Scandinavian Stereotypes

Perceptions of Scandinavia and
the Rhetoric of Touristic

Stereotype in Internet
Travel Accounts
Eric Schaad
Seattle, Washington
H AVE YOU HEARD the joke about die Swede, the Dane, and the
Norwegian.^ Ifyou are from one ofthe Scandinavian countries,
you may have heard such jokes that rely on stereotypes which
distinguish Swedes, Danes, and Norwegians. Although Scandinavians
work hard to create distinct images of themselves and may in fact see
themselves as distinct from their Scandinavian neighbors, most non-
Scandinavians see them as a cultural unity. These perceptions can be
seen not only in jokes but in a variety of old and new media: stock
characters or incidental portrayals in books and film, newspaper and
magazine articles, television shows, fashion, all forms of advertising, and
travel accounts by foreign visitors.' Some of the most unaffected and
interesting perceptions of Scandinavia may be gleaned from Internet
travel accounts—perceptions people record from their visits to a foreign
country. According to a 2004 report by the Pew Internet & American Life
Project, "nearly half of U.S. adults who use the Internet have published
their dioughts ... or created Web logs or diaries" (Bamako). Similarly,
blogging and online diary services have caused an "unparalleled explo-
sion of public-life writing by private citizens" (McNeill 25). The result
is thousands of Internet travel accounts written by travelers to Scandi-
navia not only from the United States, but from many other nations.
Not only do most of these accotmts represent a wide strata of travelers.
I. Some examples of mass media portrayal in the US include the Swedish chef of Jim
Henson's Muppets and numerous skits on Sanirday Night Live over the years, most
recendy in 2005 with Seth Meyers and Scarlett Johansson in the skit entitled "Smorgas-
bord," which employs Swedish accents as a generalization for Scandinavia. Hearkening
back to 1962, we find a stern Finn in the film Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation, and more
recendy, Swedes have been portrayed on IKEA television commericials as organized,
cle.in, frugal, and efficient.
2O2 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
from many nations and social classes (unlike the majority of travelers
of earlier centuries),^ but the free and instant access to publication of
diese accounts via the Internet seems to foster an authenticity in the
accounts that retains the style, idiosyncrasies, and biases of the writers
while at the same time allowing for the free expression of perceptions
without artistic affectation or editorial oversight.
This study investigates such travel accounts about Scandinavia
and particularly the perceptions of Scandinavia they express. The
term "Scandinavia" will be applied in a broad sense to include the
five Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, and
Finland. Because this study aims to understand foreign perceptions
of Scandinavia generally, accounts by Scandinavians traveling within
Scandinavia (e.g., Swedes traveling to Norway) have been excluded.
Only those by private individuals (and not professional travel entities)
have been included, and these have been limited to foreigners visiting
a Scandinavian country for the first time, in order to capture experi-
ences and impressions in their freshest and most fertile context. Most
accounts were foimd on the open Internet via search engine by entering
keywords such as "Sweden trip." Searches were done systematically for
each of the five Nordic countries, mosdy in English but also in several
other languages. The accounts represent a variety of web sites including
online diaries, online travelogues, web communities, bulletin boards,
personal homepages, and blogs.' An attempt has been made to analyze
a representative sample of travelers and of the Scandinavian coimtries
themselves. According to the Swedish Tourist Authority, Sweden and
Denmark clearly dominate Scandinavia in terms of number of foreign
overnight stays in the Nordic area, followed by Norway, Finland, and
Iceland {Tourism in Sweden ó).* No attempt has been made, however.
2. H. Arnold Barton points out that most travelers to Scandinavia in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries were of high birth, often gaining access to monarchs and meet-
ing people of their own class (Barton 49). Such travelers include Mary Wollstonecraft
(1759-97), Count Vittorio Alfieri (1749-1803), and Aaron Burr (1756-1836).
3. A fast-growing medium not explored in this study is user-generated video, such as
found on popular sites like YouTube.
4. Statistics of foreign overnight stays in the Nordic countries during the years 1995 to
2004 show that Sweden has the largest share of foreign overnight stays in the Nordic
area. Sweden has increased its market share from 27.1 percent in 1995 to 31.9 percent in
2004, followed by Denmark with 31.5 percent, Norway with 22.2 percent and Finland
with 14.5 percent [Tourism in Sweden 6).
PERCEPTIONS OF SCANDINAVIA 203
to correlate the number of foreign visitors to these countries and the

sample of Internet travel accounts. Instead, each of diesefivecountries
has been sampled and investigated equally independendy. Aldiough
the narratives of travelers from certain countries appear with greater
frequency than those from others, an attempt has been made to capture
a variety of narratives from foreigners of many nations. Germany is the
most well-represented country of origin for tourists to allfiveNordic
countries; and all Nordic countries count visitors from the Netherlands,
the United States, and the United Kingdom among the four most well-
represented countries of origin.^ The random sampling of the travel
narratives accounts for the predominance of these four nationalides
but also admits the representation of many others. Nearly two hundred
Web sites, representing travelers from seventeen different countries,
mosdy from North America and western Europe, serve as the basis for
this study. Travel accounts range from 1987 to 2005, but most travelers
made their visits between 1999 and 2005.
My previous treatment of this subject offered a general overview of
the nature of Internet travel accounts about Scandinavia.* My attempt
here is to provide deeper insight into the importance of Internet travel
accomit as a form and medium for exploring imagology and to illumi-
nate how the touristic mode affects perception of nation and national
character. Travelers to Scandinavia approach their writing of Internet
travel accounts in similar ways. The openness of the Internet encourages
the attitude of considering die travel account as a public repository of
information. One way this atdtude expresses itself is in the inclusion
of exhaustive tactical details and minutia, such as the particular maps
referenced for the trip, the kind offilmused, inventories of equipment.
5. The five Nordic countries all have similar profiles with regards to origin of foreign
visitors. Norway and Sweden are particularly similar, with Denmark differing only in
the much larger percentage of German visitors. Between 1989 and 1992, for instance,
Germans accounted for about 25 percent of non-Scandinavian tourists in Nonvay and
Sweden, Dutch tourists accounted for about 6 percent, and US and UK tourists each
about 5 percent. Denmark had 71 percent Germans (European Commission, Tourism
in Europe 86, 179-84). Finland is unique in its relatively large percentage of Russian
visitors (9 percent), and Iceland visitors are mainly from Germany, the US, and the UK
(European Commission, Tourism in Europe 169,173).
6. See Eric Schaad, "The Image of Scandinavia in Internet Travel Accomus¡' Der Norden
im Ausland—das Ausland im Norden: Formung und Transformation von Konzepten und
Bildern des Anderen vomMiUelalter bis heute, ed. Sven Hakon Rossell, 25. Tagung der IASS
(International Association for Scandinavian Studies) in Wien, 2-7 August 2004. Wiener
Studien zur Skandinavistik 15 (Vienna: Praesens, 2006), 563-71.
2O4 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
and daily summaries of the weather.^ For example, Max from Italy
includes details on how much gasoline was required, the exact number
of kilometers traveled, a list of recommended restaurants, the cost of
highways, and the number of ferries used (Site 145). This tendency
toward detail and thoroughness reflects an honest desire to make this
public repository an information source for potential Internet readers
through photos, informative narratives, interesting anecdotes, and
practical advice. Online diaries with comprehensive detail fulfill the
traditional functions of "logbook and memoranda, but when written
on die Internet, diarists give these functions a public purpose, presum-
ing that others will want to read diese records, and even comment on
them" (McNeill 32). The honest intentions of Stefan from Austria can
be seen as he addresses his readers directly with practical advice: "don't
forget to bring a small repairing set with wires with you" (Site 37b).
Similarly, Elisabeth andTeije's travel Web site, referring to Skansen, sug-
gests: "When staying in Stockholm for a few days we can recommend
to pay a visit to this park" (Site 36). Graeme from Australia, drawn to
Stockholm as the home ofABBA, urges his fellow ABBA fans : "Fulfil [sic]
your ABBA needs if you have to, but don't neglect Sweden itself in the
process" (Site 62).
Internet travel accounts tend to be open and democratic. Although
travelers of all ages post their travel accounts on the Internet, people
in their twenties and thirties constitute the largest percentage.^ These
travelers (and writers) tend to be younger, more open, and less bur-
dened with old biases, though still susceptible to inherited cultural
stereotypical ideas. The publishing of travel accounts —like the act of
traveling itself—has become a commonplace occurrence for a wide
stratum of society. In a world that has become "flat" (in Thomas
7. As in the eighteenth and nineteenth cenniries, when accommodation and transporta-

tion were the two main practical concerns (Barton 20), many Internet accounts include
mundane details about finding campsites or hostels, eating on a budget, or transportation,
as in accounts that chronicle motorcycle trips through Scandinavia or hikes following
historical routes. See especially Alzbeth from Austria, who writes about her problems at
customs and other experiences while driving through Norway (Site iooia, ioif, ioig),
and Stefan from Austria, who comments on the road conditions in Norway (Site 37a).
Helmut Vogler from Austria includes much detail about weather, road conditions,
accommodations, and eating (Site 29, Site 30).
8. Due to the often anonymous nature of the Internet, it is sometimes impossible to
obtain information about the authors, although many proudly and openly post biography
pages or contact information.
Friedman's sense)' largely due to the connectivity of the World Wide

