Browsing by Subject "the Nordics"

This thesis explores the Nordic regional place brand and the place branding communication by the Nordic Council of Ministers (NCM). The aim of the research is to gain an understanding on how Nordic identity is constructed through the external branding communication of the NCM. The aim is also to identify which depictions of the Nordics are created through the branding and how the framework of Nordic exceptionalism is expressed. The research questions are Q1. How is Nordic regional identity constructed in the place branding communication by the Nordic Council of Ministers? Q2. What depictions of the Nordic region and Nordic regional identity does the place branding communication of the Nordic Council of Ministers create? Q3. How is the framework of Nordic exceptionalism conveyed through the branding communication of the Nordic Council of Ministers? The study is qualitative, and the research method used is Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The analysis is grounded in Norman Fairclough’s discourse theories as well as Wodak et al.’s theory on the discursive construction of national identity. The NCM’s branding website The Nordics (thenordics.com) is used as the research material for the analysis and the data sample consists of twenty articles from the so-called Traces-page on the website. The data sample was analysed in three steps following Fairclough’s analysis model. Wordings, we-against-them-constructions, and rhetorical tropes were analyzed in the first step. Intertextual relations and presuppositions were explored in the second stage. In the third stage the results from the first two stages were tied to the social context to explore underlying ideologies and hegemonic depictions of the Nordics as well as identify the discursive strategies used in the branding. The analysis results show that the NCM mainly used constructive and transformative macro-strategies to construct Nordic identity in their branding communication. The strategies are employed through comparisons between the Nordics and the rest of the world with word choices, we-against-them constructions, rhetorical tropes, and presuppositions. The results show a depiction of the Nordics as a united region with common features such as moral values. The Nordics is also described as an idyllic place and as an example and an inspiration for other parts of the world. The results of the analysis are in the result discussion tied to earlier research on Nordic place branding and the framework of Nordic exceptionalism. The conclusion was that the NCM through their strategic branding communication of the Nordics as a brand contribute to a simplified depiction of the Nordics as exceptional and superior in relation to other parts of the world. Alternative and more nuanced narratives about the Nordics and Nordic identity is therefore called for in the concluding discussion.