The Visual Narrative of Student Radicalism in Finland

Abstract

During the student riots of 1968, visual representations played an important role. This article answers the question: How was the Finnish student movement visually represented by their opponents and their supporters in the Finnish media before and during 1968, and, more specifically, during the occupation of the Old Student House? By analysing the pictorial material published in periodic magazines as well as the television news broadcasts and documentary films I seek to analyse what kind of meanings about the radical students were constructed with the help of visual media and how did these constructed meanings change during 1968. Additionally, my article seeks to determine whether a common European iconography of the student movements exists.