Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate inhabitants of Finland and their continuing efforts to narrate a national identity within the constraints imposed by discursive meanings of Finnish culture through the experience of sauna.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection comprised semi-structured interviews with Finnish local residents and entrepreneurs; these were supplemented with secondary data including books, articles, advertisements and documents referencing sauna in the context of Finland.

Findings

The analysis and interpretation by the authors show that the symbolic resource of sauna constitutes the legitimation of Finnish nation branding discourses at three levels: regulative, normative and cultural-cognitive; we label these sauna governance, communal identity creation and mythmaking, respectively.

Originality/value

The research contribution reveals that nation branding discourses are also forms of legitimation work. Finnish nation branding discourses are interwoven with sauna as the symbolic resource of “Finnishness” and become conduits for the expression of discursive meanings. This demonstrates that institutional legitimacy is an intrinsic aspect of the ways place branding discourses can be used as a mode of governance (i.e. a policy instrument).

中文翻译：

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桑拿精神：使芬兰地方品牌合法化

目的

本文的目的是调查芬兰居民以及他们通过桑拿体验在芬兰文化的话语意义所施加的限制下继续努力叙述民族身份的情况。

设计/方法/方法

数据收集包括对芬兰当地居民和企业家的半结构化访谈；这些补充了二手数据，包括在芬兰背景下引用桑拿的书籍、文章、广告和文件。

发现

作者的分析和解释表明，桑拿的象征资源在三个层面构成了芬兰民族品牌话语的合法性：规范性、规范性和文化认知；我们分别给这些桑拿管理、公共身份创造和神话制作贴上标签。

原创性/价值

研究贡献表明，国家品牌话语也是合法化工作的形式。芬兰民族品牌话语与桑拿作为“芬兰”的象征资源交织在一起，成为表达话语意义的渠道。这表明制度合法性是品牌话语可以用作治理模式（即政策工具）的方式的一个内在方面。