Web, Internet travel accounts may be viewed as democratic. Indeed,
McNeill observes that "bypassing the commercial, aesthetic, or
political interests that... decide whose life stories deserve to be told,
online diaries can be read as assertions of identity, and arguments for
the importance of an individual's life" (McNeill 26). Internet travel
accounts often do precisely this in their presentation of a complex
apparatus diat showcases one's travels and creates one's own "touristic
imagery" with self and "family at the center" (MacCannell 147), high-
lighting a central interest of one's life—travel. And not only do they
assert one's identity but also they assert one's perceptions. Because of
this, in addition to their openness, honesty, and directness, Internet
travel accounts exhibit a personal pride in their attempt to assemble
and record personal perceptions.
This direcmess in style and intent is complemented in the direcmess
of Internet travel account distribudon. '" While travelers throughout the
centuries have always composed parts of their accounts while on their
journeys, modern technology allows travelers to publish their wridngs
for friends and family—and to the world at large—during their trip via
Internet café or hand-held device. Peter and Kay Forwood from Australia
spend the day in a Norwegian museum, which, as diey write on their
Web site, "has die great innovation of internet access within the museum
which we exploited, updadng this site for aboutfivehours of the day"
(Site iob). Similarly, also in Norway, Jonathan from Florida uses a PDA
to write and transmit his account (Site 104b). Alzbedi takes advantage
of the Internet in Lillehammer to publish photos of herself: "I knew the
posidon of the web-camera there and so I had a pic of the hearse fixed
by Alex who was currendy online to save the various web-pics you'll see
later on. Right after that I went to die internet-cafe round the corner to
have a look at 'us'—there it was" (Site ioie). This kind of immediacy in
transmission of words and images adds to the sense of honesty as well
as freshness in expressing perceptions. This immediacy also causes most
travel accovmts to be casual in style, less introspecd ve but more immediate
9. Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat: A Brief History ofthe Twenty-first Century, (New
York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005).
10. The inherent potential for the full network structure of hypertext is not realized in
most Internet travel accounts. Instead, they conform, for the most part, to what George
Landow calls the "axial structure," characteristic of electronic books and scholarly books
with footnotes (50).
2o6 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
in die conveyance of impressions, brief in actual written commentary,

with matter-of-fact accounts telling where the travelers visited, how they
got there, and what they did. However, the variety of accounts is great,
and many well-written, entertaining, and thought-provoking travelogues
can be found among the more pedestrian accounts.
Travel narratives from any time and in any medium will often rely
on stereotypes to structure the accounts of one's observations and
experiences, particularly when assertions of national character and
characteristics are attempted. For instance, Caren Kaplan identifies in
Baudrillard's ^ w m c « the "stereotyped schema"—Europe is old while
America is new—and notes that he endeavors to redeem "Europe in
America's objectification," and to satisfy his "quest for difference" (83-4).
My aim is to illuminate what I call the rhetoric of touristic stereotype in
Internet travel accounts. At the basis of this discussion lies the assump-
tion that "it is possible to make an analytical distinction... between the
discursive registers of factual reporting and stereotyping" (Leerssen
"Rhetoric" 267). In other words, without trying to judge whether
the perceptions are empirically valid images of a cultural identity, this
study gathers perceptions and articulates what the perceptions are,
from where they might derive, what they might mean, and what their
function is—not whether the perceptions are true or false." Despite
the strong tendency in current scholarship to view travel writing as an
assertion of power and desire in the context of colonialism, imperialism,
gender, and class,'^ accounts by travelers to Scandinavia exhibit litde if
any of these tensions. Instead, their employment of stereotype reveals
a consciousness of stereotypes and a desire to assess their truth value.
Whether these stereotypes are implicit or qualified in one's account—
"based on what I saw, the Swedes are a very athletic people"—or more
direct, "Stockholm girls are beautiful," everyone has such general percep-
tions and stereotypes about a location never visited. Kilpeläinen's research
n. Encouraging skepticism in the truth value of travel accounts, Holland and Huggan
warn that, at best, travel writing refers to "actual people, places, and events as the writer
encounters them" but intersperses "these with stories that are often of dubious provenance
or derive from mythical or fictitious sources" (9).
12. One can see this tendency in most bibliographies of travel writing, such as that in
Travel Writing 1700-1830: An Anthology (2005) edited by Elizabeth A. Bohls and Ian
Duncan. David Scott in Sémiologies of Travel: From Gautier to Baudrillard (2004) asserts
that "travel writing sometimes becomes a way of asserting the power of the culture from
whose perspective it is being written, whether individual or group" (211); and Duncan
and Gregory in Writes ofPassage: Reading Travel Writing (1999) discuss the power and
desire inherent in travelers representing cultures through their attempts to translate one
place into another ("Introduction" 4-5).
mentions die rather stereotypical ideas that Germans have about Finland :
'The first things that come to their minds ... about Finland are lakes,
coldness, snow, sauna, reindeers,... water and nature" (Kilpeläinen 19).
Keiron Burchell from the UK records stereotypes about Sweden collected
from friends before leaving for Scandinavia: "Blondes, au pairs, blonde
au pairs, ABBA, Ikea and Volvos" (Site 89a). In an era of heightened con-
sciousness and sensitivity to the existence of stereotypes, die discourse
of national and regional character often requires that the stereotype be
addressed in one way or another—either to substantiate or repudiate it.
The rhetoric of touristic stereotype is the means by which many Internet
accounts direcdy discuss or merely allude to stereotypes in an attempt
to debunk or substantiate them. The a a of addressing the stereotype
enables the author to enter into an exisdng discourse, established by
fellow holders of the special knowledge and wisdom gained from travel.
Such discourse does not consdtute the majority of the content in Inter-
net travel accounts but is an almost obligatory element. The discussion
that follows will focus on the impressions travelers have of Scandinavian
nature, its cities, its people, and its customs, and how travelers employ
the rhetoric of touristic stereotype in their commentary.
A SEARCH FOR THE EXOTIC AND AUTHENTIC IN

SCANDINAVIAN NATURE
As I explain in my first article on this topic, nature and the northern

landscape serve as one of the primary images of Scandinavia and
one of the principal subjects in Internet travel accounts of Scandi-
navia (Schaad 565-6).'' Two aspects of the image of Scandinavian
13. Kilpeläinen provides evidence of the strength of this image in listing "nature" as one
of the "first things" that come to the minds of Germans (19) and in concluding from
her study that "Nature is a big part of the Finland image for the French" (17). It is not
surprising that several studies reflect the draw of nature to travelers to Scandinavia in
general. For instance, according to a study by the Finnish Tourist Board, "the most
important reason why the vacationer chose Finland as holiday destination was gener-
ally nature. The most fascinating sights in Finnish nature seem to be the lakes and the
beautiful landscape" (MEK, MEKA:I2S, I). Similarly, according to the Icelandic Tourist
Board, "60% of travelers in winter and 80% in summer name nature as reason to visit
Iceland" (Tourism in Iceland 16). In addition to providing the motivation for traveling to
Scandinavia, nature and the landscape are featured prominently in online photo albums
and in the memories of those who travel there; "About Scandinavia we remember the
wi[l]derness, the woodland, the lakes, the falls, the colored village in the long fjords,
the wild arctic beach, the nothing of tundra. The re[i]ndeer were everywhere and we
enjo[y]ed a [beautiful] day with whales" (Site 131).
2o8 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
nature—the exotic and the extreme—I have discussed hefore, but I

would like to expand on these two concepts as well as introduce a
third and related concept—the authentic. The desire for the exotic,
the extreme, and the authentic in nature unites the diverse travelers
who come to Scandinavia.
Among the many Internet accounts, one finds ABBA fanatics,
attendees at the Nobel Prize ceremonies, avid bird-watchers, children
of Finnish immigrants, and a naturist from the UK who, in addition to
featuring pictures of himself nude on his Web site, touts the advantage
of Sweden as a place "where the naturist will always be able to find
somewhere to strip off without causing offence" (Site 56). Motivations
for travel to Scandinavia are as diverse as the travelers themselves, but
most include in their motivation a reference to Scandinavian nature,
such as Alzbeth from Austria: "In autumn 20001finallymade it up to
the far North of Europe—Norway was on my list for a long time. The
cold wildness of this rough country attracted me since I was a child"
(Site ioi). This holds true for all three of the main traveler types to
Scandinavia that I have identified—the incidental-traveler, the leisure-
traveler, and the adventure-traveler (Schaad 564)'*-but is especially
true for the adventure-traveler. Adventure-travelers represent the larg-
est percentage of travelers to Scandinavia, and the most important for
understanding one of tlie primary images of Scandinavia for foreign
travelers. More overt in their desire to go beyond the commonplace
of home, adventure-travelers come for adventure, and Scandinavia
is a new, exotic place to find this adventure, much as the Swiss Alps
14. Dividing travelers into three groups is fairly common. Mieczkowski's classification
is representative of many: those traveling for pleasure, those for business, and those
for other reasons such as study, missionar)' service, visits to relatives, etc. (23). Cohen
conceives of tourists as being on a "scale of modes of touristic experiences," naming five
categories: "existential", "experimental", "experiential," "recreational," and "diversion-
ary" (377). Conceptually, my Adventure Traveler would include the first two of Cohen's
categories, as well as the third; and my Leisure Traveler would include the last two of
Cohen's categories, as well as the third, "experiential" being equally applicable to both
Advennire and Leisure Travelers. Since Incidental Travelers are not traveling for the
purpose of "touristic experiences," this category could be said to not apply to Cohen's
schema or to apply equally well to all five of his categories.
had been for Europeans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

