Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education

This study explored the Norwegian media’s coverage (2015-2022) of the discovery of the wreck of a slave ship in 1974 and how this coverage related to contemporary antiracist issues such as Black Lives Matter, the Rhodes Must Fall movement, and the murder of George Floyd. A content analysis was appli...

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Main Authors: Paul Thomas, Jocelyne Von Hof
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Cogent Social Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2331418
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author Paul Thomas
Jocelyne Von Hof
author_facet Paul Thomas
Jocelyne Von Hof
author_sort Paul Thomas
collection DOAJ
description This study explored the Norwegian media’s coverage (2015-2022) of the discovery of the wreck of a slave ship in 1974 and how this coverage related to contemporary antiracist issues such as Black Lives Matter, the Rhodes Must Fall movement, and the murder of George Floyd. A content analysis was applied to 16 of a total of 24 newspaper articles (online and print versions) informed by critical discourse analysis and tenets of critical race theory. Findings indicate that the overarching objective appears to be documenting the facticity of the Danish-Norwegian slave trade, with a particular focus on the significant role played by Norwegians. The journalists assume the role of archaeologists in making a historical inventory of this epoch. It is argued that, while the above is laudable given the miasma of ignorance surrounding the role of Norwegians in the slave trade, the coverage fails to take cognizance of the over 11% of black and brown Norwegians of African and Asian extraction in whose eyes Norwegian culpability in the slave trade is treated as an isolated compartmentalized historical event dislocated from contemporary antiracist struggles and the racial microaggressions of the everyday that are left unaddressed.
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spelling doaj-art-3c367b848dda4b098bccbce9018588732025-08-20T03:44:07ZengTaylor & Francis GroupCogent Social Sciences2331-18862024-12-0110110.1080/23311886.2024.2331418Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for educationPaul Thomas0Jocelyne Von Hof1Institute of Pedagogy, Faculty of Humanities, Sports and Educational Science, Department of Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, NorwayInstitute of Pedagogy, Department of Educational Science, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, NorwayThis study explored the Norwegian media’s coverage (2015-2022) of the discovery of the wreck of a slave ship in 1974 and how this coverage related to contemporary antiracist issues such as Black Lives Matter, the Rhodes Must Fall movement, and the murder of George Floyd. A content analysis was applied to 16 of a total of 24 newspaper articles (online and print versions) informed by critical discourse analysis and tenets of critical race theory. Findings indicate that the overarching objective appears to be documenting the facticity of the Danish-Norwegian slave trade, with a particular focus on the significant role played by Norwegians. The journalists assume the role of archaeologists in making a historical inventory of this epoch. It is argued that, while the above is laudable given the miasma of ignorance surrounding the role of Norwegians in the slave trade, the coverage fails to take cognizance of the over 11% of black and brown Norwegians of African and Asian extraction in whose eyes Norwegian culpability in the slave trade is treated as an isolated compartmentalized historical event dislocated from contemporary antiracist struggles and the racial microaggressions of the everyday that are left unaddressed.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2331418Danish-Norwegian slave trademediacontent analysiscritical discourse analysiscritical race theoryGrace Spencer, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
spellingShingle Paul Thomas
Jocelyne Von Hof
Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
Cogent Social Sciences
Danish-Norwegian slave trade
media
content analysis
critical discourse analysis
critical race theory
Grace Spencer, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
title Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
title_full Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
title_fullStr Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
title_full_unstemmed Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
title_short Norway’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade: a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
title_sort norway s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade a discourse analysis of media coverage and implications for education
topic Danish-Norwegian slave trade
media
content analysis
critical discourse analysis
critical race theory
Grace Spencer, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23311886.2024.2331418
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