Jorden är vår arvedel : Landsbygden i svensk spelfilm 1940-1959

Sammanfattning: This study portrays one of the most important genres in Swedish film history,yet relatively unknown to today's film historians. The films about the countryside and the life,people and traditions of that particular milieu reached a peak in popularity in the years immediately after WW II followed by a somewhat small renaissance in the middle of the 1950's.But the genre is as old as the history of Swedish film itself and its roots can be traced back in Swedish literature and pictorial arts as shown in chapter three,Facts are given about the general organization of Swedish film prodduction as well as about the films covered by this study.The second half of the study is a thematic analysis of the films.This is done with reference to a long and persistent ideological tradition,"agrarian romanticism",which can be traced back to the end of the 19th century.In this the peasant is regarded as the most noble man and the very core of the society,a view that is expressed by most films in this genre in various ways.The fundamental themes include the following:the importance of preserving the inherited earth within the family and the peasant class thus safeguarding the society as a wholejthe stigmatization of various vagrant people as threats to this society;and finally the sharp distinction between the virtues of the countryside and the evils of the city.Finally there is a discussion of the importance of nature in these films,which is another important link back to the romantic tradition of the 19th century.The concluding chapter is a brief summary of the genre in the last decades,including its role in the field of contemporary television.