Constructing Polar Heroism and National Myth-Making in Norwegian Sheet Music Covers: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

This paper provides the first systematic analysis of polar-themed sheet music covers depicting Norway’s celebrated explorers, Fridtjof Nansen and Roald Amundsen, using multimodal critical discourse analysis to examine how visual and stylistic choices shaped national myth-making. It identifies the recurring visual grammar of this genre, examines how these conventions evolved from 1888 to 1930 to reflect shifting national priorities and shows how sheet music contributed to the mediatization of the explorer-hero. The findings reveal that, while both Nansen and Amundsen covers draw on a shared visual language of heroism, they function as imaginative spaces for changing national ideologies. Nansen is primarily depicted as a romanticized, multi-dimensional explorer defined by athleticism, intellectualism and comradeship, mirroring Norway’s search for a national icon during its struggle for independence. Amundsen is largely presented as a solitary, self-reliant explorer with calculated expertise, embodying the pragmatic ambitions and modern identity of a newly sovereign nation. These findings invite a re-evaluation of sheet music’s role in shaping cultural memory, national pride and popular understandings of heroism. They also nuance our understanding of how visual/popular media actively contributed to the public imagination of explorers, turning their individual feats into shared cultural myths that circulate across time and space.