Author: Isabell Sandahl

Title: The man, the myth, the legend – he who everyone has heard, but no one knows about

Under title: A discourse analysis of Johnny Bode´s memory

Pages: 30

Key Words: Johnny Bode, Discourse analysis, Johnny Bode Appreciation Society

Johnny Bode (1912 – 1983) was a Swedish singer and composer who lived a very scandalous life, where norm breaking, and crime played a big part. Bodes biggest scandal took place during the second world war, when he traveled to Norway, during the occupation, and worked for the Nazi regime. 

Since Bode was a public person and a man who constantly drew a lot of attention to him, the media often wrote about him during his career. However, after his stay in Norway, Bode became pariah in Sweden and the writing about him ceased. About 30 years later, Bode died almost totally forgotten. 

There are several biographies about Johnny Bode´s life and there is one research report that goes through his life. Something that does not exist however is an overview about what was being said about him during different periods of time. 

The purpose with this essay is to go through what was has been said about Bode between 1983 – 1987, and between 2009 – 2023, while then compare these periods. This will be done by discourse theory and discourse analysis. Since discourse theory is a very wide theory, a discussion about how discourse should be defined in this essay, will also take place.

The material that is used in this essay are mainly articles from various newspapers in Sweden, as well as the Johnny Bode Appreciation Society and the book Swedish swindlers and cheaters (Svenska svindlare och fuskare) written by Fredrik Kullberg.

The results shows that the parts of Bode´s life that where presented between 1983 – 1987 were the fact that he was a forgotten celebrity, his stay in Norway and his LP disc The brothel mother´s songs (Bordellmammas visor), while the parts of Bode´s life that where presented between 2009 – 2023 was mainly his scandalous life story and his title as the Father of the Genitalia rock.