Nation branding, as defined by the book Diplomacy in a Globalizing World: Theories and Practices, is “the application of corporate marketing concepts and techniques to countries, in the interests of enhancing their reputation in international relations” (Kerr & Wiseman, 2018). In essence, this concept encapsulates the idea is that a country will attempt to “market” itself to the international community in a way that will emphasize certain elements of itself to create a positive image, while at the same time attempting to minimize or completely ignore its negative attributes. A form of propaganda, nation branding is highly prevalent at the annual Eurovision Song Contest, where it is encouraged for artists to perform in the native tongues of the countries they represent and essentialize their culture into a stereotype. While political pieces are strictly discouraged, many nations, or even just the artists themselves, may still use the event as a pulpit from which to preach their political messages to an international audience. In my third and final essay, I will be analyzing the correlation, or lack thereof, between the national identity of Denmark and its Eurovision performances of 2012, 2013, and 2014.
Commonly known in the international community for their humbleness, the Danes’ national identity, which was previously discussed in my essay “An analysis of the Danish national identity,” was seemingly reflected very little in the two of the three performances that I critiqued in “An analysis of Danish diversity in Eurovision.” “Should’ve Known Better,” performed by Soluna Samay in 2012, seemingly had little to no connection to the Danish identity. In fact, the song actually featured an allusion to Islam in the repeated phrase “inshallah,” Arabic for “if Allah wills it” (2012, Denmark). As previously explained in my second essay, these lyrics were actually written by Moroccan lyricist Isam B (Soluna Samay, 2012); inshallah is a phrase often heard in Moroccan music. The official state religion of Denmark is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark (Religion in Denmark, n.d.), so there is some obvious misalignment between the performers and the client country. This is also a great example of the fact that Eurovision song are often not written by citizens of the countries that the song is chosen to represent. Within Denmark, this also emphasizes that the Danish public votes in the songs and artists, not the broadcaster, in this case, the DR, or Danish Broadcasting Corporation.
In my initial analysis of “Only Teardrops,” performed by Emmelie de Forest in 2013, I said that it was a nuanced piece about the damaged relationship. However, after further contemplation and some gentle nudging, I have come to the conclusion that the performance may carry with it an anti-war message. De Forest herself wears a ragged white dress (a color traditionally associated with purity), perhaps representing the costs of the state of near-constant war our world had lived in for nearly a decade by 2013, now nearly two decades in 2018. Meanwhile, the rest of the performers wear black military uniforms (a color commonly associated with mourning). They carry marching drums and a flute, almost like a scene out of the Revolutionary War as soldiers march off to battle (2013, Denmark). De Forest pleads for an end to the fighting and asks us to “leave the past behind us” (Emmelie de Forest, 2013). Along with love, peace is another common message for a Eurovision song.
Although it may not be immediately obvious, Only Teardrops actually plays a great deal into the national identity and history of the Danish people (2013, Denmark). Denmark is a country that has long struggled to strike a balance between aggression and passivity. From as early as their days as raiding and pillaging in the Viking Era (Lund, n.d.) to their defeat in the Second Schleswig War, the Danes were conquerors who dominated their fellow Nordic countries for generations. When the shoe came down on the other foot, they adopted a policy of neutrality regarding international politics, remaining out of the first World War (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2016). They did nothing when Nazi Germany violated its non-aggression pact with Denmark during the Second World War, under the guise of offering it “protection.” The Danish government capitulated to the Germans, and many Danes actually volunteered to fight on their side and help further the cause of the Third Reich. The only real resistance that their government was able to muster was ending its economic cooperation with Germany in 1943 (Rugg, 2013). The Danes have tried living on both ends of the spectrum, and have greatly suffered because of it. By helping found the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after the war (Haglund, 2017), perhaps they were trying to find that balance between passivity and aggression, neutrality and interventionism.
