The Swedes and their history

Theaimofthisarticleistoanalyseadolescents’viewsofSwedishhistory.Asmallnumberofadultswerealsoincludedinthestudy.Theanalysisshowsthat,regardlessoftheageoftheinformants,Swedenisportrayedasanexceptionfromtheworldthroughitslegacyof alongpeace(inspiteofawar-torndistanthistory)andthroughitsenjoymentofprogress, democracyandprosperity.Weinterpretthisasaresultofahistorycultureinwhichschoolsaswellasotherinstitutionsproduceacommon,conflict-freehistory,whichmaybechallengedinanemergingneonationalistera.

However,thereremainsdebateovertheextenttowhichcurricularchangessincethe 1960s, which at times placed history in a social studies context, have made an impact on teachingpractices.Thereforeitisofinteresttoinvestigatewhetherthepublichistoryculture thatwasestablishedin thenineteenthcentury andused as themajor paradigm for history in schools at least until the 1960s, as described above, can still be observed in how our informants formulate their own views of Swedish history today. Case studies conducted recentlyhaveindicatedthatthereisaselectivetraditioninhistoryteachinginupperprimary schoolthathasremainedcentredonearlierSwedishhistoryandthegrowthoftheSwedish state (Stolare,2014). Most of the answers were collected from nine different classes of adolescents aged 12-14. TheclassescamefromdifferentareasofSweden,andinformantsvariedasregardssocialclass, urban/rurallocationsandwhethertheywereimmigrantsorSwedish-bornresidents.Intotal, 161 adolescents responded. The same prompts were also given to 21 adult informants (9 middle-agedinformantsand12pensionersovertheageof65).Theinformantsweregathered throughsnowballsampling (Bryman,2012:424).Everyonewasaskedtoansweranonymously andthedatawascollectedbetween2014and2016.

3: Independence and Gustav Vasa: The sixteenth century as the end of the crises of the Middle Ages (128/182)
During the Middle Ages, the Nordic kingdoms are marked by continued poverty and crises. There are power struggles between rival kings and many people die from the Black Death. Attempts made to unite the Nordic kingdoms in a personal union under Danish rule form partofthesecrises.SwedishindependenceisassuredwhenChristianIIofDenmark(known inSwedenasChristiantheTyrant)isdeposedbyGustavVasa,hisSwedishrival,atthestartof thesixteenthcentury.ThetransitiontoProtestantismunderVasa'sleadershipfurtherconfirms independence.ThisisanewbeginningforSweden.

5: Peace, neutrality and the development of a prosperous society: Sweden in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (85/182)
As wars cease, material development takes place: more food is produced and diseases are treated.Butthisdevelopmentcomesatthepriceofoverpopulationandrenewedpoverty.The worstpovertyisfinallyeradicatedthroughemigrationtoAmericaandindustrialdevelopment. Prosperity increases under the direction of a number of Swedish inventors, such as Alfred Nobel.Thankstosustainedpeaceandneutrality,Swedenisabletostayoutofboththeworld warsandcontinueitsdevelopment.

6: Home of material progress and democracy: Sweden today (96/182)
Today,Swedenisademocraticstatewheremenandwomenhaveuniversalandequalsuffrage. Characteristic of the present is a high living standard shared among citizens. Prosperity and peacestandinsharpcontrasttothecountry'spoorandwar-tornpast.Swedenhasbecome an attractive country, which is evident in the number of immigrants and refugees that it has received.Today,SwedenisfamousintheeyesoftherestoftheworldforthepopgroupABBA, IKEAstores,andthefootballplayerZlatanIbrahimović.

School, history culture and intergenerational perspectives
This may be understood as a surprising result. Since the 1960s, heated public debates have periodically centred on history teaching in schools and the curricula mentioned in the introduction have also been changed since the debate began (Tingsten, 1969;Englund, 1986;Samuelsson,2016).Despitethefactthatakeyfeatureofthisdebatehasinvolvedquestioning teachingabout'kingsandwar',thechangeshavefocusedlargelyonloweranduppersecondary school (Olofsson, 2011;Nygren, 2011;Stolare, 2017). By contrast, the history that primary studentswerebeingtaughtatthestartofthetwentiethcenturywasaconsciousinvestment in nation-oriented teaching of older political history. This situation has also influenced other aspectsofthehistoryculture.NobellaureateVernervonHeidenstam'sbookThe Swedes and Their Chieftains (1908-10, the title of which is paraphrased in this article's title), printed and reprinted in hundreds of thousands of copies until 1955 and used as a set text, was a clear exampleofthis.Inthisbookthenineteenthcenturyandthefirstpartofthetwentiethcentury aresummarizedinonlyeightpages,whilethepreviouscenturiesspan332pages,mostofwhich concentrateondifferentregentsandthewarstheyfought (Tingsten,1969:244).
Joakim Wendell is a PhD candidate in history with a focus on history education at Karlstad University.Hisinterestscentreonassessmentandoncausalreasoninginteachingandlearning history.