christian Kvium and

Birgitte Wahlin ( eds ), Mentalitetsfarandringer (Arhus, 1987), p. 111.


interwar period as well. In 1927 the French publication of]ćrome 60° latitude nord, by Maurice Bedel, was, due to its notoriety, also read in Poland where it sparked interest in getting to know more about the liberated and allegedly easy-going Nordic women.74 The book undoubtedly attracted the attention of journalist Józef Wejtko, who felt the need to verify Bedel's allegations when reporting from Sweden. Swedish women were encouraged to be more liberated than their Polish counterparts, and they we re handsome, friendly and natural.75 The majority of women and girls had blond hair - it was reported - but they hardly used any lipstick as their colouring was naturally beautiful and highlighted by the characteristic good moods visible on their faces. They dressed well and played sports; the wealthier went horse-riding, played tennis, drove cars, rowed and swam a lot, whereas their poorer friends substituted long walks for such luxurious sports. Most of women were vocationally active and, even without economic necessity, they would work so as not to be idle, or they would learn languages, study or learn practical things. What was remarkable was the lack of the 'unhealthy erotic atmosphere that to a smaller or greater extent could be witnessed in other countries'. Women and men enjoyed equal and friendly relations without much anxiety or reverence being demonstrated.76

The image of liberated Swedish women was apparently very new, even for the richer classes of the Polish society which remained quite conservative and traditionalist. In the countryside the differences between Poland and Scandinavia would be less striking, although even for peasant families, some examples of progressive relationships between men and women could be found in Scandinavia. The Danish countryside was used to make this point:

A Danish woman in the countryside takes care of the house and its near

surroundings, does not work in the field and even leaves milking the cows to men.

This has a good impact on housekeeping and household equipment.77

In the post-Cold War period the analysed papers convey an image of the Nordic countries as strong equal rights supporters. There are, however, differences in the perceptions of equal rights and feminist issues depending on the newspaper and on the analysed period of time. It is interesting to read Piotr Cegielski's chauvinistic and haughty articles from the 1990s in which he seems to mock the strong position of women in Sweden, calling quotas for women in

74 In 1927 the book was awarded the Prix Goncourt and was the subject of heated exchanges between Norway and the author.

75 Wejtko, 'Dusze w równowadze', p. 42. 76 Ibid. 77 Jan Jaworski, 'Wspomnienia z Danii', Tygodnik Ilustrowany, 17 ( 1931): 323.


Swedish parliament 'equal rights going absurd'.78 According to him, the quota is an idea in which ' [ r] egardless of qualifications, predisposition and experience every second minister and PM from the [Social Democratic] party must be a woman'.79

In 1995 Cegielski argues that as a result of failure in the economic field, Swedish Social Democrats are trying to gain people's support in other areas and so they are promoting a policy of obligatory feminization. 80 An example of this po li cy is creating an equal rights ministry and quo tas for wo men. 81 In another aniele tided 'The Drama of a Liberated Swedish Woman' Cegielski concludes that the politician Mona Sahlin could not bear the pressure of combining professional and family life that the Swedish system has forced on women.82

It seems impossible that Cegielski, who had lived in Sweden for quite a long time, did not notice that 'feminization', as he called it, had been a long process in Sweden. It had been developing for decades and was not just something that the Social Democrats carne up with as their populist lifeline in the time of crisis. It is possible that, according to his judgement, Polish readers were not prepared at that time for such concepts and would view them as disturbing, so he chose to construct them as dystopian and inevitably self-destructive.

In the 2000s Gazeta's generał pro-feminist discourse became outspoken, and there was a total shift in the newspaper's perception and presentation of equal rights in the Nordic countries.83 Around 2005 Gazeta U1yborcza became a strong advocate of instituting a quota for women in the Polish parliament, and the Nordic countries were often presented as best practice in this area.84

78 Piotr Cegielski, 'Ani jednej kobiety mniej', Gazeta U']borcza, 208, 7 September 1994, p. 7.

79 Ibid. 80 Piotr Cegielski, 'Coraz mniej opieki', Gazeta U']borcza, 94, 21 April 1995, p. 8. 81 Ibid. 82 Piotr Cegielski, 'Dramat wyzwolonej Szwedki', Gazeta U']borcza, 260, 8 November

1995. 83 Agnieszka Kublik, 'Dla dobra kobiet dyskryminować mężczyzn', Gazeta U']borcza,

111, 14 May 2002, p. 8; Agnieszka Kublik, 'Równość po norwesku', Gazeta U']borcza, 283, 5 December 2002, p. 8.