(Schaad 566).'5
One tangible way for travelers to experience the extremes of Scandi-
navia and—perhaps more importantly—to be able to say they partook of
the extreme, is to visit the known extremities of these countries, already
on the extremity of Europe. Such extremities include the Arctic Circle
and the North Cape {Nordkapp), the northernmost place in Europe
(Schaad 565-6). '* Scandinavia also offers the extreme, though invisible,
marker of the Arctic Circle. Like many tourist sites and destinations,
there is no inherent attraction for the spot itself on the imaginary line
that comprises the Arctic Circle. ' '' But its existence and the ability to be
there in person bears significance. Similarly, the attraction of the Nortli
Cape site lies not so much in its scenic value—"It is, after all, only a
cliff," says one traveler from Italy (Site 131) —but in its value as a super-
lative, an extreme (Schaad 566). Its value as a destination symbolizing
the extreme can be seen, for instance, in its importance in an Italian
family's collection of travel photos. The Internet travel site includes
many photos of the family touring in Scandinavia, but only die accomit
describing North Cape includes a careful photo of each family member
15. For continental Europeans, the Alps represent the closest comparison with their image
of nigged namre and extremes away from civilization. In the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, Switzerland and its alpine landscape was central to the Continental Tour.
However, as early as 1853, Norway was seen as an alternative to Switzerland, which had
become somewhat of a tourist trap, as thus articulated by one observer: "The traveler
passes from day to day through the stereotyped stages of an Alpine tour" (Fjagesund
39). Scandinavia, today, as in tlie eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, draws travelers
for these reasons. Helmut Vogler, from Austria, sees in Scandinavia a complement to his
native Alps (Site 30). Catherine, a Canadian in Germany, suggests a comparison to the
Alps and Scandinavia when she explains: "Not so many people understand why I take
such holidays [to Scandinavia], shunning a pleasant cycle through Provence or similar
for the rigours [sic] of the Alps or eastern European borders" (Site 31).
16. For example, Peter Bohler and Peter Brewitt from New Hampshire write: "Our biggest
milestone thus far, in my mind, has been reaching the Arctic Circle" (Site 77). Similarly,
Mauro, visiting Norway from Italy, declares that "La prima meta è raggiunta: il circolo
polare ártico" [The first goal is accomplished: the Arctic Polar Circle] (Site 146).
17. Holland and Huggan describe the Arctic, in their section on various travel zones, as
characterized by "deferral" (100)—a theme I did not find in Internet accounts, which
focus more on the Arctic Circle than the "Arctic."
2IO SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
at this significant location.'* Visiting the place gives travelers insider

knowledge, which they are eager to share with their online readers,
as if to ensure the integrity of their own visit to the exact spot: "What
many tourists should be aware of when they visit North Cape, is that
it isn't The North Cape Plateau that is Europes [sic] northernmost
point, but Knivskjellodden that lies slighdy northwest ofThe Plateau"
(Site 131)."
In signifying the exotic and extreme north for Europe, Scandinavia
also represents the authentic because of its winter. "The desire to experi-
ence snow and coldness" is one of the "main reasons for spending the
winter holiday in Finland," according to a study by the Finnish Tourist
Board (MEK, MEKA:I3O, I ) , and we see this desire in many Internet
travel accounts by travelers who are attracted by Scandinavia's exotic
and extreme winter and particularly to rare aspects of this winter, such
as the Northern Lights (Schaad 565).^° Adesire for the exotic goes hand-
in-hand with a desire for the authentic—the unspoiled nature, which
one finds in the remoteness of Scandinavia, far from condnental Europe
and other homelands and unfrequented by most tourists (Schaad 567).
18. Travelers do express appreciation for the value of the beauty of the landscape, as seen
in their accounts. The family from Italy also notes the austere beauty of the place: "But
there is something exliilarating about this bleak, wind-battered promontory" (Site 131).
And Stefan from Austria writes: "But die most fascinating thing is the North Cape cliff,
which falls 300m vertical into the Norwegian Sea. So we stood alone at this beautiful cliff
and enjoyed the silence and in the meantime whales were passing by in the sea below us.
We reached our target in visiting the North Cape in winter!" (Site 37a).
19. Stefan from Austria issues a very similar authoritative warning and explanation,
illustrating the pride in secret knowledge gained: "The North Cape is in faa not on the
European mainland and so the northernmost point of Europe is the Nordkinn, East of
the North Cape. And to your surprise, the North Cape is also not the northernmost point
of this island. The Knivskjelodden peninsula is a little bit more North than the 'Nortli
Cape'. I know that's all very conñjsing and I think that's the reason, why everj'one says,
that the North Cape is the northernmost point of Europe ;-)" (Site 37a).
20. See particularly Iaia from Italy, who expresses excitement when seeing "una fantástica
AURORA BOREALE" in Finland (Site 134), and Stefan from Austria in the opening of his
travel site: "This idea was born when sitting together with some fellows of my universit)',
which had enough of the boring winters in Vienna. We wanted to experience a 'real'
winter, with a lot of snow, cold temperanires and northern lights. It was clear that we
wanted to make also a skiing tour in Finland to have enough time to feel and enjoy the
landscape" (Site 37).
Many travelers comment on the exotic aspects of Scandinavia,^' and

the fact that few express disappointment in their experience with the
exotic seems to indicate that their expectations and perceptions are
fulfilled. An authentic trip is achieved when travelers partake of Scan-
dinavian nature and natural beauty and can view exotic animals, such
as puffins, whales, moose, and particularly reindeer (Schaad 566-7)
and even the mosquitoes of Scandinavia, exotic in their great size and
pervasiveness.^-^
The desire for the extreme and the exotic, as signs of the authentic,
represents an important motivation for traveling to Scandinavia and
also constitutes a good deal of the content (words and pictures) of
Internet travel accounts about Scandinavia. Most advenaire-travelers
to Scandinavia are heirs of romantic attimdes toward travel, valuing
"man's direct contact with the elements" (Fjâgesund 83). Prior to the
romantic period, "walking had been regarded as socially degrading" as
it was primarily "associated with poverty and vagrancy" (83). Walking
then came to be viewed as a way to experience the authenticity of travel,
giving rise to the contrast between "the individualistic and slow-moving
traveller," and the "tourist, whose resdess roaming from place to place
requires a fast and efficient means of conveyance" (Fjâgesund 84).^' But
although the conveyances and other superficial manifestations of the
tourist may change with time, the ñindamental opposition between
2r. The excitement of John from California is clear when he visits Swedish Lapland and
notes: "We drank the water from the streams, unfiltered" (Site 96). See also Site 10, Site
30, Site 40b, Site 92.
22. Peter and Kay Forwood from Australia note the big and numerous mosquitoes in the
Arctic Circle (Site ioc), and Ron Alfredo from Germany records that "at die Ähtarijärvi
[in Finland] you can find the most mosquito[e]s I've ever seen" (Site 25). Not only are
mosquitoes noticed by tourists, but the tourist industry capitalizes on this natural attrac-
tion. A family of four from Italy includes in their Internet account two photos, one of a
triangular road danger sign with a picture of a mosquito and the other of a postcard that
includes actual mosquitoes taped in plastic to the card (Site 130).
23. John Ruskin (1819-1900) reflects his disparagement toward the train in his Seven Lamps
ofArehiteaure (1849), emphatically stating that "it transmutes a man from a traveller into
a living parcel" (122). Ironically, today, traveling by train, such as with a Eurorail pass, is
seen as the hallmark of a grand European backpack advennire tour and, as Culler states,
"has become the last reflige of the traveller trying to avoid being a tourist and is celebrated
nostalgically as true travel reminiscent of a bygone age" (Culler 130).
212 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
tourist and traveler has persisted. This opposition manifests itself most
ofben as disdain for "tourists" or, as Culler articulates it, as an "attempt
to distinguish between tourists and real travelers" (Culler 129).^*
This attempt to distinguish between tourists and real travelers—in
others and in oneself—is an outer manifestation of the desire for die
authentic. Adventure-travelers, in particular, actively seek out what is,
to them, the exotic and the authentic by proudly striving to get beyond
mere travel and to experience something meaningftil. They batde against
the increasing "McDonaldization" of tourism, characterized by people
who "seek tourist experiences wliich are predictable, efficient, calculable,
and controlled" (Urry, "Transformations" 3). Ritzer and Liska describe
the McDonaldization phenomenon further as the tendency of tourists
to "travel to other locales in order to experience much of what they
experience in tlieir day-to-day lives" (99). The more common and vis-
ible McDonaldization becomes, die greater the motivation of some to
exert an adventure travel experience diat attempts to go beyond this.
Scandinavia is, to many, a place to realize such an experience. Alzbeth
from Austria, a single woman who tours around Norway in her hearse,
camping as she goes, is a good example of an advenmre-traveler on
a quest for the authentic. As one who writes that "most of the trip I
was a l o n e - t h e real way of travelling [sic] I diink," (Site ioi), her con-
tempt for die hordes of tourists is not surprising. Seeing the Fantoft
stave church near Bergen, she says: "The great atmosphere was a bit
disturbed by some terrible noisy french tourists ... who took tons of
useless photos and blabbed all kinds of nonsense" (Site ioid). In her
complaint, she voices the common critique of the visual found in travel
discourse, where "the mere sightseer has been universally denigrated, as
someone who is necessarily superficial in their appreciation of peoples
and places" (Urry, "Transformations" 7)- Similarly, when visiting the
Vikingskiphus in Oslo, she writes of the spoiling of her experience by
tourists: "The amiosphere is quite nice in there ... unforuinately some
busses (!) of Japanese rushed in and so I rushed out" (Site ioic).
In the comments by travelers about nature in Scandinavia, it is clear
that the exotic, the extreme, and the authentic often motivate the trip
24. "Tourist" as a term of disdain was used as early as 1800 in the opening line of William
Wordsworth's poem "The Brothers" ("These Tourists, Heaven preserve us!") but did not
come into common use until after the Napoleonic Wars (Fjagesund 49).
_ _ ^ PERCEPTIONS OF SCANDINAVIA 213
itself and tlius exist as perceptions of the region. These perceptions are
rarely upset upon actual viewing. Exceptions, of course, do occur, and
when they do, the rhetoric of touristic stereotype is often employed.
Jim Strader's comments, for example, serve to contradict the stereo-
type or expectation of mosquitoes in Scandinavia: "It may have been
too early because I encountered no insect problems during my entire
stay in die north" (Site 4ob).25 The rarity of accounts that mention a
disparity between the expected nature and the nature actually seen or
experienced may well lie in the fact that Scandinavian nature, unlike
Scandinavians themselves, consists mainly of the visual dimension and
can thus be objectified much more easily tlian culture. Pictures of nature
can be viewed before traveling, and with diat image in mind and tliat
expectation set, there is little opportunity for disparity between expecta-
tion and experience.
The image of Scandinavian society and culture is less easily defined.
Internet travel accounts are peppered with notes and encounters with
Scandinavian culture and commentary on Scandinavian society. Unique
to accounts about Scandinavia (though not particularly common) are
remarks about whale hunting (see Site iod and Site 40b) and sauna
in Finland.^'' Other subjects include observations and commentary on
the criminal justice system (Site 44), family life and relations (Site 41),
fashion (Site 89), socialism and the economy (Sites 35a, 39,55,62,77),
Scandinavian proficiency in foreign language (Site 62), modern design,
and a variety of otlier observations about everyday Scandinavian life.
Gregory Nelle from Vancouver, British Columbia, "noticed a lot of big
baby carriages" in Uppsala (Site 24). Linda Tilton posted a picture on
her Web travelogue with the following caption, highlighting a family-
friendly aspect of Swedish life: "On the train between Stoekliolm and
Borlange, they had a children's play area on one of its carriages" (Site
50). For a teen from Amsterdam, "the most strange thing was that
you have to take off [your] shoes in the classrooms" (Site i). Rather
than addressing these particular observations in detail, I will draw
25. A study by the Finnish Tourist Board lists mosquitoes as one of the tvvo main nega-
tive aspects articulated by foreign tourists to Finland (MEK, MEK A:I2S, I). John from
California also mentions them (Site 96).
26. For accounts specifically about sauna, see Sites 37c, 44, 49, and 77. According to a
Finnish Tourist Board study, sauna is the number one cultural attraction for visitors to
Finland (MEK, MEKA:I2S, I).
214 SCANDINAVIAN S T U D I E S
on a few common stereotypes and discuss how such perceptions are

