ABSTRACT

In the early twentieth century, intense public debate was taking place in Sweden around the control of alcohol consumption. Under intense pressure from the growing temperance movement, the Swedish government passed a motion to hold a referendum on 27 August 1922 to determine whether a total prohibition of alcohol should be implemented. One of the most important means of influencing public opinions was the propaganda poster, which relied on simple pictures, catchy slogans and bright colours to domesticate the prohibition debate and make it easily digestible. This paper conducts a study of the posters produced by the ‘yes’ and ‘no’ campaigns during the lead-up to the referendum. It finds that, despite their opposing arguments, both sides used similar arguments based around the breakdown of family life and the breakdown of Swedish society, depicting an imagined present or future in which Sweden was lawless and traditional values were threatened. Furthermore, both sides stirred up class warfare, creating conflict between the Swedish people and the government, and depicting alcoholism as a predominantly male, working-class problem. Overall, it argues that the ‘no’ campaign posters were ultimately more successful because of their ability to play on voters’ emotions rather than use rational arguments.

摘要

二十世纪初，瑞典就控制饮酒展开了激烈的公开辩论。在节制运动日益壮大的巨大压力下，瑞典政府通过了一项动议，于 1922 年 8 月 27 日举行全民公决，以确定是否应实施全面禁酒。影响公众舆论的最重要手段之一是宣传海报，它依靠简单的图片、朗朗上口的标语和鲜艳的色彩来驯化禁酒辩论并使其易于消化。本文对公投前“赞成”和“反对”运动制作的海报进行了研究。它发现，尽管他们的论点相反，但双方都基于家庭生活的崩溃和瑞典社会的崩溃使用了相似的论点，描绘了瑞典无法无天、传统价值观受到威胁的想象中的现在或未来。此外，双方都激起了阶级斗争，在瑞典人民和政府之间制造了冲突，并将酗酒描绘成一个主要是男性的工人阶级问题。总的来说，它认为“不”竞选海报最终更成功，因为它们能够利用选民的情绪而不是使用理性论据。