84 Katarzyna Tubylewicz, 'Równość płci w radzie nadzorczej', Gazeta U']borcza, 23, 27 January 2006, p. 12; Agnieszka Kublik, 'Nawrócona na parytet', Gazeta U']borcza, 191, 17 August 2009, p. 2; Ewa Milewicz, 'Polityk nie ma płci', Gazeta U']borcza, 181, 4 August 2009, p. 15; Miłada Jędrysik, 'Władzy raz zdobytej', Gazeta U']borcza, 49, 27 February 2010, p. 19; Miłada Jędrysik, 'Politycy przehandlowali kobiety', Gazeta U']borcza, 294, 18 December 2006, p. 19.


Polityka and its Stockholm correspondent, Tomasz Walat, generally also view equal rights in positive terms. 85 Walat, however, also has a tendency to adopt a slighdy mocking tone and depict rather idiosyncratic and isolated incidents as something widespread, which we believe is a construction that is supposed to draw the readers' attention. This is seen in the case of feminism, as in the aniele 'Stop Squatting, Girls' from 2007, in which he states that Sweden has achieved a dubious distinction in gender equality: feminists want to pee standing up and demand the right to go to public swimming pools topless. sG

In 2003 Walat writes that everybody seems to admire Swedish equality and 'only Swedish wo men are not happy with what they have achieved'. 87 In the same article he quotes one of the Swedish feminists, Gudrun Schyman, who claims that Swedish men in their conservatism do not differ much from the Taliban.ss Equal rights in Nordic countries are also often mentioned in articles concerning the high birthrate and state family policy, in which it is stated that one of the reasons for the high birthrate is the equal division of childcare between mothers and fathers. s9

lt should also be mentioned that Polish newspapers show that the struggle for equality in the Nordic countries does not concern only gender issues. Nordic countries are perceived in the analysed newspapers as open and supportive in regard to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.90 The newspapers always write about any countries that legalize partnership, marriage or adoption by homosexual couples, even in the early l 990s when in Catholic Poland any political discussion about these kinds oflaws was unthinkable. Most articles on these topics are very reliable, factual and free of personal opinions.91

85 Marek Ostrowski and Jędrzej Liniecki, 'Niech żyje mała różnica', Polityka, 10,

7 March 2009, p. 82. 86 Tomasz Walat, 'Przestańcie kucać dziewczyny', Polityka, 42, 20 October 2007, p. 66. 87 Ibid. 88 Tomasz Walat, 'Szwedka pożądana w interesie', Polityka, 10, 8 March 2003. Gudrun

Schyman, at the time chairman of the Party of the Lefi:, spoke at its party congress in 2002 about men's oppression of wo men, a talk later called the 'Taliban speech'.

89 Joanna Podgórska and Agnieszka Mazurczyk, 'Matka chce pracy', Polityka, 11, 19 March 2005, p. 78; Adam Leszczyński, 'Równość się opłaca', Gazeta Wyborcza, 241, 14 October 2006, p. 19; Milada Jędrysik, 'Prawicowa walka pici', Gazeta Wyborcza, 261,

9 November 2005, p. 20. 90 Piotr Cegielski, 'Wierna para pastorów', Gazeta Wyborcza, 186, 11 August 1993,

p. 7; Grzegorz Górny, 'Polowanie na rodzinę', Wprost, 25 (2005). 91 Zbigniew Bidakowski, 'Wojny homoseksualistów', Gazeta Wyborcza, 35, 11 February

1994, p. 18; Dominika Cosic, 'Szczęściarz z Kopenhagi', Wprost, 16 (2009); Piotr Cegielski, 'Homoseksualistom tak', Gazeta U)iborcza, 100, 29 April 1994, p. 7; 'Cytaty', Polityka, 24, 15 June 2002, p. 14.


From Superior Agriculture to Top-notch Environmentał Protection

In all matters agrarian it was Denmark rather than any other Nordic country that dominated the scene in the interwar period. Even smallholders were in the possession of a beautiful house, built of bricks, with large, bright windows and a tiled roof. There would be a veranda in front of the house from which one could enter the corridor inside. There, 'one door leads to the living room and further to the bedroom, with the other door leading to the dining room, beyond which one finds a kitchen and a pantry. This is what the most primitive ... housing of a Danish peasant looks like.'92 Others added that in each house a bookshelf full of interesting books and the obligatory agricultural encyclopaedia could be found.93

The Swedish countryside was described in equally favourable terms. The Swedish peasants were allegedly well educated, in some cases even to university level, while their setdements were no different from the farms of the wealthier Polish gentry.94 Polish journalists were amazed by the quality of the roads, the numerous cars, the post boxes by the roadsides, and the fact that a radio, a grand piano, an armchair and a couch could be found in peasant homes. What was more, newspapers were widely read.95

The superior agricultural civilization described and admired in the interwar period lost its attraction to the extent that agriculture in generał lost its importance as a branch of the national economy in the industrial and post-industrial era. After the Cold War it was environmental protection that definitely attracted much of the interest previously enjoyed by agriculture.

