The main purpose of this study is to show how narrative can be understood as cultural practice, how it can be said to function both internally and externally, and to ask questions about how the narrating subject, through the organizing of narrative, positions it self and mediates between the different discoursive contexts of which it is a part. This is done by an analisys of how six swedish soldiers tells the tale of how they came to choose a military carrer and why they have served or want to serve in peace-keeping missions abroad. The source material is primarily collected through unstructured interviews with theese soldiers, but also through textual analysis of a soldier blog. Theoretically the study draws on a combination of the discourse theory of Michel Foucault, narrative theory, Richard Jenkins theory of the internal-external dialectic of identifikation and intersectionality to construct a framework that allows the narratives to be deconstructed and understood as discoursive products of both the military contexts as such and the larger cultrual context that surrounds it. The conclusions of this study suggests that the organizing of soldier narratives are a complex and multifaceted process, in which the soliders must balance between the ideals, values and norms of the military context while also taking into account how society at large views and interprets the practices and forms of military life.

Many perceive a boom in nostalgia and what is retro, especially within the marketing discipline. This thesis studies how nostalgia functions in the advertising context and aims to shed light on which effects there are from nostalgia evoking communication, what connections there are with other important factors as well as aspires to develop the understanding of the underlying psychological aspects and the emotional bonds to events (as nostalgia evoking stimuli in the thesis), which pave the ground for nostalgic emotions. Point of origin has been classical measures of communication effects and models of connections and causality and to these important factors have been added. Results show clear connections and correlations between nostalgia and positive communication effects, even with control for other factors that may interfere. However, the results show that some factors have moderating effects that should be important to take into consideration, namely how well the brand and the event in the ad are perceived to fit the advertising context.

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to the field ofinformation politics, in the areas of the future regulationof The Fundamental Law on Freedom of Expression andThe Freedom of the Press Act. The focus of the study is todiscursively examine how ideas and perspectives ontechnological developments are expressed in a pendingSwedish legislative proposal. The empirical data consistsof an interim government report, SOU 2010:68, writtenby Yttrandefrihetskommittén (Committee on Freedom ofExpression) and analysed using Norman Fairclough'sCritical Discourse Analysis. The analysis is conducted onthree levels: a textual level, a discursive practice level anda social practice level.On the textual level we found that the committeecontinously uses significantly charged expressions todescribe technological development. On the discursivepractice level two discourses were identified.

Many perceive a boom in nostalgia and what is retro, especially within the marketing discipline. This thesis studies how nostalgia functions in the advertising context and aims to shed light on which effects there are from nostalgia evoking communication, what connections there are with other important factors as well as aspires to develop the understanding of the underlying psychological aspects and the emotional bonds to events (as nostalgia evoking stimuli in the thesis), which pave the ground for nostalgic emotions. Point of origin has been classical measures of communication effects and models of connections and causality and to these important factors have been added. Results show clear connections and correlations between nostalgia and positive communication effects, even with control for other factors that may interfere. However, the results show that some factors have moderating effects that should be important to take into consideration, namely how well the brand and the event in the ad are perceived to fit the advertising context.

The aim of this study is to analyse the sexual power relations in contemporary urban novels of Swedish female writers.I have identified a discourse in these novels as a heteronormative matrix which power is ruled by norms and assumptions about normality in both the heterosexual and lesbian stories. For this purpose I have related to Ivar B. Neumanns theory that individuals always find a way to confront the discourse by three different strategies. These strategies are used in my study as tools to organise these novels, because it is possible to see that the protagonists find at least one of these strategy?s to her protest.The first strategy I studied was the docile.

This thesis examines the way that subversivity is produced in relation to the name of the author, as understood by Foucault, and what potential for ressistance that can be glimpsed there. This from the reading of three text that in different ways relate to that theme.Firstly, throught the reading of "Isis mamma a?r genusvetare, skribent och konstna?r, min mamma a?r f.d. sta?derska, kokerska och dagisfro?ken, numera fo?rtidspensiona?r med diagnosen fibromyalgi" by Lidija Praizovic?, a text that actively work with the internal production of different exteriorities.

