The present study focuses on memory work in school textbook illustrations of the Finnish Civil War (1918). A thematic narrative analysis shows how the content and meanings conveyed through visual narratives have developed in the past century. Besides changes in specific narrative, the interpretation of the functions of themes shows a gradual change in the schematic narrative template: the hegemonic, victor’s narrative has been gradually replaced with alternative accounts since the 1950s. The defeated side has been represented in school textbooks since the 1950s, and since the 1990s, the narrative has evolved from pointing out the similarities between the two sides to arousing emotions of sympathy for the victims of the War. Since the 2000s, visual images have been used to highlight multi-perspectivity in history. This study shows how the cultural trauma and reconciliation process has been conveyed in educational material and how the narrative templates may dynamically change.

The present article focuses on the image of Finland in the National Geographic Magazine between 1905 and 2013. The study contributes to the research on national images by answering the following questions: a) how are Finland and the Finns represented in the photojournalist articles in the magazine, b) how has the image of Finland changed over the decades, and c) what kind of cultural, social, and political meanings are conveyed through the image(s)? The research material consists of 37 English written articles including in total 250 photographs and other images. The results show four overlapping but still distinctive phases in the thematic transformation of the image: Finland as a part of the diverse Russian Empire, Finland as a progressive but traditional European nation, Finland as the opposite to the Soviet Union, and Finland as a country of wild nature. The findings are discussed in light of the previous national image research.