The naturalized nation: Anchoring, objectification and naturalized social representations of history

Abstract

This study focuses on the connection between social representations of history and collective memory from the perspective of elementary concepts of social representations theory: anchoring, objectification and naturalization. The aims of the study are to arrive at a conceptual clarity of this connection and demonstrate how to apply basic concepts of social representations theory to the study of collective memory. The study also focuses on the naturalized characteristics of Finnish history. The data consist of the covers of twenty Finnish history books between the years 1965 and 2014. All the covers are embellished with typography or visual images. The covers were analysed using a semiotic approach in which the interest is in the description (denotation), the associations (connotation) and the meaning system these construe (myth). The analysis shows how national history is concretized with visual images (objectification), how the meaning of representation is conveyed (anchoring) and how collective memory is maintained (naturalization), transmitted and shaped during the years. The results show how the stable collective memories and changing social representations of history are interacting. The most frequently used visual element was the colour blue, which alludes to the Finnish flag, a symbol of the nation that represents the core of Finnish history. The study suggests that it is possible to conceptualize collective memories as naturalized social representations of history. It shows how processes of anchoring and objectification serve as tools of collective memory and how the naturalized conceptions are subtly changed. In addition, the study develops the use of visual semiotic analysis in social representations research.

The past as a means of persuasion: Visual political rhetoric in Finnish dairy product advertising

“…Veltri (2015) has recently placed the central concepts of semiotics, denotation and connotation in parallel to elementary processes of social representations theory, objectification and anchoring. Hakoköngäs and Sakki (2016) have further developed these parallels by equating semiotic myth and naturalised social representations.…”

“…Previous empirical studies demonstrate that existing social objects, beliefs, values, world-views, imaginary, social norms and even emotions can serve as anchors for new or somehow troubling objects or phenomena. In this study, for the sake of clarity, we lean on the meaning-making function (Hakoköngäs & Sakki, 2016) of anchoring and regard them as broader patterns of meanings related to values, beliefs or norms (e.g., Finnishness, tradition). However, we are aware that the processes of anchoring and objectification are interwoven and partly simultaneous, as are the associative and concrete sides of connotation and denotation, but yet distin- The Past as a Means of Persuasion 512 guishable as two phases in the formation of a social representation for the analytic purposes (Hakoköngäs & Sakki, 2016;Lloyd & Duveen, 1990).…”

“…The third stage involved identifying the myths that serve ideological aims in the visual narratives. The myths utilised naturalised social representations and collective memories, which are so widely shared and deeply rooted that they may not be processed critically (Hakoköngäs & Sakki, 2016).…”

“…Naturalised knowledge is taken for granted, meaning that it is difficult to contest and is thus an attractive tool for advertisers (Hakoköngäs & Sakki, 2016). To ensure the desired association, a visual message is often framed with a descriptive verbal message which can make claims for something (Barthes, 1977).…”

Reporting on the Opioid Crisis (2000-2018) – the Globe and Mail, Canada’s English Language Paper of Record

“…SRT has been used as a framework for investigating complex and challenging social phenomena such as HIV/AIDS (Gomes, Silva, & Oliveira, 2011;Joffe & Bettega, 2003), climate change (Höijer, 2010;Moloney et al, 2014), and poverty/homelessness (Chauhan & Foster, 2014). Anchoring, one of the processes by which social representations are formed, involves integrating unfamiliar objects into pre-existing knowledge and tting novel information into previously formed ideas, thus making unfamiliar concepts familiar (Hakoköngäs & Sakki, 2016;Serge. Moscovici, 2008).…”