articulated. These perceptions include Scandinavia as safe and orderly
and a region with an advanced standard of living. It is characterized as
well as by the stereotypes of the healthy and beautiful, the taciturn, and
the drunk Scandinavian. I will discuss how these stereotypes become
part of the descriptive discourse by means of the rhetoric of touristic
stereotype.
T H E R H E T O R I C OF TOURISTIC STEREOTYPE
This rhetoric of touristic stereotype emerges partly from what Dennis

Porter calls "an anxiety to map the globe ... produce explanatory
narratives, and assign fixed identities to regions and the races that
inhabit them" (20). Travelers often showcase the knowledge gained
from their travels in situations such as asking another person where
they are from or where they are going. Communication is facilitated
by being able to say "7 have been there," followed by a knowledgeable
display of details about the location. Often inherent in this kind of
display is the snob value and cultural accreditation of one's travels.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, travel served as a kind of
"cultural accreditation through Continental touring" (Buzard no), and
"many European men of culture liked to boast of having made more
than one country their own" (Boorstin 82). This cultural accreditation
continues in informal guise today. Not only does "conspicuous leisure"
become the "conventional index of reputability," as Thorstein Veblen
argues in his The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) (Veblen 38), but
the cruises one takes or the mere mention of places traveled accredits
one with a higher cultural awareness. To be a tourist is a "marker of
status in modern societies" and to not travel is like not having a car
or a nice house (Urry, Tourist 4).^''
Simply by traveling, by going to a place and becoming an eye-wit-
ness, the tourist can gain superior knowledge and wisdom. This is
particularly clear when the tourist gains some inside information, or
27. Many tourists, Mieczkowski notes, are motivated to travel by, among other thmgs,
"ego-enhancement, snob appeal" and the "quest for appeal connected with visiting
unusual places" (177-8).
. PERCEPTIONS OF SCAKDINAVIA 215
encounters what MacCannell calls "truth markers" (137). Truth markers

highlight a commonly held belief, or even stereotype, and function "to
cement the bond of the tourist and attraction by elevating the informa-
tion possessed by the tourist to privileged status" (MacCannell 137-8).
MacCannell offers as an example the formula often encountered in the
scripts of guided tours, wherein a c o m m o n myth or stereotype is men-
tioned and then dispelled and replaced with privileged information: It
is commonly thought that , but actually , (MacCannell 137-8).
For instance, a tour guide in L o n d o n might begin, "It is commonly
thought that Big Ben refers t o the clock upon the tower or the tower
itselP' and conclude with "but it actually refers to the giant bell within
the tower." This pattern of mentioning the stereotype, or commonly-
held belief, followed by an affirmation or a denial o f t h a t perception,
appears commonly in Internet travel accounts as well and illustrates the
pattern of the rhetoric of touristic stereotype.^*
The rhetoric of touristic stereotype can be further illustrated by
a second-language acquisition project documented by Zsuzsanna
Abrams, in which the stereotype that Cermans wear Lederhosen and
drink beer is examined. With the stereotype articulated, students then
investigate the stereotype using a support-and-contradiction m e t h o d ,
searching first for support in their o w n environment {Sound of Music,
commercials, jokes) and then contradiction in their o w n environment
(no German-speaking students o n campus wcur Lederhosen) (Abrams
145)- Then, students repeat the m e t h o d by searching for support and
contradiction in the Cerman context. With stereotype at the center,
this exercise replicates the rhetoric of touristic stereotype found in
many of the Internet travel accounts presented here: the stereotype is
articulated and then supported or contradicted (or both). T h e German
cultural exercise and Internet travel accounts both illustrate the reality
and interest of stereotypes. M o r e interestingly, the methodology of the
German exercise, suggested as a pedagogical tool, actually reflects the
way travelers naturally examine stereotypes in their travel accounts.
28. In such accounts—and generally—pictures often serve as proof of this attained knowl-
edge. Each photo, like a mini-diploma, stands as evidence of the hard work of taking a
distant trip and testament of the knowledge and wisdom gained.
2i6 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
ORDER AND SAFETY IN SCANDINAVIAN CITIES
Thefirstpereeption to be diseussed is the image of Scandinavia as a plaee

of order and safety.^' In a Finnish Tourist Board smdy of tourists to
Finland, visitors name "safe destination" as one of the top characteristics
of the country (MEK, MEKA:I2Í, 2), and the cleanliness and orderliness
of Scandinavian cities often elicits commentary by travelers. Graeme
from Australia, praises the Stockholm Central Bus Terminal as "very
well organised and modern. It was very efficient and functional" (Site
62). "Klarin" from Milan interrupts her chronological account with a
list of general observations, mostly about efficiency and technology
on public transportation (Site 136). Many travelers, such as Robert
from Oregon, describes Arlanda airport as "spacious, well laid out"
and "easy to navigate. All we hear about Swedish design is true" (Site
86). Gothenburg is described by Mark of New York as a city with "an
excellent network of sidewalks and bicycle paths" (Site 51a). Gregor)'
Nelle from Vancouver, British Columbia noticed "a lot of clean streets"
in Uppsala (Site 24), and Peter Bohler and Peter Brewitt from New
Hampshire note that "the Finns carefiilly landscape even their high-
ways —the buildings, whether old or new, are pleasingly designed" (Site
77). Similarly, Copenhagen is described as "very clean" (Site 82); "very
clean and stylish" (Site 54) and "A clean, open, easy to get around city"
with "a lot of charm" (Site 19b).
In addition to being clean and orderly, Scandinavian cities have a
reputation for being safe. Many travelers of today write about feel-
ing safe in Scandinavian cities, a perception also shared by travelers
of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, who viewed Scandinavia
as a safe place to travel, in contrast to many European countries with
highwaymen and city crime (Barton 20). One traveler in 1862 writes
of feeling secure in Norway "even with her satchel and knapsack
constantly hanging open" (Fjâgesund 169). In 2002, Steve from the
UK writes about feeling safe walking in Oslo at night in Vigeland
Park (Site 93) ; and Graeme from Australia echoes these feelings about
Sweden: "I personally always felt safe and secure in Stockholm. I
walked through the streets alone more than once after midnight and
29. A recent study on stereot)'pes rates Sweden high in "conscientiousness," which may
relate to the cleanliness and order obser\'ed by foreigners (Tcrracciano 99)-
all I felt was deliriously happy. God knows, I certainly wouldn't do

such a thing in Sydney" (Site 62). An American contrasts Helsinki widi
US cities pardy in that "you feel quite safe" (Site 49). This percep-
tion of safety extends beyond crime. Helmut from Austria seems to
conclude Scandinavian roadways are safe based on his observations,'"
and Peter and Kay Forwood from Australia conclude that "Norway
is a very honest country, everyone leaves gear hanging ofFdieir bikes
while they wander the countryside" (Site iob)."
Most visitors do not elaborate on exacdy what it is diat makes them
feel safe, but the feelings are almost always expressed with an explicit
reference to one's home environment. In such explicit or implicit com-
parisons, Scandinavian cities are viewed as orderly, clean, and safe. This
perception of some is held as stereotype for others, even when their
particular experience might deviate from the stereotype. For instance,
Alzbeth from Austria, a woman traveling alone, gives several examples
of times she felt unsafe in Norway." But most of her examples of not
feeling safe involve die presence of "non-Norwegians," thus implying a
greater feeling of safety among what she perceives as die native popula-
tion. Similarly, Phil from the UK, in a rare contradiction to the general
consensus of Scandinavian orderliness, expresses his frustration after
experiencing problems with making a phone call but does so with the
suggestion that his experience is somehow exceptional: "In my mind I
had been expecting Europe—and especially Scandinavia—to be efficient
and easy to visit, but die reality didn't come up to my expectations" (Site
30. "Während meiner gesamten Tour habe ich in Skandinavien übrigens nicht einen
einzigen Verkehrsunfall gesehen.... Rücksichtslose Raser gibt es in Skandinavien nämlich
niche' [During my entire tour I did not see a single traffic accident in Scandinavia.... They
really don't have any reckless drivers in Scandinavia] (Site 30).
31. Evidence of a lack of maliciousness in societ)' is noted by Graeme from Australia, who
in Uppsala observes that "The burial mounds were only protected by a little fence - no
guards or police or anything. Putting the responsibility on the individual to do the right
thing and respect what had happened centuries ago" (Site 62). Visitors from Vancouver,
British Columbia note with a touch of humor their feeling of security during a local
Anarchist Party march: "Not to worry, we felt a protest march that drew as [many] ice
cream sellers [as] police was likely to be safe" (Site 23).
32. Alzbeth discusses incidents in Stavanger, Seljord, and near Sognefjord: "On my
search for a safe camping site I got followed by a guy in a dutch VW Golf... who even
shadowed me into nowhere leading deadlock by a wasted farmland where I did the faster
kind of U-turn" (Site ioia).
2i8 SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
ii8). In his complaint, he explicitly notes his expectations—his stereo-