In 1989 and in the l 990s the Nordic countries were depicted in the Polish press as very environment-friendly. The articles and paragraphs carrying that theme occupy second place among all the topics, as they are mentioned in 139 references. The articles are mainly positive, describing Nordic endeavours to protect the Baltic Sea and help former communist countries to limit pollution of the common atmosphere and sea. In this regard, in 1989 Gazeta U1jborcza started to write about so-called eco-conversion - remission of the Polish debt to wealthier Western countries so that Poland could use the money for ecological investments instead.96

92 Jan Jedynak, 'Reforma rolna w Polsce na tle stosunków w chłopskim państwie, w Danii',Piast,41(1921):11.

93 Jan Jedynak, 'Jak żyją chłopi i robotnicy rolni w Danii', Piast, 16 (1922): 19. 94 Stanisław Przybyszewski, 'Moi współcześni', Tygodnik Ilustrowany, 24 ( 1924): 407. 95 Kazimierz Wyszomirski, 'Co możemy zobaczyć w Szwecji', Zielony Sztandar, 33

(1936):4. 96 Magda Papuzińska, 'Czyste powietrze za długi', Gazeta Wyborcza, 115, 17 October

1989, p. 3.


In 1990 Gazeta points out that Sweden will assign $170 million and Denmark $70 million for the protection of the Baltic Sea environment and waters.97 Similar activities are described by TVyborcza throughout the l 990s.98 lt is worth noting that this problem was not only depicted in regard to poorer and less environment-friendly countries polluting the common water or atmosphere, but also in regard to Scandinavian investments. For example, from 1994 to 2000 Gazeta, Polityka and TVprost wrote about the fact that the construction of the Óresund Bridge was taking a long time because of environmental concerns in Sweden and Denmark.99

In other articles, Nordic countries are presented as concerned about the environment in regard to pollution from Norwegian oil rigs, 100 Nord Stream gas pipeline construction,101 requiring catalytic converters to reduce exhaust emissions, 102 recycling, 103 using renewable energy, 104 and having a clean environment in general. 105 There is only one flaw in this idea! eco-image presented in the Polish press - namely the matter of whale-hunting in Iceland and Norway.106

Family Policy

In the interwar period few Polish observers stayed long enough in the Nordic countries to be able to go inro detail about specific regulations and laws, apart from those relating to abortion which may be seen as akin to family policy.

97 Piotr Cegielski, 'Będziemy ciebie mniej zatruwać', Gazeta UJborcza, 372, 4 August! 990, p. 7.

98 Edward Krzemień,' Jak ożywić morze', Gazeta UJborcza, 63, 16 March 1993, p. 3. 99 Piotr Cegielski, 'Most paradoksów', Gazeta U/yborcza, 2, 4 January 1994, p. 7; Piotr

Cegielski, 'Ekologiczny kompromis w cieśninie Sund', Gazeta U/yborcza, 247, 23 October 1995, p. 9; Adam Grzeszak, 'Most do Europy', Polityka, 29, 17 July 2000, p. 72; Marzena Hausman, 'Klamra skandynawska', Wprost, 27 (2000).

10° Kyle Pope, 'Norwegia nie może stawiać wyłącznie na ropę', Gazeta U/yborcza, 235, 9 October 1995, p. 1.

101 Paweł Bialobok and Waldemar Kedaj, 'Unia Bałtycka', Wprost, 12 (2007), Adam Grzeszak, 'Zaplątanie w rury', Polityka, 46, 14 November 2009, p. 38.

102 'Co to jest katalizator', Gazeta UJborcza, 230, 1 October 1993, p. 19. 103 Marta Zaraska, 'Brzydki zapach', Polityka, 13, 31March2001, p. 74. 104 Edwin Bendyk, 'Emisje albo śmierć', Polityka, 46, 15 November 2008, p. 34. 105 Piotr Cegielski, "Święto wody po raz siódmy', Gazeta U/yborcza, 109, 12 May 1997,

p. 14. 106 Cegielski, 'Wieloryb czy Europa', Gazeta Wyborcza, 175, 27 July 1992; Piotr

Cegielski, 'Wieloryb a sprawa norweska', Gazeta UJborcza, 132, 8 June 1993, p. 7; Charles Goldsmith, 'Złagodzą embargo na wielorybie mięso', Gazeta U/yborcza, 169, 22 July 2002, p. 18; Tomasz Walat, 'Grillowany Moby Dick', Polityka, 47, 25 November 2006, p. 62.


