Trivialiteters nationalisering

Hvordan en transnational renliggørelse bliver en kulturel identitetsmarkør i mødet mellem svensk og dansk

Abstract

National identity is often described as no more than the narrative of an "imagined community". In this article it is argued that seemingly trivial aspects of everyday life in the 20th century have played a role in the national project. This nationalization has not been part of a conscious drive toward national homogenization, but is rather the result of processes going on within national boundaries.

Throughout the 20th century, hygiene has not only been an element of the modern project but has also been a central theme of identity. Debates in the 1930s concerning the proper way of doing the dishes were conducted within the parameters of this striving for cleanliness. During the post-war era, two different ways of doing the washing-up developed in Sweden and Denmark, respectively, as well as two different sink-unit constructions. Today, these differences are no longer discussed: a process of naturalization of culture has taken place. Due to this, individuals can experience difference in specific situations and in this way become conscious of their own particular national affiliation and identity.

In such a context we cannot merely describe modernity as a forceful homogenizing process. While hygiene become a powerful theme in both Sweden and Denmark, the practices and material constructions accompanying them create new diversity.