Going beyond colonialism? Historien om Grønland og Danmark (DR, 2022) – analysis of the docudrama series as a media text, compared with audience responses in Greenland

Abstract

In 2022, the Danish national public service broadcaster DR produced a television series commemorating the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the priest Hans Egede in Greenland in 1721, a traditional marker of the beginning of Danish colonisation. Called Historien om Grønland og Danmark (The history of Greenland and Denmark, DR 2022), the series traces the “felles historie” (shared history) of the two countries over four episodes, ending with Denmark’s granting of Home Rule status to Greenland in 1979. The series uses the successful docudrama format DR created for Historien om Danmark (The history of Denmark, DR 2017). As a docudrama, Historien om Grønland og Danmark combines traditional elements of documentary narrative, such as archive footage and interviews with expert witnesses, with historical scenes dramatised by Greenlandic and Danish actors. Danish and Greenlandic audiences are targeted with DR’s ultimate intended message: according to Lisbeth Langwadt, DR programme manager responsible for the series, the history is retold to “go beyond colonialism”. The series was co-produced with the national broadcasters of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Greenland, while DR subsequently licensed the Historien om… format to multiple European broadcasters.

This thesis takes two media studies approaches to DR's docudrama series Historien om Grønland og Danmark (2022). First, an analysis of the series shows how its representations of Greenlandic history, and the docudrama format, were designed to shape responses of audiences. Second, in Greenland, abductive research methods, grounded theory, and a public screening with discussion (plus a few one-to-one screenings/discussions), are used to gather audience responses to the series. In contrast to resident Danes and visitors to Greenland, Greenlanders actively responded to this series by using it to unlock personal memories as a means to affirm their Greenlandic identity. The dissonance between DR’s preferred readings, and the actual responses of Greenlanders, says much about DR’s intentions to “go beyond colonialism”.

The results are analysed using a conceptual framework of tools from media studies: audience response theory, uses and gratifications theory, and binary opposition. The methodologies of abductive research and grounded theory from social sciences are underpinned by ethical frameworks from Indigenous studies.

This examination of audience responses in Greenland, balanced against an exploration of DR’s intended readings of the series, will hopefully inspire new research concerning media representations of Greenlanders and other Inuit/Indigenous communities, particularly in documentaries. With Greenland a focus of international news in 2025, it is hoped this work will contribute to an understanding of broader media representations of Greenland, and their active, critical use by Greenlanders.

Keywords: Greenland, history, Historien om Grønland og Danmark (2022 television series), DR (Danish broadcaster), KNR (Greenlandic broadcaster), docudrama, media studies, audience reception theory, uses and gratifications theory, binary opposites, abductive research, grounded theory