For that reason the reports were often superficial and featured the solutions that the reporters found distinctively different from what they left back home. Nevertheless, as early as in 1920 a Polish correspondent from Norway, writing for the socialist daily Robotnik, noted that, in Scandinavia, assistance was provided and benefits paid to all mothers, regardless of their marital status. He criticized the legislation passed by the Polish parliament that stopped payment of maternity benefits to unmarried women and single mothers. This fact arguably blemished the legislation of modern Poland and could not be appreciated in the eyes of 'civilized humankind'. 107 With reference to the same issue of maternity benefits, in 1924 a Polish ambassador to Copenhagen called Denmark a 'very progressive' country. 108

Another issue that attracted attention was the situation of elderly people, whose materia! security in the old age allegedly allowed them a greater freedom of choice. A correspondent of Zielony Sztandar in Denmark drew attention to the care centres for the elderly or 'seniors' villages' as he called them. For him, the seniors' villages were proof that the elderly enjoyed the highest esteem and care in the society:

In Denmark all citizens upon turning 60 receive a retirement pension with an

option to choose whether they want to live in a seniors' village. Almost all move

to these villages, even those whose children are very caring, for they do not want

to be a burd en to their children and grandchildren ... A person staying in the

seniors' village has a private room, medical care, excellent food, decent clothing,

newspapers, books, cinema, theatre, freedom and 2 kronor a day for small expenses. 109

A correspondent of the Catholic Kultura looked at the situation of the young generation in Denmark, where she noted that children did not wander alone in the city streets, but were occupied and taken care of either in kindergartens, spacious playgrounds or formidable parks. All in all, she concluded, 'Denmark has the best managed childcare and youth care, as great care is taken about education and good upbringing of the young generation.' 110

When the interwar period and the post-Cold War period are compared, the most agreeable image of the Nordic countries with regard to family policy does not undergo any drastic change in Poland. The only difference is perhaps a more frequent utilization of Sweden as a source of Nordic examples, which may be

107 J[ ózef] Trzebiński, 'Listy z Norwegii', Robotnik, 197, 22 July 1920. 108 ZN i O, Papiery Rozwadowskich, sygn. 7948/II, letter from Konstanty Rozwadowski

to Jan Rozwadowski, dated 30 November 1924. 109 A.S.B., 'Co widziałem w Danii?', Zielony Sztandar, 39 (1938): 5. 110 Irena Turowska, 'Uśmiech Skandynawii', Kultura, 20 (1939): 5.


explained by a more universal predilection of the journalists to write about this country at the expense of others in the Nordic region. Hence, it is not surprising to hear that:

The best place to give birth and raise children is in Sweden. 111

ltalians and Spaniards who have been so famous for their family values have fewer

and fewer children unlike the cold and non-domestic Swedes. 112

Many Swedish laws stimulate destruction of family ties on various levels: between

husbands and wives, between parents and children and between grandchildren

and grandparents. 113

In all three analysed newspapers, the Nordic countries (and France) are most ofi:en given as examples of how progressive family policy contributes to high birthrates.114 lt should be stressed that articles and paragraphs about the birthrate began to appear regularly afi:er 2004 when it became obvious that Poland had been struggling with a very low birthrate. Afi:er 2004 Nordic family policy is almost always described in positive, virtually enthusiastic, terms and contrasted with a 'non-existent' Polish policy in this domain. 115

However, the Nordic family model is not always seen through rose-coloured lenses. Two contrasting opinions from 2005 serve as examples. Katarzyna Tubylewicz writes that the Swedish family is characterized by a 'high divorce rate, children travelling from home to home [of divorced parents], homosexual families'. 116 However, she still considers this family model a positive development, stating that it does not mean a crisis in family values or emotional bon ds be twe en parents and children.117

In the second aniele, published in "Wprost the same year, the Nordic family model is presented negatively, from a conservative and Catholic point of view. Using almost the same arguments as Tubylewicz, Grzegorz Górny claims that Swedish law stimulates destruction of family ties and illustrates his thesis with

111 'Szwedzki raj dla dzieci'. 112 Katarzyna Tubylewicz,' Dlaczego Szwedki chcą mieć dzieci', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza, 18,

21January2006, p. 20. 113 Górny, 'Polowanie na rodzinę'. 114 Fifi:y-nine articles about or mentions of this theme. 115 Katarzyna Tubylewicz, 'Szwedzkie feministki chcą rodzić dzieci', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza,

294, 19 December 2005, p. 18,; Dominika Pszczółkowska, 'Ojciec prawie równy matce', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza, 245, 20 October 2005, p. 13.

