How IKEA's Founder Exported a Certain Image of Sweden–from Frugality to 『Fika』
宜家創始人如何輸出瑞典的某種形象——從節儉到fika
Cecilia Cassinger 塞西莉婭·卡辛格
weden is trending right now， with cultural concepts such as 「lagom」 （just enough） and「fika」 （coffee break） selling everything from books to fashion. The nation is often seen as a social democratic model country， where people are egalitarian，wealthy and happy. As Ingvar Kamprad， the founder of the Swedish multinational furniture retailer IKEA，recently passed away， it is interesting to reflect on how he and IKEA may have contributed to exporting this image.
Take a look in any IKEA shop， and you'll notice you are surrounded with Swedishness. The logo is in the colours of the Swedish flag. The pieces of furniture all have Swedish names and the canteen boasts a number of Swedish delicacies. But the company also sells more subtle narratives about Sweden.
In fact， for almost three decades IKEA has strategically commodified Swedish cultural concepts， symbols and political ideas and exported them across the world. 「To visit IKEA is to visit Sweden，」 as a former director general of the Swedish Institute once stated.
Kamprad was a contradictory character – frugal，friendly and modest but also an alcoholic with past links to fascism. While we can't know exactly what his legacy will be， the myth surrounding him has secured him immortal fame in Sweden， where he started his business in the mid-20th century.
His early life is portrayed by IKEA as years of hardship circumvented by the innovation of a thrifty boy. He is forever engraved in the company's name， which is composed by Kamprad's initials （「IK」） and the first letters of the remote farm （Elmtaryd） respectively small village where he grew up （Agunnaryd）.
Many Swedes are proud of IKEA， which currently has 300 stores in 38 countries. Like a number of other companies，IKEA uses Swedish culture as part of its marketing stra-
tegy. The company tells stories about Sweden that Swedes as well as non-Swedes recognise and identify with.
The story of Kamprad is even told on the official website of Sweden to promote the image of the country internationally. IKEA here becomes a symbol of what political scientist Benedict Anderson called an 「imagined community」， referring to nations as collective social constructions situated in particular histories and geographies.
The story of Kamprad as a self-made businessman fits the image of Sweden as an entrepreneurial nation in a new economy focused on innovation and small， knowledge intensive firms.
The story is quite conventional and follows the universal storytelling pattern of the 「monomyth」 in narrative mythology， in which a hero reluctantly sets out on an adventure and is forced to go through a series of trials before he can return home with the sacred objects. A central theme in the story of Kamprad， as IKEA tells it，is that of the heroic entrepreneur who overcomes obstacles posed by the market through hard work.
The theme of hard work underpins a crucial aspect of IKEA's business model: the DIY concept. Every time a consumer enters into an IKEA shop， she or he enacts the hero's journey by way of collecting， carrying， transporting and assembling furniture and products. By putting the consumer to work in the shop，IKEA also underscores an important characteristic of the highly secularised albeit Protestant Swedish culture， namely that one needs to deserve achievements: success relies on frugality. In assembling the furniture by hand，the consumer partakes in a kind of ritual celebration of hard work.
IKEA's take on DIY and selling affordable products to the masses are also linked to yet another well-known concept in Swedish culture， 「Folkhemmet」， which literally means the 「home of the people」. This was a social democratic political vision of the good society –in which everyone is treated as an equal and has access to general welfare.
瑞典眼下很時髦，lagom（不多不少剛剛好）和fika（咖啡時間）這些文化概念使從書籍到時尚等一切瑞典貨暢銷。這個國度常常被看作社會民主的樣板國，那裡的人們平等、富裕、幸福。瑞典跨國家具零售公司宜家的創始人英瓦爾·坎普拉德最近去世，此刻思考他和宜家如何促進這種形象的輸出是一件有意思的事情。
隨便去哪個宜家門店看上一眼，你都會注意到周遭的瑞典風格。宜家的標誌是瑞典國旗的顏色。所有家具都有瑞典名字，餐廳則提供各種瑞典美食。但是，這家公司也銷售更微妙的瑞典故事。
事實上，近30年來，宜家一直在戰略性地把瑞典的文化概念、標誌象徵和政治理念商品化並出口到世界各地。正如瑞典對外交流委員會一位前主任曾經說的：「去宜家就是去瑞典。」
坎普拉德是一個矛盾的人物——節儉，友好，謙遜，但也是個酒鬼，而且曾經和法西斯有染。我們雖然不能確定他到底會留下什麼遺產，圍繞他的神話卻使他在瑞典聲名不朽：他20世紀中期開始在這裡創業。
按照宜家的描述，他的早年充滿艱辛，但這個節儉的少年憑著發明創新克服了這些困難。他永遠銘刻在公司名稱裡：宜家由他的姓名首字母IK以及他長大的偏遠農場和小村的首字母（EA）組成。
很多瑞典人為宜家感到自豪，這家公司目前在38個國家有300個商店。像其他很多公司一樣，宜家把瑞典文化用作營銷戰略之一。宜家講述的瑞典故事無論是瑞典人還是外國人都能認可並產生共鳴。
坎普拉德的故事甚至放在瑞典官網上用來向全球宣傳瑞典的形象。這樣，宜家就成為政治學家貝尼迪克特·安德森所說的一個「想像的共同體」的象徵，這裡的「想像的共同體」指的是把國家作為處於特定歷史和地理位置的集體社會概念。
坎普拉德白手起家的故事符合瑞典的形象：一個重視創新和小型知識密集型公司的富於創業精神的國度。
他的故事相當傳統，遵循敘事體神話中「單一神話」的普遍敘述模式，即英雄不情願地踏上冒險之旅，被迫經歷一系列考驗，然後帶著聖物返回故鄉。按照宜家的描述，坎普拉德人生故事的一個核心主題是，英勇的創業家通過奮鬥克服市場構成的各種障礙。
奮鬥這個主題支撐著宜家商業模式的一個關鍵方面：自己動手的理念。消費者每進入一家宜家商店，她或他都通過提取、搬運和組裝家具及產品上演了英雄的旅程。通過讓消費者自己勞動，宜家也強調了高度世俗化但新教的瑞典文化的一個重要特徵，也就是你需要配得上自己的成就：成功依賴節儉。通過自己動手組裝家具，消費者就在參與讚美奮鬥的某種儀式。
宜家對自己動手和向大眾銷售便宜產品的觀點也與瑞典文化中另一個著名概念Folkhemmet有關：這個詞的字面意思是「人們的家」。這是社會民主派對良好社會的政治願景：在這個社會裡，人人都被平等相待，都可以享受普遍的福利。（趙菲菲譯自澳大利亞「對話」網站2月1日文章）