type—of Scandinavian society being contradicted. Another traveler in
Norway, Steve from the UK, also contradicts the widely-held image by
employing the rhetoric of touristic stereotype and also suggests that his
experience is exceptional to the norm of the stereotype. In telling about
feeling unsafe at one point, he begins with the stereotype asserted as
a fact, notes his exceptional "lost tourist status," and then recounts his
contradictory experience:
Although Norway is one of the safest countries in the world, my obvious
'lost tourisf status had attracted unwanted attention. Shady-looking
charaaers... circled, waiting for the right moment to move in. Whatever
their motives—they we're either going to sell me drugs or mug me—I
thought it best to get going. (Site 93)
Although Graeme from Australia agrees with the general perception
that Scandinavia is safe, he tempers this with reñjtation of the stereotype
of Scandinavia as free from societal problems:
I know that there are serious problems with the economy and that
unemployment and the recent influx of immigrants is causing ghetto
and racial problems ... what city/country in the world doesn't have it's
[sic] own Rinkeby? All cities and countries, no matter how advanced
have similar social and economic problems. (Site 62)''
Throughout his account, Graeme praises Sweden and notes its
freedom from many social ills, yet he emphasizes that Scandinavia
belongs to the same reality as the rest of the world. Although sincere
in his assessment, Graeme engages here to some extent in showcasing
his travels using rhetoric of touristic stereotype. He also frames his
commentary of social ills in the context of a stereotype of superior
Scandinavian social structure. Similarly, Dave and Linda Sibley, on a
"Missions Trip" to Finland, observe "the same issues that we deal widi
in the USA— divorce, blended families, boundary issues" (Site 41). The
very fact that they mention observing the same issues suggests that they
previously believed there to be a greater disparity between die US and
Scandinavia. As with many observations, one can often perceive the
underlying stereotype or preconceived notion that lies behind it, which,
indeed, in many cases, gives rise to the observation. The stereotype—at
least in North America and Western Europe—of Scandinavia as a set
33. Rinkeby is a district in northern Stockholm.

of nations with minimal societal problems often warrants comment,

either in agreement or refutation.^*
Reflecting this recognition of an advanced standard of living, many
travelers comment on the technology in Scandinavia and also the high
cost of living. The real-time publishing of Internet accounts, mentioned
earlier, is particularly characteristic of Scandinavia and is illustrative of
the reality behind the image of advanced technology. Most travelers
comment on the stereotype in the affirmative (Schaad 568),'^ but the
exceptions are notable. Tony from New York, provides an exception,
telling a story of an encounter with Swedish technology that went bad
and exclaiming "this was REALLY odd for Sweden" (Site 39). The sense
of oddness expressed here reveals the underlying stereotype—that things
always function properly in Sweden—and is key to understanding the
rhetoric of touristic stereotype. The rhetoric of touristic stereotype not
only structures the discourse ofcultural observation but also shows how
this stereotype actually elicits the commentary precisely in the negation
ofthat stereotype upon confronting it in reality. Without the stereotype,
there would have been no perceived difference and thus nothing worth
commenting upon.
Scandinavia as an expensive region, another widespread perception
of Scandinavian life, is often addressed in accounts by travelers in affir-
mation. Things being expensive is a big enough issue to make the top
two complaints of visitors to Finland (next to mosquitoes) according
34. In contrast to perceptions of Scandinavian landscape, which have remained constant

over the past couple hundred years, the general perception of Scandinavian society has
seen a reversal among travelers. For instance, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centu-
ries, travelers viewed the Nordic lands as economically backward (Barton 76). Today, in
contrast, most travelers emphasize Scandinavia's high standard of living. The remarks
by Evelyn from New Jersey are representative: "To all outward appearances the Finnish
economy was, is, and will be prosperous. You see more poverty from a train window while
traveling in England or the United States" (Site 35a). Similarly, travelers to Scandinavia
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries made many comments about Scandinavians
being ignorant, not knowing affairs of other countries, lacking good conversation, and
putting on dreary dinner parties and soirees (Banon 53-5). Such perceptions contrast
sharply with those of today, where their education and skill with languages are held in
high esteem by visitors. Graeme from Australia expresses this high esteem well: "Like
many Stockholmers they were embarrassed about their English skills. And like many
Stockholmers they spoke English better than I did" (Site 62).
35. Comments about the advanced technology are found in the following Internet travel
accounts: Site 6a, Site 6c, Site 35b, Site 37a, Site 39, Site 37d, and Site 105.
22O SCANDINAVIAN STUDIES
to a Finnish Tourist Board interview study of "foreign roundtrip [sic]

tourists" (MEK MEKA:I2S, I ) , and many travelers mention this "nega-
tive aspect" in their Internet accounts. Evelyn Leeper from New Jersey
comments on how expensive things were in Sweden and Finland (Site
35b), and Peter and Kay Forwood from Australia claim that "Everything
(almost) in Norway is about twice the price of Australia. Eg. petrol,
accommodation, meat and most foods" (Site iob).'* In addition to such
general comments, many employ the rhetoric of touristic stereotype
by referencing the stereotype, either in affirmation or refutation. For
example, Keiron Burchell from the UK (or South Africa) notes that,
in Sweden, "Beers were not outrageously expensive, but enough so
that locals tended to use dieir credit cards, and not cash when buying
a roimd" (Site 89b). Interestingly, Graeme from Australia notices this
too and says almost the same thing (Site 62). As with most stereotypes,
the perception represents a generalization that is both relative and also
based on the delta between expectation and reality. Travelers familiar
with London, for example, found Scandinavian prices reasonable:
"Generally speaking, I found the prices in Stockholm comparable with
tliose in iLondon. Which is to say a lot less expensive than I was lead
[sic] to believe by friends who had visited Sweden more than a decade
ago" (Site 89b). In this account, Keiron Burchell from the UK refers
explicidy to die "expensive" stereotype by referencing accounts from
friends. Similarly, Phil Endecott from Cambridge (UK) refers explicidy
to die stereotype but couches it in a more general reference of how
"people tend to think": "People tend to diink of Norway as an expensive
country but that wasn't my experience. Of course the current strength
of the pound helps, but even so I didn't find it expensive in comparison
widi Switzerland for example" (Site ii8b). Whether the stereotype is
explicidy referenced or merely alluded to, most of the comments of
Scandinavia as expensive indicate the power of stereotype to elicit die
commentary in the first place.
36. Oscar in Norway comments on how expensive Norway is and tells an anecdote:
"Norway is ludicrously expensive.... Jonathan told an American woman about to study
in Bergen that he would invite her to dinner but tliere is no way he was going to spend
200 for a dinner. It may sound like a joke ... but it's true" (Site 104e)- Even a traveler
from Japan writes that "Scandinavia is extreamely [sic] expensive!!" (Site 153). Nichole
from Oregon also says that "Things are much more expensive here, and some things like
Nikes and cell phones are ver)' cheap" (Site 6c).
STEREOTYPES AND THE SCANDINAVIAN CHARACTER
Most descriptions of Scandinavians and the Scandinavian character

