| dc.description.abstract | The overall theme of this thesis is how everyday words and formulations can be effective components in the creation and maintenance of national identities. The thesis explores the everyday and almost invisible markers of the national, i.e. statements and formulations which function as constant reminders of a nation, and a national identity. This is done through an analysis of Norwegian archaeological texts examining the Viking Age written between the beginning of the 20th century and the present day. The aim of the thesis is to analyse if a connection between the Viking Age and a Norwegian national identity can be traced in Norwegian archaeological literature. More specifically, the thesis examines if, and in what way, Norwegian archaeological texts assign the Vikings and elements from the Viking Age a Norwegian identity. With the theoretical viewpoint of social constructivism, the thesis argues that our perceptions of identity and the nation are social constructions, and that our perceptions of reality only receive meaning through discourse. On this background, it is emphasised how knowledge is conveyed through language, and how some statements get accepted as meaningful and true in a given historical period. Hence, the thesis examines how some statements continuously get reproduced in the discourse, and in this way are regarded as truths. The aim is thus to analyse how a national identity discourse is created and maintained in archaeological texts examining the Viking Age. | eng |