Naming diversity – Representations of Sweden

through names, actions and images in primary school textbooks from the 1920’s to 2010’s

Emilia Aldrin (Associate Professor of Swedish linguistics, Halmstad University)

Special guest in lecture "Namenforschung", Institute of German Language and Literature

Since a persons' individual experiences of the world are limited, our views of groups, identities and their relations are highly influenced by their representations in public media (Azimova & Johnston 2012 cf. Fairclough 2003). The textbooks used in schools are particularly important as tools for representation, since they are perceived to be authoritative versions of ‘what is worth knowing’ (Kotowski 2013) and carry the power to influence how young pupils imagine, identify and transform themselves (Khan & Sultana 2012). By analyzing the use of personal names in textbooks, it is possible to gain insights into how social and cultural structures are codified through language. Personal names are closely related to personal, social and cultural identities (Aldrin 2016), and the use of personal names in textbooks therefore create important signals to pupils about who is considered important enough to individualize and know by name (and who is not), who is considered as part of the societal ‘us’, and which names are considered appropriate for various embodied identities, actions or life courses. Through diachronic comparisons of textbooks from different time periods, it becomes possible to explore how the image of a socially diverse Sweden emerges and changes over time. This paper will present results from an ongoing project analysing Swedish primary school textbooks from the 1920’s to the 2010’s and covering data from Swedish language, social science and mathematics. Alongside naming strategies, the usage of verb processes and image constructions will also be discussed.