Imaging Community: Sweden in 'cultural propaganda' then and now

摘要

This article discusses the dynamic interplay between autostereotypes and xenostereotypes in the historical context of the Swedish Institute, the government agency responsible for Swedish cultural relations with other countries. More specifically it suggests empirical examples of how 'national image' and 'imagining the national' have infused one another in the post-war world. Drawing on the archives and publications of the Swedish Institute as well as the archives of the Press Department of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the article's chronological emphasis lies on the late 1940s. Using this historical perspective, it concludes with some reflections on the Institute's current Nation Branding strategies.