are fairly general and many include explicit or implicit reference to
stereotypes, which are "concerned with explaining culuiral and social
patterns from a purported character" and not necessarily the "empirical
reporting of verifiable facts" (Leerssen, "Rlietoric" 282). The remainder
of this discussion will focus on the common stereotypes of Scandinavians
found in Internet travel accounts, in particular, die healthy and beautiful
Scandinavian, the tacimrn Scandinavian, and the drunk Scandinavian.
Such generalizations have always been problematic, but one sees in these
travel accounts the strong rhetorical value which national—or, in this
case, regional (Scandinavian)—stereotypes hold. This value, Leerssen
asserts, lies in their "familiarity and recognition value rather than in
tlieir empirical truth value" (Leerssen, "Rlietoric" 280).^^
Many travelers see Scandinavians as embodying health and beauty.
Swedish women, in particular, are often cited for their beauty. Graeme's
account is one example: "A woman, around joish sat next to us. All
the women in Sweden look like they're thirty - even if they're actually
60!" (Site 62). Jonathan, on his first day in Stockholm, makes direct
reference to the stereotype : "Much of the scenery, by the way, is blon [d]
and extremely attractive. 'Hot Swedish Girls' might be a stereotype
but it isn't inaccurate in the least" (Site io4f).^*' "IGarin" from Milan
experiences and comments upon the beautiful Swede stereotype in a
bar in Stockholm:
Entriamo quindi in un barjrequentato da beigiovarii Svedesi. Noto cbe lo
stereotipo della bellissima Svedese blonda dagli occbi incredibiltnente azzurri
non è cost infondato: c'e una ragazza di fronte al nostro tavolo cbepotrebbe
tranquillamente fare la modella. (Site 136)
(So we went to a bar frequented by beautifiil young Swedes. That well-
known stereotype of the most beautifi.1l blonde Swede with incredible
37. The expansive, forty-nine-nation study by Terracciano, et al. concludes that "in-group
perceptions of national character may be informative about the culture, but they are not
descriptive of the people themselves" {99).
38. He later contrasts Finnish women with Swedish women: "I enjoyed Helsinki. The
women are attractive, but the ratio of attractive women per thousand people seems a bit
lower than in Stockholm" (Site 104a).
blue eyes is not unfounded: there is a girl in front of our table who
might easily be a model.)
While affirming the stereotype in the above observation, Klarin also
notices a contradiction to the stereotype—the non-stereotypical—in the
same scene: "Una piccola consolazione: tante ingrassano invecchiando, e
non sono tutte bionde, ho notato che tante si tingono i capelli! Eh eh eh
(Site 136) [One small consolation: many aging people get overweight,
and not all are blonde, I noticed that many have dyed their hair! Eh
eh eh]. In these examples, we see the power of stereotype to shape the
discourse and, in fact, to determine the kind of observations foreigners
include in their commentary. It is pardy the stereotype of the healthy
Scandinavian (most often Norwegian) which engenders commentary
on the same. Fay Sudweeks from Australia writes that "Norwegians are
very healthy and outdoor types" (Site 102); and an American college
student writes: "I also noticed that healthy lifestyle of the Norwegians"
(Site 117).^' Finland too apparendy shares the healthy stereotype. Peter
Bohler and Peter Brewitt refer explieidy to the stereotype ("reputation")
in their comments on Finns: "The people also seem, true to their repu-
tation, to be very athletic—we often pass Finns on roller skis, gliding
smoothly down an endless stretch of empty road" (Site 77). As with all
perceptions and experiences, exceptions are articulated using the rheto-
ric of touristic stereotype. Although, Phil Endecott from Cambridge
contradicts this stereotype, by the very mention of the contradiction he
reveals an unspoken perception of Scandinavians as healthy. He expresses
shock at finding Finns and Swedes smoking and chewing tobacco and
surprise to find Swedes that do not fit the athletic stereotype: "And then
there were people so overweight that they wouldn't look out of place
in the U.S." (Site ii8a). Although subde, the very introduction of this
observation is a result of the existence of the stereotype and evidence
of the power of the rhetoric of touristic stereotype.
The rhetoric of touristic stereotype is evident also in commentary
of the taciturn Scandinavian. I have previously discussed observations
39. Norwegians are also perceived, at least by this same Ameriean student, as being more
relaxed than Americans: "Compared to the United States, Norway is a much more relaxed
country. When we would go out to eat at a restaurant, the service was always friendly,
but the speed of getting a check at the end of a meal was always slower than the United
States. This is only a small example of the many differences that make the Norwegians
more relaxed" (Site 117).
about Scandinavian shy and taciturn behavior (Schaad 568-9).''° The

friendliness of Scandinavians, while not effusive, is often recognized as
being of a more subdued, more genuine variety*' Peter Bohler and Peter
Brewitt, initially holding the stereotype of an unftiendly Scandinavian, find
to their "pleasant surprise" that the people in Finland are "very friendly"
(Site 77).*^ "Klarin" from Milan calls out explicitly the contrastive nature
of Scandinavian friendliness: "anche se non si dimostrano calorosi nello
stesso modo dei popoli latini, sanno essere molto cortesi e disponibili" [even
if they do not demonstrate warmth in the same way of the Latin people,
they know how to be very courteous and helpflü] (Site 136). A traveler
named "Friday" as well as Graeme from Australia both refer explicidy to
the stereotype ofthe taciturn or cold Scandinavian in their contradiction of
the stereotype, which they base on their own experience. "Friday" writes:
"During the whole time Ville was talking like a book. Again it didn't fit
into the stereotype ofthe silent Finnish people" (Site 12). Similarly, Graeme
from Australia contradicts the stereotype in an anecdote. He stresses that
"the one cold person we met in Stockho[l]m" was an exception and that
most people in Sweden were friendly: "We met a lot of people there and
I think I can safely dispel the stories that the people are cold and distant.
Quite the opposite really" (Site 62). Both of these instances illustrate the
rhetoric oftouristic stereotype and how it not only shapes the observations
but even serves as the impetus for such observations.*'
40. For several examples, see Sites i, 6b, 40b, and 69.
41. The Finnish Tourist Board reports that not only do travelers choose Finland partly
because of its "friendly people" but that the friendliness of Finns met the expectations
of the travelers (MEK, MEKA.HS, 1-2). Kilpeläinen's research agrees: the French consider
the people of Finland "to be warm, open and full of hospitality" (17).
42. As an exception, Elisabeth and Teije from the Netherlands, visiting Finland "were
disappointed in the mentality of the people (at least, the ones we encountered); most of
them were quite rude, but probably there is a very good explanation for that, we don't
know" (Site 36).
43. Fay from Australia, in comparing Norwegians with other nationalities as well as noting
intra-national character differences, sums up the general perceptions of Scandinavians:
"Norwegians are friendly, polite, but not as open as Americans, Australians and the British.
Northern Norwegians are much friendlier than southern Norwegians though and tend
to be more talkative" (Site 102). Here, Fay employs what Leerssen calls a "grammar or
national characterization", particularly in her invoking of an opposition between north
and south. One of the grammar patterns that Leerssen discusses is the opposition between
North and South. The North is viewed as "cooler ... more célébrai [sic], individualist,
more rugged, less pleasing but more trustworthy and responsible character." The South
is viewed as "warmer ... more sensual, collective, more polished, more pleasing but less
trustworthy or responsible character" ("Rhetoric" 276).
Like die stereotype of die tacimrn Scandinavian, the stereotype of

Scandinavian insobriety, or the drunk Scandinavian, is found in many
Internet accoiuits (Schaad 569). Peter and Kay Forwood, on the ferry,
remark: "Leaving Finland on a late Friday afternoon boat we saw another
side of the Finnish people we had not expected. The normally reserved
conservative, by the book Finns took to the boat's cheaper alcohol....
A couple were almost to blows and another one arrested within three
hours of leaving port, most were noticeably drunk on arrival in Estonia"
(Site ioa). The surprise expressed by die Forwoods arises primarily from
both their awareness of the taciturn Scandinavian stereot)'pe ("normally
reserved conservative") and from their lack of awareness of the drunk
Scandinavian stereotype. Jonatlian, also on a Baltic ferry, offers a very
similar account of the quiet Scandinavian luidergoing a metamorphosis
due to drink. His account explicitly references the stereotypical dichoto-
mous character of Scandinavians: "Scandinavians have a reputation for
being fairly quiet until tliey start drinking. I got to observe this firsthand
on the boat. These somewhat uptight people turned into social animals
when exposed to tlie free-flowing alchohol [sic]" (Site 104g). Public
drunkenness has long been associated with Scandinavia by travelers. In
the nineteentli century, "insobriety was one of the matters upon which
travellers judged die relative merits of Norway and her nearest neighbour
Sweden" (Fjagesund 230).''^ Barton, similarly, mentions the "widespread
agreement that the main weakness of the Northern peoples was their
fondness for strong drink" (107). This widespread agreement, evident
today in the form of a stereotype held by some foreigners, gives rise to
contradiction via the rhetoric of touristic stereotype. Evelyn from New
Jersey writes : "So far we have seen... zero public drunkenness" (Site 35c).
Although one cannot be completely sure from Evelyn's remark that she
expects to see drunkenness because she sees it at home in New Jersey or
because she indeed holds the drunk Scandinavian stereotype, the fact that
she mentions seeing none suggests that she expected to. This expectation
actually gives rise to die comment in her travel account.
All of the remarks about Scandinavians are based on real obser\'ations,
but, ofcourse, they represent a minute and finite subset of possible experi-
ence and context and originate from a completely subjective cultural and
personal point of view. Justin from California is conscious of the problem
44. Then, as now, connections were made between drinking and the northern climate
(Fjagesund 230).
of forming opinions about a nation from limited experience: "Most my

time was spent in the capitol [sic] of Stockholm, vvliich [S] vante sez [says]
is as much reflective of Sweden as san francisco is of america" [sic] (Site 58).
Joep Leerssen, an expert on image studies, makes the point that "nobody
is in a position to describe a cultural identity'" ("National"). Yet we have
seen both the urge to engage in the discourse of stereotypes in order to
showcase one's special knowledge as well as the power of stereotypes to
elicit discourse. The rhetoric of touristic stereotype tends to focus on
tliose cultural aspects which seem most strajige or exotic, since "cross-
nationally common values are usually taken for granted" and a nation is
presupposed to be "most itself in those aspects wherein it is most unlike
the others. The presupposition... precludes us from realizing tliat all our
identities define us as a part of, and not in contradistinction to, humanit)'
as a whole" (Leerssen "National"). This realization of "cross-nationally
common values" or our common humanity, is at the heart of some,
though not many, travelers' comments. We see tliis generally in many
accounts that mention friendships made, and we see it in some isolated
commentary, such as that by Josh from California, who sees culmrally
shared norms during a movie: "After dinner we decided to go to see
Tarzan. It was cool seeing Danish people laughing in the same places as
die US audience did when I first saw the movie back home" (Site 53).
Jane Dunn notes similarides between American and Norwegian culture:
"I wouldn't say that its culture was very different from Americans. In fact,
sadly, they seemed to crave all that was bad about America" (Site 90c).
Certainly, one could assume that what is "bad" is die preponderance
of American entertainment culture and products abroad, or, to use the
term introduced earlier, the "McDonaldizadon" of certain aspects of
Scandinavian culture. The confrontadon of Americans in Scandinavia
with their own goods and culture, while seemingly just simple evidence
of commercial globalizadon, actually illustrates die complex interplay
of the expected and the unexpected, the exodc and the familiar. In tliis,
although observers are not discussing or referencing convendonal ste-
reotypes about foreigners, they are employing die rhetoric of tourisdc
stereotype in an extended sense, since their expectadon that Scandinavia
will be completely foreign or exodc propagate their observadons. Peter
Bohler and Peter Brewitt from New Hampshire are surprised to find so
many American products in a Swedish store. For diem, it is remarkable
to find "an American food secdon, featuring" familiar brands: "It amused
us to note that the American food was on the same aisle with Japanese,
Mexican, and other ethnic cuisines" (Site 77). For these travelers, the
strange part is that "American" is categorized as "foreign," in other words,