116 Katarzyna Tubylewicz, 'Dokąd zmierza szwedzka rodzina', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza, 73, 29 March 2005, p. 1 O.

117 Ibid.


some statistics showing that 60 per cent of children are bom outside marriage and that around 40,000 children are raised by homosexual couples.118 As stated earlier, this kind of approach was not at all popular in the 2000s in the analysed newspapers, and it should be emphasized that it comes from the period when "Wprost was at its right-wing extreme.119

There is also the approach represented by Tomasz Walat, who tries to give a more realistic picture of a Nordic family, stating, for example, that childcare in Sweden looks great in theory because the country again tops the Save the Children's Mother Index bur that it is still very expensive and difficult in practice, for both the state and individuals.120

lmmigrants, Islam and Anti-immigrant and Racist Movements

While completely absent in the observations from the interwar period, commentary linked to immigrants and Islam in Nordic countries has been rising constantly since 1989. These issues were mentioned seventy-one times in the analysed papers, while topics connected with anti-immigrant and racist movements amounted to sixty-three references, and Polish labour immigration was mentioned thirty-five times. There is a certain dichotomy in conveying the image of Nordic countries in terms of their relation to immigrants. Historically, they are perceived and described as open to immigrants. 121 This image was, however, distorted in the l 990s, when the immigration laws became more rigorous because of the economic crisis, 122 and in the 2000s when anti-immigrant and anti-lslamic movements arose pardy as a consequence of the 9 I I I attack.123

As the negative perception is definitely dominant, it can be established that both the l 990s and 2000s give a dystopian image of societies that once were tolerant and open bur ended up as xenophobic or at least less tolerant than expected.

In the l 990s this is still described as a result of the welfare state crisis, and is not necessarily related to hostility to strangers.124 As Jerzy Połowniak states

118 Górny, 'Polowanie na rodzinę'. 119 The author is a founder of the conservative and ami-political-correctness magazine

Fronda. 120 Tomasz Walat, 'Matka Szwedka', Polityka, 28, 14 July 2007, p. 83. 121 Joanna Grodzka, 'Żaden kraj nas nie chce', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza, 49, 27 March 1992,

p. 12. 122 Ibid.; Piotr Cegielski, ' W Szwecji nieco wstrzymali', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza, 33,

9 February 1993, p. 6. 123 Jesper von A!tenbockum, 'Lepiej mieć nordyckie nazwisko', Gazeta Tf;Jborcza,

45, 23 February 2000, p. 11; Adam Szostakiewicz, 'Duńczycy wybrali strach', Polityka, 34, 25 August 2001, p. 13.

124 Adam Zadworny, 'Ostatni prom', Gazeta Tt}borcza, 176, 28 July 1992, p. 11.


in his aniele written in 1997, nobody cared that every filth Swede had foreign roots as long as the country was rich, but 'when in the late l 980s the economic crisis began, the immigrants became problematic ballast'. 125 In the 2000s the papers clearly state that even if racism and hostility towards strangers in Nordic countries have officially been non-existent for a long time, they have now emerged from beneath the surface.126 The papers show that anti-immigrant movements clearly are starting to grow in Nordic social and political life and that a tolerant attitude is at that point only a part of the political correctness policy. In a very recent discussion about Nordic crime literature, a Polish journalist points out that 'immigrants, people of colour or lesbians cannot be antiheroes'.127 The underlying assumption is that the actual situation in the Nordic countries is quite different from the officially approved politically correct tone. The papers report, for example, on anti-immigrant parties' election victories128

and decreasing tolerance for the attributes of Islam in public life, policewomen in hijabs129 or black pastors in Nordic churches. 130

Seen from the perspective of the homogenous Polish population, the problem of immigrants in Nordic countries, as presented in the press, may at first seem slightly exotic, but since the EU negotiations and EU accession in 2004 the context has changed. Poles have followed press reports on the matter of immigrants, as they themselves become interested in labour emigration to Nordic countries. The picture presented by the papers has not been positive in this aspect either. There are many reports of negative developments, such as the Swedish government changing its mind about letting Poles work in Sweden without any transition period. 131 Positive and welcoming attitudes are only described in regard to Polish doctors and nurses when the North experiences lack of medical staff,132 while open protests against cheap Polish workers since EU accession are widespread. 133 Since 2005 the issue has become quite sensitive

