"Regional Conflicts: From the Merchant's House to the People's Home"

In English This article is an analysis of the Swedish feature film "Brita i grosshandlarhuset" from 1946 about a poor girl that moves to the city finding employment as a maid in the house of a rich merchant. Here I examine the compromises - in terms of constructions of class and gender - that paved the way for a new narrative, with the progression of imagery from, so to speak, the symbol of the merchant house to the metaphor of the "Folkhem". In special focus stands the relation between city and country side.