Fascist conspiracy or communist provocation? – Analysis of the newspapers' discussion on the 1977 arson strike against printing house Kursiivi

Abstract

Neo-Nazi Pekka Siitoin led a far-right organization Patriotic Popular Front in Finland during the 1970s. At that time, the organization was an exceptional figure among the political and criminal movements in Finland. The most serious crime was the arson strike against the communist printing house Kursiivi in 1977. This article focuses on how this arson strike was discussed in the public debate. The research question is: How did the newspapers define the arson of the printing house Kursiivi and/or the discussion related to it, and what motives were involved in the definition of the different parties? The data consists of the communist Tiedonantaja newspaper, which was printed in the Kursiivi, the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, and the right-wing Uusi Suomi newspaper. The review period is from 27th November 1977 to 31st January 1978. The method of this paper is critical discourse analysis with the use of social constructivism. The data shows that the definitional struggle of Kursiivi handling of arson focused on the discourse of fascism and the discourses opposing it, which caused alternative discourses to remain in the minority. Political starting points influenced the use of discourses in dealing with arson.