125 Jerzy Połowniak, 'lnvandrare wciąż znaczy obcy', Gazeta Uljborcza, 109, 12 May

1997,p.4. 126 Jerzy Śladkowski, 'Skandynawskie tango', Polityka, 11, 17 March 2001, p. 20. 127 Piotr Głuchowski and Marcin Kowalski, 'Syndrom sztokholmski', Gazeta Uljborcza,

281, 2 Decem ber 2010, p. 17. 128 Dominika Pszczółkowska, 'Ludowy zgrzyt', Gazeta Uljborcza, 161, 2 July 2002,

p. 10; Wawrzyniec Smoczyński, 'Koniec tolerancji', Polityka, 47, 20 November 2010, p. 41. 129 Marta Kazimierczyk, 'Awantura w Norwegii o policjantki w chustach', Gazeta

Uljborcza, 45, 23 February 2009, p. 11. 130 Jacek Pawlicki, 'Norwegowie nie chcieli czarnego pastora', Gazeta Uljborcza, 231,

2 October 2008, p. 15. 131 Tomasz Walat, 'Tak, ale nie', Polityka, 9, 28 February 2004, p. 68. 132 Iwona Hajnosz, 'Kierunek Dania', Gazeta Uljborcza, 57. 8 March 2004, p. 8. 133 Maciej Kuźmicz, 'Pracujcie w Szwecji nie tak tanio', Gazeta Uljborcza, 95, 22 April

2006, p. 32.


in Poland as the prevailing opinion has been that Polish labour emigration is not welcome in many EU countries, including in Sweden and Denmark. The analysed newspapers significantly contributed to propagating this image. Gazeta Wyborcza took the lead in this domain by endorsing Maciej Zaremba's writing, reprinting his critical articles from Dagens Nyheter and publishing interviews with the journalist. lt is in this spirit that the paper published Zaremba's series of articles on 'The Polish Plumber' ('Den polske rormokaren'), who became a symbol of the skilled Polish labourers who allegedly fłooded EU labour markets alter Poland's accession. 134 Zaremba's series was later published as a book and translated into Polish. The articles portrayed Sweden as unfriendly or unfair towards labour emigrants from Poland and other eastern European countries. Swedish labour unions, for instance, waged aggressive campaigns against such emigrants, because their workers were priced out of the market when Swedish building companies cut their costs by hiring the emigrants at !ower wages.

Condusions

Whatever the dominant motivation has been for the Polish press to report from and about the Nordic countries, they have been constructed as distinctively different, for the most part superior and very modern on all accounts both in the interwar period and alter 1989. In both periods the attention of different media has followed a long-standing interest in Nordic patterns of modernization. lt may be safely concluded that the Nordic countries, on ce successfully constructed as harbingers of progress in the era of modernization in the interwar period, have been reconstructed these days as exemplary in facing current postmodern and post-industrial social and economic challenges. This overall conviction notwithstanding, the presented analysis has also demonstrated that, depending on the political affiliation or ideological standing of the news agencies, publishing houses and journalists, the Nordic stories, especially those concerning the present, are constructed either as utopian or dystopian and accordingly serve as either inspiration or as a bogeyman in the general discourse of Western-style modernization.

The two periods, although far apart in time, are in many ways similar as in both cases Poland acted as a young state; in the l 920s the second Republic revived alter 123-year Austrian, Prussian and Russian partitions, and in 1989 the third Republic emerged alter the communist rule that followed the German Nazi regime of the Second World War. In both cases, Poland looked abroad for inspiration for its recovery and development, with the interest in the original Nordic way focusing

134 For example, Maciej Zaremba, 'Polacy? Witamy! Ja, hydraulik', Gazeta Uljborcza, 12, 14January2006,p.19.


on similar issues in many analysed texts, despite a 90-year interval between their publications. A substantial difference that can be pointed out is that after 1989 the critique of the Nordic model has been stronger than in the past.

lt is not surprising that the themes picked up by journalists in the interwar period and at the time of the Great Depression showed the Nordic countries as realized utopias, since the contrast between 'the happy nations' and the rest of the world in economic trouble appeared very striking. The themes mirrored the burning issues of that era - among other things, the provision of social welfare, prosperity and well-being, cleanliness and hygiene and, last but not least, the Nordic drive for equality. All Polish observations concerning everyday life in the region were permeated by appreciation and fascination, regardless of the reports' character, be they diplomatic, journalistic, essayistic, literary or political. While the interwar Nordic region undoubtedly enjoyed a higher standard ofliving and was counted among the most prosperous regions of Europe, the fact that the region was also a scene of political and social confłicts was generally ignored. Suffice it to say, in this respect, that governments in Sweden fłuctuated and suffered from short terms in office, as was also the case with the governments in Poland. 135 Furthermore, almost completely ignored, even by journalists from socialist dailies and magazines, were worker protests, bloody demonstrations and lock-outs, such as those in Adalen in Sweden, Nakskov in Denmark and Menstad in Norway in 1931, during which many workers were killed or wounded.136