Finally, 2014’s “Cliche Love Song” was performed by Anis Basim Moujahid. That year, the Eurovision Song Contest was hosted by Denmark in its capital city of Copenhagen. While the performance itself seemingly lacks any relation to the Danish national identity (2014, Denmark), we are able to glean some interesting information from Denmark’s “postcard” commercial bumpers. For this particular Eurovision event, the performers were tasked with creating their respective countries flags using objects such as wine glasses, colored smoke, and even blocks of ice (Eurovision 2014 : The Postcards, 2014). When smaller, often Eastern European, countries have the opportunity to host a Eurovision Song Contest, many times they decide to use the opportunity to self-advertise. Oftentimes, these bumpers seem to be only thinly veiled travel advertisements to drum up interest in their nation. It is a valuable tool to make an international audience aware of a country that likely didn’t exist fifty years ago, at least not in its current form. On the other hand, Western European countries instead tend to have the other countries create their own bumpers, allowing them to advertise themselves. They are prominent enough that it is not necessary to promote themselves in such a manner. This may tie into the idea that Western Europeans heavily discourage being prideful self-congratulatory, believe it to be in “poor taste,” and it can be construed that countries that choose to self-promote are doing just that.
This seems to all play into the so-called “Law of Jante,” coined from the eponymous fictional town featured in the 1933 novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks, first published in English in 1936. In the book, Dano-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose created ten rules that were summarized as “You are not to think you're anyone special or that you're better than us”. Sandemose was describing the attitudes of his own people, which prescribes individuals to act humbly and not stick out from the crowd (Sandemose & Gay-Tifft, 1936). I speculate that this attitudes, common to the Nordic countries that Denmark is part of, could be understood as the underlying explanation for the nation’s attitude in regards to its performances in the Eurovision Song Contest. It has been suggested that the more powerful a country is, the less seriously they take the Eurovision Song Contest. While many nations may use Eurovision as a stage to preach from, Denmark seems content to “play it safe” with their song selections, seemingly keeping any message that is too overtly political, or targeted towards specific political issues, out of its song selections. However, it is important to note that, as previously discussed, this was not a political choice on the part of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation, but was instead the will of the Danes themselves.
When viewed through the scope of nation branding, there was a discernible degree of misalignment between the Danish national identity and their Eurovision entry in 2012, which failed to properly connect with the Christian core of the Danish people by making allusions to the competing Islam. 2013, however, played perfectly into the national identity of the Danish people; a struggle to find a balance between passivity and aggression, a conflict exemplified by their earlier days as conquers, and its surrender to neutrality after it was humbled in the Second Schleswig War. Finally, Cliche Love Song was ultimately harmless in that it did not reinforce or contradict perceptions of the Danish national identity. However, the manner in which Denmark hosted the event, whereby instead of using its postcard bumpers to self-promote, the DR instead elected to allow the competing nations to define themselves in these segments. By embodying the purported Law of Jante that governs that attitudes of the Danish people, their presentation of Eurovision 2014 was the perfect embodiment of nation branding done right.
While this may be my final blog post, I look forward to watching this year’s Eurovision Grand Final this coming may. Good night, but not goodbye, Europe.
References
Basim. (2014). Cliche love song (Denmark). Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Copenhagen. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnCTsJkieY4
De Forest, E. (2013). Only teardrops (Denmark). Eurovision Song Contest 2013 Malmö. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3f9v8ebuD4
Emmelie de Forest. (2013). Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://eurovision.tv/participant/emmelie-de-forest/info
Eurovision 2014 : The Postcards. Eurovision Song Contest 2014 Copenhagen. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR5_yCtdujk
German-Danish War. (2016, March 06). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/event/German-Danish-War
Haglund, D. G. (2017, November 22). North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/North-Atlantic-Treaty-Organization
Kerr, P., & Wiseman, G. (2018). Diplomacy in a globalizing world: Theories and practices. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lund, N. (n.d.). Denmark - History - The Viking Age. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from
Religion in Denmark. (n.d.). Retrieved January 30, 2018, from http://denmark.dk/en/society/religion
Rugg, A. (2013, January 21). Traitor Danes: most soldiers return heroes, but this lot came home total zeroes. The Copenhagen Post. Retrieved January 29, 2018, from https://web.archive.org/web/20130129130650/http://cphpost.dk/culture/through-looking-glass/traitor-danes-most-soldiers-return-heroes-lot-came-home-total-zeroes
Samay, S. (2012). Should’ve known better (Denmark). Eurovision Song Contest 2012 Baku. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5X2r_t-KBk
Sandemose, A., & Gay-Tifft, E. (1936). A fugitive crosses his tracks. New York: A.A. Knopf.
Soluna Samay. (2012). Eurovision Song Contest. Retrieved February 18, 2018, from https://eurovision.tv/participant/soluna-samay/info
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