not in a primary or mainstream position and next to the more obviously
exotic Japanese and Mexican. In these cases, it is precisely the recasting of
the familiar that is remarkable. When one encounters the familiar unex-
pectedly or in unfamiliar contexts, it prompts commentary, or, as in the
case of Jose Galdamez seeing a McDonald's in Finland, a photo (Site 8).
Andrew Patton from Virginia encounters American culture in Icelandic
context: "While on the way back the bus driver played a CD that sound
vaguely familiar. It took me a few minutes to realized [sic] it was the
soundtrack to Grease and that the lyrics were in Icelandic. Very strange"
(Site 2i). We see these kind of comments by Americans, who, in a large,
relatively homogenous land mass, find it strange when US products are
found elsewhere. Part ofthe American naïveté is ofthe tremendous cultural
and commercial impaa the US has had on the rest of the world. Many
of the stereotypes Americans have of Europe—which assume foreignness
and exoticness—do not take this into account. Because of the tendency to
think of anything outside the vast US as non-American, or as foreign and
exotic, many Americans are surprised when things are not as different as
expected. Some Americans are noticeably disappointed or irked to find the
familiar while on a trip that is meant precisely to escape the familiar. For
instance, in Oslo, Steve Engelhardt from Minnesota writes with disdain
and disappointment about the Gallera shopping mall: "The mall looks
like a US mall and is iuU of Fashion stores and cowboy stores. It is hard
to buy Norwegian here the stores arefiiUof goods with US brands made
in Cliina" (Site 38). Less irked and more amused at the irony, Jonathan
from Florida writes about Stockholm: "Besides American convenience
stores, Stockholm is filled with other things from home. We passed an
American foods store.... The whole idea cracks me up because one of
the main reasons I like to travel is to get away from American food. I will
admit I had to fight temptation of the overpriced Doritos" (Site 104h).
He states explicidy his desire to escape the familiar, to experience the
exotic, and the authentically foreign.
Although George Ritzer and Allan Liska argue that "people increasingly
travel to other locales in order to experience much ofwhat they experience
in their day-to-day lives" (Ritzer 99), die accounts in this study suggest
that people are not primarily searching for what they experience in dieir
day-to-day lives, but truly want the extraordinary and the exotic—the
escape from the familiar. Travelers to Scandinavia may, like the tourists
Ritzer and Liska describe, "delight in finding ... a McDonald's in some
far-off locale" (99) or Doritos in Stockholm, but they delight in the
sight not necessarily because they delight in the McDonald's in itself as

a predictable, efficient, and controlled entity but because it appears in an
vuiexpeaed and extraordinary context. It is, to be more precise, a delightIt
in die juxtaposition of the familiar and the extraordinary, stemming
from a simultaneous drive to see the exodc and the unique but also to
find evidence of the universal—a common currency which unites people
around the world in how they eat, shop, or use products.*^
Tourism itself can be viewed as one of the most unifying activities
of the modern world. Its uniting force, described by Jonathan Culler
as the "touristic code," makes tourism a powerful culuiral currency:
The touristic code is the most powerful and widespread modern con-
sensus and a major stabilizing force in Western society. The touristic
code is the sense what one must see, what you "ought not to miss"—a
systematic knowledge of the world coupled to a widely-accepted series
of moral injunctions. (Culler 139)
Culler concludes his point with the observation that people might
disagree about such issues as capital punishment but not about what
they should see in Paris (139). Although "what we should see" in Scan-
dinavia is less clear than in Paris or London or New York, and although
many writers of Internet travel accounts (especially adventure-travelers)
consciously try to avoid the expected and the familiar, one does notice
some homogeneity in the Internet accounts about Scandinavia, such
as the desire to visit to the Arctic Circle, the extreme nordi of Lapland,
or the North Cape in Norway.
Another uniting aspect of tourism is the value of and search for the
authentic among travelers:
All over the world the unsung armies of semiotics, the tourists, are fan-
ning out in search of the signs of Frenchness, typical Italian behavior,
exemplary Oriental scenes, typical American thruways, traditional English
pubs; and, deaf to the natives' explanations that tliruways are just die
most efficient way to get from one place to another, or that pubs are jtist
convenient places to meet your friends and have a drink, or that gondolas
4$. The phenomenon of discovering the familiar within the context of the exotic can
be found in earlier times as well. James Duncan describes Victorian travelers who were
shocked by the uncanny familiarity of foreign locales with a kind of "domesticated" shock
that is "turned into delight" ("Dis-Orientadon" 151). James Clifford calls this phenom-
enon—the encounter with that which is "strangely familiar, and different precisely in
that unprocessed familiarity"—the "Squanto effect," alluding to the uncanny experience
of Plymouth pilgrims encountering in a completely raw land a Patuxet who spoke good
English and who had just renimed from Europe (97).
are the natural way to get around in a city full of canals, tourists persist in
regarding these objects and practices as culairal signs. (Culler 127-8)
For travelers to Scandinavia, such cultural signs are less obvious and
perhaps less of a motivating factor for their visit, but in the course of
this discussion we have seen many examples of travelers searching for die
"authentic." And in this search for the authentic, the rhetoric of touristic
stereotype infuses the discourse, not only structuring it but giving rise
to it. "Klarin" from Milan, apparently conscious of the problematic
concept of "typical," nevertheless expresses excitement at being able
to photograph a "typical" Swedish child ("un 'tipico' bimbo svedese")
(Site 136). The "typical" is also found in food, which serves as a culuiral
sign and is often mentioned in Internet travel accounts.** In Denmark,
Oscar Blass from Florida writes that "the highlight for me today was
eating at an authentic Danish bakery" (Site 104c). Similarly, Alzbeth
from Austria "wanted to eat real Norwegian Northseafish in Stavanger"
and was disappointed that the only seafood restaurant "had mosdy
asian dishes" (Site ioib). These expressions of desire for the authentic
reflect belief in ñnding the authentic in cultural phenomena and experi-
ences such as food, customs, and people. Travelers to Scandinavia also
search for authentic experiences in the sense of being free from touristic
influences. Nature represents the ultimate in authenticity, and travelers
such as Stefan from Austria visit to experience a 'real' winter" (Site 37).
Elisabeth and Teije from the Netherlands were clearly disappointed in
their search for authenticity in Finland, unhappy with Finland's failure to
deliver the views of the many lakes and wild forests apparendy promised
in their tourism materials about Finland: "Finland falls a bit short on
our expectations: we had expected a somewhat more rough nature, but
the woods are straigth [sic] and reforested" (Site 36).
The cogent point is that a "dialectic of authenticity" lies "at the heart of
the development of all modern social stmcture" and conserves "a solidar-
ity at the level of the total society, a collective agreement that reality and
tmdi exist somewhere in society, and that we ought to be trying to find
them and refine them" (MacCannell 155). What is authentic and how it
will be received is individually and subjectively determined, but the search
for authenticity shapes tourism as weÚ as travel narrative by means of the
rhetoric of touristic stereotype. Several scholars point out the opposite
tendency of tourists to seek out die inauthentic, or what Boorstin calls
46. Scott suggests that the interest in food is symptomatic of a desire to approach the
other, "to approach the epistemic structures buried beneath the surface of the exotic
culture" (193).
"pseudo-events": "The tourist looks for caricature.... The tourist seldom

likes the authentic (and to him often unintelligible) product of a foreign
culture; he prefers his own provincial expectations. The French chanteuse
singing English with a French accent seems more charmingly French than
one who simply sings in French" (106). Similarly, Rojek notes the value
placed on imitation objects: "The plastic Eiffel Towers sold in the Paris
gift shops around die 'real objecf are as interesting to the post-tourist as
the tiling in itself' (Rojek 69). While one can certainly recognize this to
be true in tourism generally, Scandinavia remains more insulated from
the deluge of touristy sites and objects, pardy because of the focus on
namre in its tourism and partly because of its peripheral location as a
tourism destination. Furthermore, as Cohen astutely argues—taking
issue with Boorstin, MacCannell, and odiers—tourists "appear to seek
authenticity in varying degrees of intensity" and with "different degrees
ofstricmess" (376). Take, for example, the humorous anecdote by Graeme
from Australia on his visit to Stockliolm:
We discovered a wonderful home-away-from-home - "The Down Under
Bar" This bar/restaurant was decorated in the style of an outback Aus-
tralian hotel complete with real outback signs ("Wombats Next 5 km"
and so on) and some authentic memorabilia. They served Fosters beer
and the menu had been "Australianised" or so they thought. I've never
seen chicken breasts called "ChookTits" before ... I imagined they'd be
impressed to have two real Aussies patronising [sic] their establishment.
My mind told me that some wayward Aussie had probably set this place
up as a tribute to our homeland. Wrong, wrong, wrong!
Apparently the owner, a Swede, had visited Australia and was so
impressed he/she decided to bring a little bit of it back to Stockholm.
We weren't complaining. Obviously they would speak perfect English
like everyone else in Stockliolm so I wandered up to order a drink in
English. Big Mistake!!! No-one but no-one in this place spoke any
English ... no-one on the staff spoke English or had even been to
Australia! (Site 62)
One is struck here by the many references to "authentic" and "real."