In the post-Cold War era, in turn, the mediation of Nordic reality by me ans of almost utopian images can still be observed, although there are also a greater number of dystopian reports from the Nordic countries. A reason for this may be much better opportunities to access and verify information coming from different sources. In addition, Polish tourists have more personal experience of the Nordic countries, and, especially in the most recent years, an increasing number of the Polish labour are encountering life and institutions in the Nordic states at close range. The realization that technical progress and social progressiveness may have their social price is becoming more widespread. Other dystopian images, such as, for instance, the rise of the anti-immigrant movement, should be viewed as a part of the broader post-9 I I I tendency, mirro ring reports from other European countries in Polish newspapers. The same can be stated about the crisis of the welfare state that refłects the generał fłuctuations in the world and in the European economy. Nevertheless, because it has for the most part handled these crises relatively well, the North is still seen by most of the Polish public as an admirable model or even as desirable path to take into the future.

135 Sweden, for instance, had nine cabinets in the years 1920 to 1933, as noted by Stig Hadenius, Swedish Politics During the 20th Century, (Stockholm,1990), p. 27.

136 Jaworski, PotSka niepodległa wobec Skandynawii 1918-1939, pp. 352-353.


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Chapter 14

Conclusion:

Mediating the Nordic Brand -

History Recycled

Jonas Harvard and Peter Stadius

When heads of government gathered for the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2011, rhey were presented with a brand-new leafłet called The Nordic U'iiy. Therein, economists and historians presented the unique nature of the Nordic region and suggested how its solutions to societal questions could become generał assets in facing the global financial crisis. The twenty-eightpage text had been produced by the Swedish rhink tank Global Challenge with support from Nordic business and institutions. Ir was a handsome brochure designed by a professional advertising agency. 1 Afi:er the Davos meeting, Global Challenge put together an overview of the media coverage of their product, and happily concluded rhat the leafłet had received substantial attention in both Nordic and international media. The summary provided examples of numerous articles and television elips, which were presented as proof of substantial interest in the Nordic region.2

In these concluding remarks, we will use this example of current positioning of the Nordic region as a starting-point in order to connect the historical examples presented rhroughout the book with present-day practices. In doing so, we ho pe to show rhat the process of actively creating and challenging notions of this region is continuous, but rhat it builds on many of the characteristics we have seen displayed rhroughout history. As it turns out, at the time of writing rhere is an ongoing battle over the idea of the Nordic model. By connecting this struggle to the long-term historical processes presented in the book, we intend to show rhat the interconnected nature of media, politics and culture has deep roots, and that the continuous use of Nordic exceptionalism to further different agendas shows how strong the idea is.

1 Shared Norms far the New Reality: The Nordic Vliay, World Economic Forum, Davos 2011 (Stockholm, 2011)

2 'Start genomslag for "The Nordic Way" i Davos: Global Utmaning, 31 January 2011 at: http:/ /www.globalutmaning.se/ ?p= 1673, accessed 23 March 2012.

THE NORDIC EXPERIENCE

Series editor: Jonas Harvard, Programme Manager, Nordic Spaces, Centre for East European and Baltic Studies, Sodertorn University, Stockholm, and Department ofHumanities, Mid Sweden University.

What makes a region unique? Be it Vikings or the welfare state, gender equality or fłat-pack furniture, for a long time the Nordic region has had a distinctive profile, visible to inhabitants and outsiders alike. 'The Nordic Experience' book series offers a critical narrative of how, during the last 200 years, this well-known part of Europe has demarcated itself from other regions, and how it has been stereotyped by outside observers. Through in-depth and comparative analyses of heritage practices, polar science, transnational media structures, expressions of cultural identity and the distribution of democratic ideals, the five volumes explore the negotiation of which territories, activities, objects, traits or ideals should qualify as Nordic.

www.nordicspaces.com www.ashgate.com/ thenordicexperience

Titles in the series:

