History in Popular Magazines: Negotiating Masculinities, the Low of the Popular and the High of History

Abstract

This article explores how the low of the popular and the high of history intersect to negotiate masculinities in the nexus of politics and war in a Swedish history magazine. It investigates the content of the magazine’s form and argues that it produces a kaleidoscopic take on the past which begs the reader to go along with the ads to buy another book, travel to one more historical site, buy a DVD or go to the movies, to turn the page, or to buy another issue of the magazine. Two articles, biographical in their outset, provide the basis for an analysis on how masculinities are negotiated by displaying political and military leaders in contradictory ways and enabling multiple entrance points for the contemporary reader and spectator. Articles on great men produce cultural imaginaries of warlords and political leaders by drawing on layers of historically contingent ways for men to act in public and private spheres and connecting late modern visual celebrity culture to the cults of fame in earlier centuries.

‘Shameful histories’ – shame and sex perceived by secondary school students in history education

“…Another aspect highlighted in previous research is that norms are different for men and women; men are often seen as autonomous whereas women are understood in relation to men and family, without the same agency as men (Bareket et al, 2018;Christianson et al, 2021;Conrad, 2006;Cruz, 2021;Kahalon et al, 2019;Sultana, 2012). Previous research within the field of history education concerning gender and sexuality suggests that similar constructions of patriarchy and views of roles for men and women are present (Axelsson, 2012;Boyd, 2019;Chiponda and Wassermann, 2011;Daybell et al, 2020;Fine-Meyer and Llewellyn, 2018;Frederickson, 2004;Levstik, 2015;Smith Crocco, 2018).…”

The Routledge Handbook of Museums, Media and Communication

“…The story also ties into a 19th-century model for the national history of kings and battles, a genre that in recent years has gained a new readership through popular history magazines and best-selling books (Axelsson, 2012). During the national romantic era, in Sweden, Gustav II Adolf was celebrated as a war hero and still is in some circles.…”