Kuninganna Elizabeth II Eesti visiidiga seotud representatsioonid trükiajakirjanduses
Date
2007
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
The aim of the thesis was to examine the representations reported in the press
connected to the visit of Queen Elizabeth II from October 19-20 2006. Three major
daily newspapers were analysed: Postimees, Eesti Päevaleht and SL Õhtuleht. The
random sample consisted of 106 articles which were published 2 weeks before the visit
and one week after the Queen’s departure. Both qualitative and quantitative
approaches were used as a method of analysing.
More precisely, an overview of the topics that were emphasized covering the visit and
which emotions were therefore expressed was given, along with the characterizations
of the visitor and the Estonians who welcomed her, specially the President and his
wife; and who were constructing the general picture in the newspapers. In addition, it
was possible to analyse the collective self of Estonians – which role was assigned to
Estonians during the visit through which topics and valuations. Also, the values, which
showed the meaning attributed to the visit as a whole, were added to the analasys.
The results of the conducted survey show that the visit of the Queen Elizabeth II did
not raise many social or political questions in the press, excluding the statements
related to foreign affairs. The visitor and her official duties remained to be the main
topic. Internal security, cultural and the international etiquette associated questions
were raised by the press.
In general, the visitor recieved a positive representation from the inquired newspapers.
The representations in Postimees and Eesti Päevaleht viewed the visitor from the angle
of the queen known from fairy tales. The general sense from the articles was that the
newspaper staff and the people, who went out to the streets to greet the Queen, saw her
as a mythical character.
The president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, and his wife, Evelin Ilves, were not regarded for
much press coverage neither by Postimees nor Eesti Päevaleht. Neither of them was
used as spokesperson in articles and they only appeared on the official photos with the
Queen. On this matter, SL Õhtuleht clearly contradicted others by considering the
president and his wife worthy of the front page and several focus stories. The topic was
their behaviour and the unsuitability of their clothing according to the international
etiquette.
The negative picture coming from the scolding of the President and his wife developes
into Estonians’ collective self on the pages of SL Õhtuleht. On the other hand, it is
balanced by the amount of positive values which show Estonians as the welcomers of
the visiting person and therefore an improtant nation on the world scale. But the
negative aspect dominates. The collective self of Estonians is mostly positive in
Postimees and Eesti Päevaleht. Estonians are generous, open and cultured people who
are visible in the world. The people among Estonians, to whom it was, for instance,
more or less obligatory to learn certain manners when meeting the monarch or just to
pass a flower bouquet, distinguished clearly from others. The Estonians’ inexperience
of welcoming important quests was revealed in their case. In the general Estonians’
collective self, considering all three newspapers, mainly positive values dominate.
To conclude, the similarities among the three newspapers, considering the
representation of the visit and its meaning, the queen and the Estonians’ collective self,
appeared between Postimees and Eesti Päevaleht. Among the three newspapers, the
largest differences appeared in the representations of SL Õhtuleht.
Earlier researches (e.g. Emor 2002, Nugin 2003, Hofstede 2001) showed that
Estonians are rather self-centered, which results from our individual type of society. In
the present paper the identity and collective self were considered as a constantly
changing process and the analasys of the collective self showed that the visit of the
Queen Elizabeth II was a strong indicator of the birth of Estonians’ collective self.
Also, the results generated the possibility to outline the basic directions of self-
determination.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General)