I. Performing Nordic Heritage: Everyday Practices and Institutional Culture

Edited by Peter Aronsson and Lizette Graden

2. Science, Geopolitics and Culture in the Polar Region: Norden Beyond Borders

Edited by Sverker Sorlin

3. Communicating the North: Media Structures and Images in the Makingofthe

Nordic Region

Edited by Jonas Harvard and Peter Stadius

4. Nordic Dance Spaces: Practicing and Imagining a Region Edited by Karen Vedel and Petri Hoppu

5. Models ofDemocracy in Nordic and Baltic Europe: Political Institutions and Discourse

Edited by Nicholas Aylott

Communicating the North Media Structures and Images in the

Making of the Nordic Region

Edited by

JONAS HARVARD Sodertorn University, Sweden and Mid Sweden University

PETER STAD IUS Helsinki University, Finland

ASHGATE

©Jonas Harvard, Peter Stadius and the contributors 2013

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Communicating the North : media structures and images in the making of the Nordic Region I by Jonas Harvard and Peter Stadius.

pages cm-(The Nordic experience) Includes bibli9graphical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4094-4948-5 (hardcover)-ISBN 978-1-4094-4949-2 (ebook)-ISBN 978-

1-4094-7331-2 (epub) 1. Scandinavia-In mass media. 2. Scandinavia-Press coverage. 3. Mass media and culture-Scandinavia. 4. Mass media and nationalism-Scandinavia. I. Harvard, Jonas, editor of compilation. Il. Stadius, Peter, editor of compilation.

P96.S32C87 2013 302.230948-dc23

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Contents

List of Figures and Tab/es List of Contributors Series Pre.face Series Acknowledgements Acknowledgements

1 A Communicative Perspective on the Formation of the North:

2

3

4

5

6

7

Contexts, Channels and Concepts Jonas Harvard and Peter Stadius

Nordic Media Systems 1850-1950: Myths, Mixtures and Metamorphoses Lars Nord

Connecting the Nordic Region: The Electric Telegraph and the European News Market Jonas Harvard

Media Scandinavianism: Media Events and the Historical Legacy of Pan-Scandinavianism Jonas Harvard and Magdalena Hillstrdm

Nordic Solidarity in Print: The Nordens Frihet Association and its Magazine, 1939-45 Tora Bystrdm

Expressions of Pan-Scandinavian Sentiments in the Magazine Fram among Scandinavian Migrants in South Africa, 1914-54 Erlend Eidsvik

'One Valhalla of the Free': Scandinavia, Britain and Northern Identity in the Mid-Nineteenth Century Andrew G. Newby

vii ZX

xiii XV

xvii

1

25

47

75

99

121

147

vi Communicating the North

8 Selling the Sami: Nordic Stereotypes and Participatory Media in Georgian Britain 171 Linda Andersson Burnett

9 The Valkyrie in a Bikini: The Nordic Woman as Progressive Media lcon in Spain, 1891-1975 197 Elena Lindholm Narvdez

10 Unity Exposed: The Scandinavia Pavilions at the World Exhibitions in 1967 and 1970 219 Nikolas Glover

11 Happy Countries: Appraisals oflnterwar Nordic Societies 241 Peter Stadius

12 A Swedish Norden or a Nordic Sweden? Image Politics in the West during the Cold War 263 Carl Mark/und

13 Constructing a Nordic Community in the Polish Press - Past and Present 289 Kazimierz Musiał and Maja Chacińska

14 Conclusion: Mediating the Nordic Brand - History Recycled 319 }Ónas Harvard and Peter Stadius

Index 333

I

I Figures

I 2.1

I 3.1

I 4.1

I 6.1

I 6.2

6.3

I 6.4

·- 8.1

9.1

14.1

List of F igures and Tabl es

The national media system relations to the three models

Telegraph repom from three Nordic papers in 1859

'The arrival of the Scandinavian students in Stockholm, 11June1856'

Front cover of Fram, Christmas issue, 1920, with the national coats of arms of Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland tied together. Courtesy of the Norwegian Emigrant Museum, Hama~Norway

Occupational background among Nordic migrants to South Africa, and overall, 1886-1914 Magersfontein, December 1924: from the twenty-fifi:h anniversary commemoration of the fallen Scandinavians. Courtesy of the McGregor Museum, Kimberley, South Africa The Scandinavian Memoriał at Magersfontein outside Kimberley, South Africa. Photo: Erland Eidsvik

Thomas Rowlandson, Mr Bullock's Exhibition of Laplanders, 1822: visitor participation at the Egyptian Hall in London. Reproduced by kind permission of the British Museum. © The Trustees of the British Museum

'„. arrogant, Venus like, with her golden head and muscular body, without losing the female figure's noble waves, in the lakes and fiords of her native country „.': Frances,Jose, 'La Afrodita nórdica', Nuevo mundo, 1 September 1933. Published with kind permission from Biblioteca Nacional de Espańa

'President wants to strengthen Nordic brand': headline, Svenska Dagbladet, 15 April 2012. Photo: Jonas Harvard

29

60

83

122

127

136

137

181

214

321

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