Syftet med detta arbete är att försöka få en bild av vad det var som gjorde att kursen Estetisk verksamhet ansågs viktig nog att bli ett kärnämne 1994, och varför den inte längre ansågs viktig och togs bort 2011. Med hjälp av kritisk diskursanalys undersöks argument för och emot kursen som de förs fram i texter från regering, riksdag och media vid dessa tidpunkter, med betoning på vad dessa säger om kursens status och position i gymnasiet och i den skolpolitiska debatten. Studien visar att när Estetisk verksamhet infördes 1994 var det för att låta eleverna uppleva och själva skapa, baserat i en humanistisk diskurs. När kursen togs bort 2011 var det för att andra ämnen ansågs behöva mer utrymme för att ge eleverna en tydligare yrkes- eller högskoleförberedande utbildning, baserat i en marknadsekonomisk diskurs. Fokus för vad som var viktigt i gymnasieskolan skiftade under de sjutton år som gått däremellan, och i den nya läroplanens inriktning på nyttobaserad utbildning fick inte Estetisk verksamhet plats. Den skolpolistiska synen på kunskap förändrades från en demokratisk tanke om att ge alla samma möjligheter, till ett differentierat ideal där individens kunskap ska vara mätbar och samhällsnyttig. .

This essay analyses text written by a gender equality movement critical of feminism. Themovement is active on the Internet and through this essay I would like to show the tensions in contemporary political debates on gender equality and feminism. 350 blogposts have been deconstructed through discourse theoretical method. In the analyses I have shown the discursive struggle that is going on within the movement in giving meaning to concepts as knowledge, society, gender, politics, feminism and gender equality. The movement is using the technical potential in blogs and common Internet forums tocreate a common political we.

This study demonstrates how norms and ideals about sexuality and gender expression are used in the TV-show The Walking Dead. An intermediate study is made on the comic books? two same sex couples as they are compared to how they are represented in the TV-show. Tara Chambler and Alisha, a same sex couple who only exist in the TV-show, not in the comic books, are also analysed. Queer theory and an intersectional perspective are used to discover how different power asymmetries are connected to each other through an active interplay.

This Masters thesis is concerned with the complex planning process of setting up a citizen bureau in a public library. The aim is to find out how citizen bureaux are designed and to suggest a simplified model of strategic planning. The planning process is studied from a business perspective in the library context, and this perspective is also used to study citizen bureaux and their written plans elsewhere. A combination of qualitative methods are used: observations, focus group discussions and interviews. Observations in the public library showed a great need for an environmental analysis as well as structure to the planning process.

The aim of this thesis is to examine discourses about the user category young people in two well-established Swedish library journals between the years 2005 and 2010.The empirical material consists of 65 texts derived from the library journals Biblioteksbladet and Bibliotek i samhälle. By using discourse theory and methodology I discover several different ways in which young people are categorized in the library context. As a complementary theory I have analyzed the material from an intersectional perspective. The result shows that young people most of the times are defined by adults. Several characteristics such as creativity, interest in modern technology, messiness and need for support are repeated in the descriptions of the young, suggesting that there is clear idea of how young people are.

In this study we have analysed from an intersectional perspective two textbooks Historia 1b and Progress Gold A which are purposed to be used as teaching material in Swedish schools in the subjects of History and English. Our question and reason for doing the analysis is to emphasise and make the variety of women in the books visible in order to compare that variety to the one that is demanded by the Swedish curriculum. The analysis is made from an ideology critical perspective and contains quantitative elements. Our conclusion is that the material contains both excluding and including features. Some intersectional categories are well represented while others, like functionality and religion, are not.

The aim of this study is to examine the significance of having a music department at the public library in Enköping, and how the organization of the phonograms is handled. The different areas examined are the reason of the reintroduction of a music department, its budget, its users, the work with selection, the marketing, statistical data concerning loans, the work with classification, indexing, and organization of the phonograms and the future of the music department. The empirical material consists of qualitative interviews with staff connected to the music department at the public library in Enköping. For the theoretical frame, Sanna Taljas discourse analysis of music libraries in Finland is used. Talja presents three discourses which all show different views on what kind of material a music library should contain.

This paper examines the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladets conception of the phenomenon ADHD. The essay regards the language that is used (and the values reflected in it) as a sort of mirror where the public opinion is expressed, established and put forward. Being such a constructive factor in the creation of the phenomenon, the language is considered of big importance and therefore this essay is using a discourse-analytic approach to the problem.The aim of the essay is to achieve a discourse-analytic understanding of Aftonbladets ADHD publications. This paper reaches the conclusion that in Aftonbladet, ADHD is put forward as something extraordinary, not normal and unusual, which results in the subject-positions ?Unwanted?, ?Disabled? and ?Function beneficial?.

This study treats cultural policy, it´s view of the value of literature, and how this view varies within different fields of cultural policy. The aim of the essay is to find different competing approaches through an investigation of texts from three different fields within cultural policy. The fields investigated are: The publishing subsidy of the National Council for Cultural Affairs, which values above all quality literature. En bok för alla, concentrates on spreading quality literature to new groups in society. Centrum för lättläst, which values that the contents of a text are successfully delivered to, and understood by, the reader.