What is Conspicuous about the Nordic Countries in Poland? Past and Present Constructions of Norden in the Polish Press

Abstract

From being regarded as an insignificant and relatively poor region of the continent and on the outskirts of European affairs in the beginning of the twentieth century, a hundred years later the Nordic countries have gained a reputation for being some of the most advanced, prosperous, progressive, and happy nations in the world. The real and palpable achievements of the Nordic economies and societies notwithstanding, the changing image of both the individual countries in the region, and of the Nordic community as a whole, has been constructed by the international print media in relation to their political affiliation or current political and social developments. This analysis looks at the Polish press and demonstrates that the Nordic stories, especially those concerning the present, tend to be constructed as utopian and progressive, rather than as dystopian ones that would be more characteristic of Western European discourse. Accordingly, the Nordic exceptionalism that is covered by the term the Nordic or Scandinavian model still serves more often as inspiration rather than a bogeyman in the general discourse of western-style modernization in Poland.