ABSTRACT
The growing influx of foreign goods, customs and ideas to eighteenth-century Sweden was intensively discussed in the public sphere at the time. The balance of trade, agricultural methods and free thinking were critical themes. However, the consequences of this influx were also discussed in relation to the household economy, the distribution of power in marriage, population growth and excessive consumption. Luxury was, as Maxine Berg and Elizabeth Eger put it, ‘the keyword of the period, a central term in the language of cultural transformation’ in eighteenth-century discourse. 2 During this period the traditional critique of luxury was challenged by more favourable opinions, as distinctions were made between old and new luxury, and the language of luxury became more nuanced. 3 In the European context, Sweden’s economy was less commercialised in the eighteenth century, and there were no large-scale engagements in global trade. Although the consumption of luxury goods was also advocated by a few social commentators in Sweden, concern about the consequences of changed consumption patterns dominated Swedish public debate throughout the century. 4 Luxury was – according to scholars studying both Swedish and European history – generally associated with women and femininity, and coupled with weakness, effeminacy and dangerous female desires. 5 At the same time, luxury and effeminacy were persistent themes in eighteenth-century discussions on masculinity. 6
