Lokala föreställda gemenskaper: Hur läroböcker i hembygdskunskap konstruerade lokala identiteter i Sverige under 1950-talet
2025 (Swedish) Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis Alternative title
Local imagined communities : How textbooks in hometown knowledge constructed local identities in Sweden in the 1950s (English)
Abstract [en]
This essay examines the ways in which identity based on one's local geographical origin and place of residence has been conveyed through education in Sweden during the 1950's. Specifically, this study examines three textbooks produced for the now discontinued subject hometown knowledge (hembygdskunskap) and how they convey local identities based on their local conditions. The source material was chosen specifically to make sure that each textbook originated from different geographical areas within Sweden and that each textbook could represent different degrees of urbanization. This resulted in one textbook representing a large city (Stockholm), one textbook representing a small town (Askersund) and one textbook representing a countryside area (Norrbotten county). Using a structural and discourse-based definition of nationalism and identity, combined with a qualitative method consisting of text analysis and discourse analysis, the study finds that all textbooks convey individual local identities. The main similarities between the local identities boil down to the specific strategies of constructing local imagined communities. The main differences between the identities stem from their respective degrees of urbanization. The study also finds that although none of the textbooks explicitly connects their local identity to a general Swedish identity, the subject of hometown knowledge can be seen as a concretisation of Swedish nationalism in general.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages 2025. , p. 38
Keywords [en]
History, identity, local identity, hometown knowledge, imagined communities, Sweden, education, textbooks, 1900s
Keywords [sv]
Historia, identitet, lokal identitet, hembygdskunskap, föreställd gemenskap, Sverige, utbildning, läroböcker, 1900-tal
National Category
History
Identifiers URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-557586 OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-557586 DiVA, id: diva2:1962459
Subject / course History
Supervisors
Examiners
2025-06-232025-05-302025-06-23 Bibliographically approved