Efter många års arbete publicerar Henrik Arnstad studien ”Swedish sailor songs, popular culture and maritime national identities, 1918–1960” i världens ledande maritimhistoiska tidskrift, International Journal of Maritime History.
In twentieth-century Sweden, conventional inland nationalism was challenged by strong currents of maritime national identities. The reason was a national frenzy regarding maritime popular music – primarily, songs about Swedish sailors and their adventures in exotic faraway lands. Throughout the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, and continuing into the 1950s, numerous Swedish composers, singers and musicians produced hundreds of sailor songs. Their commercial success was staggering, to the delight of Sweden’s developing music industry, but the identitarian consequences were even more astonish- ing. Maritime national identities flourished as Swedishness itself changed drastically via this huge exposure to sailor songs.
Studien visar hur svensk nationalism förändrades av dundersuccén för populärkulturella sjömansvisor, främst representerade av ”nationalskalden” Evert Taube. Men även via artister som Lasse Dahlqvist, Harry Brandelius, Åke Grönberg, Carl Jularbo, Gunde Johansson, Johnny Bode, Gösta Jonsson, Jussi Björling, Karin Juel, Sickan Carlsson, Alice Babs, Lisbeth Bodin, Elisabeth ”Bullan” Weijden och Monica Zetterlund.
I ”Swedish sailor songs, popular culture, and maritime national identities 1918–1960” visar jag hur dessa sjömansvisor hade en enorm effekt på hur svenskhet uppfattas. Svensk nationalism förändrades i grunden.
Fram till 1918 hade ”den svenska nationen” symboliserats av inlandet, framför allt landskapet Dalarna. Efter Evert Taubes genombrott blev istället svenskheten maritim och symboliserades av skärgårdar, Bohuslän och Roslagen.
Läs studien hos International Journal of Maritime History (länk) eller ladda hem den direkt (PDF).
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