Representing War : Swedish Neutrality, Media Specificity and the Censorship of World War I Films

Abstract: During World War I, war films became an important part of Swedish cinema programs. Newsreels as well as war related fiction films from the different battling nations were distributed to film theaters around the country. With these new films, the recently established censorship bureau also got new duties to consider. Aside from protecting public moral and the youth, the censors were now expected to uphold the Swedish neutrality policy in the domain of cinema. Material sensitive for diplomatic relations or potentially politically arousing for the audience was removed or edited. There were several reasons as to why cinema was singled out as the most important medium to control during these sensitive times. The authentic aura of moving images together with a fear of the reactions of mass audiences made the risk of biased propaganda seem greater. This thesis analyzes the complex web of relations between Swedish neutrality, media specificity discourse and censorship of World War I films. Examples of censorship of both newsreels and fiction films are discussed in relation to media specificity discourse in trade journals and daily newspapers of the time.