The sense of humor of this story derives from the irony of having "real
outback signs" and other "authentic memorabilia" while being com-
pletely inauthentic in origins and real substance—"no-one on the staff
spoke English or had even been to Australia!" It is a "wonderful home-
away-from-home" precisely because, as a home away, it foregrounds
the contrast between the familiar and the exotic and tlius resembles die
phenomenon of the thriU of finding a McDonald's—not because the
23O SCANDINAVIAN S T U D I E S
Australian restaurant or McDonald's are so prized in themselves but

because it is thrilling to find the familiar and the exodc in one miified
experience and context. So, it is not that people want the inauthendc
(per Boorsdn and others) or that they always want the audiendc,
because, as Cohen argues, they will suspend or subjugate this desire.
What tourists do seek and enjoy is the interplay between the authendc
and the inauthendc, found often in experiencing the secret knowledge
of the authendc and in recognizing the inauthentic.
The rhetoric of tourisdc stereotype represents one way in which
travelers attempt to document, preserve, and explore not only the exotic
but also the collision of the exodc and the familiar, the authendc and the
inauthendc. In their Internet travel accounts, travelers to Scandinavia
express the propensity to test and evaluate the stereotypes, percepdons,
and expectadons in order to try to understand how their familiar cultural
idendty relates to the exodc (or not-so-exodc) culture of others. Internet
travel accounts, in addidon to being a good source of informadon for
would-be travelers to Scandinavia, are useful artifacts for understand-
ing contemporary perceptions and stereotypes of Scandinavia and how
these percepdons are expressed through word and image.*''
47. An interesting direction for further research might be the influence of popular travel
books and the generalizations they contain on the stereotypes and expectations held by
travelers. And if it were possible to determine and track, the influence of Internet travel
accounts themselves on other travelers would make an interesting study In my rather
cursory perusal of such US-based travel books on Scandinavia, I found very many of the
stereotypes and generalizations that travelers also expressed in their accounts—and that
may well have contributed to their use of the rhetoric of touristic stereotype. Many travel
guide books emphasize nature in Scandinavia (particularly the Lonely Planet sections
about Iceland and Norway; see Harding). Many guide books also refer to Scandinavia
as "unknown" and "unspoiled." Lonely Planet speaks of the "scores of unspoilt islands
to explore" in Denmark (Harding 244), Finland as containing "the largest unspoilt
wilderness in Europe" (Harding 256), and the "unspoilt fishing villages" of Norway
(Harding 351). Similarly, TTie Rough Guide calls Finland "mainland Scandinavia's most
culturally isolated and least understood country" {Rough Guide 375) and Norway a "land
of unknowns" (Rough Guide 939). Frommer's, echoing these other guides by calling
Finland "the last frontier of western Europe" (Porter, Frommer's Scandinavia 597) and
Norway "one of the last great natural frontiers of the world" (580), actually suggests a
link beuveen the nature of Norway and one of the Scandinavian stereotypes mentioned
in this paper, namely the healthy and athletic Scandinavian; "As a result of their natural
surroundings, Norwegians are among the most athletic people in Europe" (Porter
Frommer'sNonvay 442). Other stereotypes familiar from the Internet travel accounts and
found in the travel guide books include technology {Frommer's Scandinavia calls Norway
"a technologically advanced nation," 580) and order (Lonely Planet refers to "tidiness
and order" in discussing Sweden, Ohlsen 35).
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ELECTRONIC WORKS CITED
Please Note: The format of the citations of Internet sites is as follows:

I. Arbitrarily-assigned Web page number and accompanying letter, if
applicable; 2. Web page author (full, first, or user name), if known; 3.
The tide of the Web page as determined by either die tide on die page
or in the URL header code; 4. The year during which travel was under-
taken; 5. The home country or state of the writer, if known; 6. The date
the Web page was last accessed and available; 7. The web address of the
account. The dates when the accounts were posted online have not been
included because diey are often unavailable, unreliable, or unstable.
Site I : Hofman, Aafke. ICT&E: Report Study trip Special Education Finland: Aafke. 2002.
Netherlands. Viewed: 26 Nov. 2005. <http://www.ict-edu.nl/content/nederlands/
icte/middenframe_vmt_report_Aafke_study_trip_finland.html >.
Site 2: Robert. 2002. Netherlands. Viewed: 23 Oct. 2003. <http://ww\v.uc.uden.ken-

nisnet.nl/Extranet/Internationalisering/2003/Finland/>.
Site 6a: Jason. Finland Trip. 1998. Oregon. Viewed: 26 Nov. 2005. <http://www.che-
nowith.k12.or.us/whs/finland/finland4.html >.
Site 6b: Riley. Finland Trip. 1998. Oregon. Viewed: 26 Nov 2005. <http://www.che-
nowith.ki2.or.us/whs/finland/finland8.html>.
Site 6c: Nichole. Finland Trip. 1998. Oregon. Viewed: 26 Nov. 2005. <http://ww\v.
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com/forwood/norway 1 .shtml >.
Site ioc: Forwood, Peter and Kay Fonvood. Travel Through Finland on a Harley-
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com/forwood/finlandi .shtml >.
Site iod: Forwood, Peter and Kay Forwood. Travel Through Iceland on a Harley-
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com/forwood/iceland i .shtml >.
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baltic-copen.htnil >.
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2005. <http://andrewpatton.com/iceland.html>.
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com/scand2ooo.asp >.
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Siet 37a: <http://photos.eisenbach.at/voyages/lapland/u.htm>.

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Scandinavian Stereotypes

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Scandinavian Stereotypes

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Perceptions of Scandinavia and

the Rhetoric of Touristic

to correlate the number of foreign visitors to these countries and the

7. As in the eighteenth and nineteenth cenniries, when accommodation and transporta-

Friedman's sense)' largely due to the connectivity of the World Wide

in die conveyance of impressions, brief in actual written commentary,

A SEARCH FOR THE EXOTIC AND AUTHENTIC IN

As I explain in my first article on this topic, nature and the northern

nature—the exotic and the extreme—I have discussed hefore, but I

had been for Europeans in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

at this significant location.'* Visiting the place gives travelers insider

Many travelers comment on the exotic aspects of Scandinavia,^' and

on a few common stereotypes and discuss how such perceptions are

This rhetoric of touristic stereotype emerges partly from what Dennis

encounters what MacCannell calls "truth markers" (137). Truth markers

ORDER AND SAFETY IN SCANDINAVIAN CITIES

Thefirstpereeption to be diseussed is the image of Scandinavia as a plaee

all I felt was deliriously happy. God knows, I certainly wouldn't do

ii8). In his complaint, he explicitly notes his expectations—his stereo-

33. Rinkeby is a district in northern Stockholm.

of nations with minimal societal problems often warrants comment,

34. In contrast to perceptions of Scandinavian landscape, which have remained constant

to a Finnish Tourist Board interview study of "foreign roundtrip [sic]

STEREOTYPES AND THE SCANDINAVIAN CHARACTER

Most descriptions of Scandinavians and the Scandinavian character

about Scandinavian shy and taciturn behavior (Schaad 568-9).''° The

Like die stereotype of die tacimrn Scandinavian, the stereotype of

of forming opinions about a nation from limited experience: "Most my

strange part is that "American" is categorized as "foreign," in other words,

sight not necessarily because they delight in the McDonald's in itself as

"pseudo-events": "The tourist looks for caricature.... The tourist seldom

One is struck here by the many references to "authentic" and "real."

Australian restaurant or McDonald's are so prized in themselves but

Abrams, Zsuzsanna I. "Surfing to Cross-Cultural Awareness: Using Internet-Mediated

. "The Rhetoric of National Character: A Programmatic Survey." Poetia Today 21

ELECTRONIC WORKS CITED

Please Note: The format of the citations of Internet sites is as follows:

Site 2: Robert. 2002. Netherlands. Viewed: 23 Oct. 2003. <http://ww\v.uc.uden.ken-

Site 35a: <http://w\vw.travel-library.com/europe/baltics.trip.leeper+27.html>.

Site 35b: <http://www.travel-library.com/europe/baltics.trip.leeper+29.html>.

Site 35c: <http://www.travel-library.com/europe/baltics.trip.leeper+24.html>.

Site 37: Eisenbach, Stefan. [PJhotos.eisenbach.at : : Lapland in Winter Finland &Norway

Siet 37a: <http://photos.eisenbach.at/voyages/lapland/u.htm>.

Site 37b: < http ://photos, eisenbach.at/voyages/lapland/4. htm >.

Site 37d: <http://photos.eisenbach.at/voyages/lapland/2.htm>.

Site 37e: <http://photos.eisenbach.at/voyages/lapland/12.htm>.

Site 37f: <http://photos.eisenbach.at/voyages/lapland/8.htm>.

Site 44: "Xes."ArchivedWeblogEntry-02/ii/2oo3: "Back in Sheffieldfrom Finland." 2003.

Site 51a: <http://www.esm.rochester.edu/organ/Sweden-trip/Pages/Day3-1.html>.

Site 51b: <http://www.esm.rochester.edu/organ/Sweden-trip/Pages/Day3-1.html>.

Site 59b: <http://www.flashsear.net/p/Sweden-Jul2OOi/html/h_cfi_iO2-0244_lMG.

Site 59c: <http://www.flashsear.net/p/Sweden-Jul2OOi/html/h_cfi_iO2-O264_lMG.

Site83:Watters,Alistair. Budget Scandinavian Traveller. 2003. United Kingdom. Viewed:

Site 89b: <http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstories/europe/febo1sweden2.shtml>.

Site 90b: <http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstories/curope/feb01norway5.shtml>.

Site 90c: < http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstories/europe/febomorway8.shtml >.

Site 9od: < http://www.bootsnall.com/travelstories/europe/feb01norway2.shtml >.

Site ioia: <http://members.chello.at/wank/sognefjord.htm>.

Site loib: <http://members.chello.at/wank/coast.htm>.

Site ioic: <http://members.chello.at/wank/oslo.htm>.

Site ioid: <http://members.chello.at/wank/bergen.htm>.

Site ioie: <http://members.chello.at/wank/lillehammer.htm>.

Site ioif: <http://members.chello.at/wank/customs.htm>.

Site ioig: <http://members.chello.at/wank/hellride.htm>.