A Food Nation Without Culinary Heritage? Gastronationalism in Sweden
Håkan Jönsson
Abstract
Promoting the culinary profile of a nation is a commonly used tool when marketing the food, drink, and culinary tourism sectors of a country. Different versions of gastronationalism (i.e., images of the culinary excellence of a nation) appear in this context. This article explores Swedish gastronationalism. The aim is to nuance and widen the discussion of gastronationalism by offering a historic contextualization and a focus on frictions in the national narrative. Based on a bricolage of ethnographic material—interviews, observations, archive material and official documents—the article takes a historical approach to explore the attempts to develop a new culinary nation. Specific focus is devoted to the absence of culinary heritage. The results show that Swedish gastronationalism consists of a specific view of nationality, where progress, innovativeness, and multiculturalism is highlighted, and heritage and tradition is downplayed. As a result, Sweden has developed a postnationalist gastronationalism. The article traces the roots of this phenomenon to a combination of structures and habits from the time of rationing (1914–1955) and the new national narrative that coincided with the gastronomic revolution starting in the mid-1980s. In conclusion, the article argues that while many versions of gastronationalism use heritagization as a strategy, Sweden attempts to deheritagize the culinary profile of the nation.