Kent’s Sweden, or what a rock band can tell us about a nation OLA JOHANSSON Johansson, Ola (2013). Kent’s Sweden, or what a rock band can tell us about a nation. Fennia 191: 1, pp. 40-57. Helsinki. ISSN 798-5617. The Swedish rock band Kent is not only the most popular band in Sweden, but also perceived as quintessentially Swedish. Using the notion of “everyday na- tionalism” I argue that Kent both represent and actively shape contemporary Swedish national identity co-constitutively with their audience. Three themes are particularly important to understand this Swedishness. Firstly, the band was formed in the city of Eskilstuna but relocated to Stockholm, which illustrates a Swedish journey through class and space. Secondly, Kent interrogates a series of national myths in their songs. They do so using spatial and environmental meta- phors that can be conceptualized as different landscapes − inner, urban, and winter landscapes − representing Sweden. Thirdly, Kent also construct a “public landscape” that reflects on changes in Swedish society, including neoliberal and anti-immigrant tendencies. Keywords: music geography, Sweden, Kent, national identity, everyday national- ism, media analysis Ola Johansson, Department of Geography, University of Pittsburgh at Johns- town, 450 Schoolhouse Road, Johnstown, PA 15904, United States. E-mail:
[email protected]. Introduction What is it about Kent that makes them so purport- edly Swedish? These are significant questions be- Music can communicate a great deal about the cause popular music is a major cultural phenom- culture and society that it comes from. This is the enon. An analysis of Kent’s music offers a unique case with the contemporary Swedish rock band lens through which national identity and spatial Kent.