The body of the queen and the prize of science

Abstract

This article investigates the relationship between science and nation, class and gender in the televised Nobel Banquet, held after the Nobel Prize ceremony. The representation of the body of the Swedish Queen is used as a lens through which to view intersectional power dimensions. Drawing on cultural, media and gender studies, this article examines the mediated persona of the Queen in the televised Nobel Banquet via contextualized textual analysis. The article suggests that the purpose of the Nobel Foundation in inviting the royals is to enhance the social status of science. But it is the Queen who has received more TV time than anyone else—scientist or royalty—since her TV debut in 1976. How can the camera focus on her silent body be interpreted in relation to science? This article suggests that the meaning of the Queen’s body also implies certain understandings of central power dimensions. The body of the Queen signifies that gender, heterosexuality, class affiliation, nationality, and race are important and normative factors in scientific discourse. At the Nobel Banquet, the representation of her body identifies science as associated with the heterosexual, white elites, and reproduces a traditional, ideal femininity.

Keywords:

• Nobel Prize
• television
• royals
• science
• gender
• media

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank the two excellent peer reviewers and the editor, Cynthia Carter, who contributed to making this article so much better. This article is part of a project titled “The Prize of Science: The Science and Media Interface in the Televised Nobel Banquet,” financed by the Riksbankens jubileumsfond: The Swedish foundation for humanities and social sciences.

Notes

1. The Nobel Prize in Literature and the Nobel Peace Prize have different, nonscientific profiles, while the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel was instituted in 1968. My focus is here on the science prizes.

2. The televised Nobel Banquet is the part of the Nobel broadcasts with the largest audience. With an average audience of 1.2 million viewers (out of 9.6 million Swedes), it is by far the most popular part of the whole Nobel Day; almost twice as many as watch the prize ceremony itself.

3. See Ganetz (2015), where the similarities between the Nobel Banquet and the Oscar show are discussed; for example, the focus on celebrities, elements of surprise, and fashion. Both events take up a large slot in the TV schedule, are symbolic rituals, are dominated by white men, are global events, and will bring financial gain for prize winners (see Emanuel Levy 2003).

4. Queen Silvia’s facial surgeries are vividly discussed in social forums on the Internet. For example, at the community Flashback, in September 2015 the discussion about her, including her facial surgeries, covered 185 pages.