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READ MORE: Historians in heated dispute over TV4’s biggest investment “The Queens”
The series “The Queens” is not a conventional documentary, it is fast, fast and creative. Some sections take liberties with historical contexts. The experts who participate are not the usual and do not have the appearance that we are used to seeing on television. And Dick Harrison was not allowed to join.
Still, he has become a prominent figure in the debate about the series since the very first episode and quickly surpassed the discussion in his field: detailed experience. To later make it more difficult to talk about what is really important: the subversive potential of history programs.
Let me explain this in more detail, but first I will give a brief background from the perspective of a historian.
Personally, I have nothing against Harrison, or men in general (of course). But the issue that needs to be critically examined is the media space in which you are allowed to expand as an authority on the issue. How the story is told and who tells it. Harrison’s dominance reinforces the image of how a “historical expert” should look and behave: a pretentious older man who never trembles at the fist. What is allowed to excel in all fields except the most important of all: good scientific conversation.
READ MORE: “Ulrika Eleonora was not made queen in Uddevalla”
The media stipulates which are the results of the investigation with a sufficiently high status to be seen. A handful of historical editors (and yes, I think it matters that most of them are male) filter what research has made an impact over decades. It affects the expectations of students and the public about what the history course should contain in universities and schools. It affects the perception among colleagues about what is important research. These colleagues also constitute the expert councils that decide who will receive research funding for their ideas. If the media encourages more people, including more women, to present their historical knowledge, we may in fact get more and more bold investigative disclosures, without these ideas being filtered already in their infancy and dismissed as uninteresting.
The trend still goes back a few years towards a greater diversity of voices. Programs such as “Bildningspodden”, Historiskan magazine and P3 Historia provide space for large numbers of researchers to disseminate new research findings. However, this is a development that takes place primarily by adding votes, not through serious coverage of historical topics on SVT, P1, DN, or Svenska Dagbladet. Therefore, the “queens” fill a large and important void. I am proud to be part of this series of shows that has managed to attract a million viewers to get involved in the life of the queens. Through its public success, it will pave the way for more courageous and different companies.
Of course, we will discuss the content of “The Queens”. Harrison’s critique in essence can certainly be justified: there are always aspects of historical accounts to object to. What is strange in this case is rather the proportions and status of his criticism. I can only go inside and admit that my biggest moment on television was Christmas 1995 when, when I was twelve, I watched the BBC’s “Pride and Prejudice” with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. And that made me devour everything I found in the books about Jane Austen to find out more about her and the period in which she lived (and maybe it helped me to start researching on power, politics and gender in history) . But that doesn’t mean that I don’t understand that the 2020 TV audience wants a different direction.
The series has been welcomed by people who do not usually watch history programs. They are also probably looking for new authorities, amusing according to some, lamentable according to others. The series “The Queens” tells a story about women in power who do not apologize to themselves. Is that what it causes?
About the writer:
My Hellsing is a postdoctoral researcher in history at Uppsala University and one of the experts on TV4’s “The Queens.”
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