This Masters thesis is a study of the truck-driver profession and their use of libraries located in gas-stations and restaurants along the highways in Sweden. The reason for this interest is the positive trend that has occurred concerning men without any university education and their reading-habits, that is due to their increased interest in listening to audio books. This challenges the general opinion that this group is not particularly interested in reading literature. Questions posed in this study are: How do the truck-drivers relate to the activity of reading literature, what part does the road-libraries play, and how can the services that the road-libraries offer be improved according to the truck-drivers. The method used in the study is interviews made by telephone.

The following study is a qualitative combination of textual analysis and interviews concerning the subject of slashfiction. Slash is a sub-category to fanfiction, which essentially means non-professionally authored short stories about already existing characters and environments, for example from TV-shows, movies or books. These stories are available on the internet. The main point is to pair two of the male characters together in a sexual relationship. According to previous studies, 90 percent of all fanfiction writers are female and this percentage is probably even higher when it comes to slash.I have looked into what these stories can be an expression of, by analyzing the construction of gender, sexuality and relationships using the following three questions:Is slash a quest for an ideal equal and romantic relationship?Do these stories represent a resistance against established norms regarding gender and sexuality?What role does transcendence of boundaries play in slash? I have used stories that are derived from the American TV show Supernatural, which generally try to explore the relationship between its protagonists, the brothers Sam and Dean Winchester.  The result gives a somewhat divided picture of slash, as some stories clearly break with traditional gender norms while others seem to uphold them..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine how six fantasynovels reflects or breaks the heteronormativity in society bylooking at how gender roles and sexuality are described.The theoretical framework is based on Judith Butler's theoryabout the heterosexual matrix which requires two separategenders and a compulsory heterosexuality and YvonneHirdman's two principles about dichotomy and hierarchy.The method used was idea analysis where dimensions basedon the theoretical framework were constructed. Thesedimensions were: behaviour, tasks, relationships and roles.The result shows that all of the books both breaks andreflects the society's values on gender and sexuality. Thereare some stereotypes present, for example that intuition isassociated with femininity and physical strength withmasculinity. However, the books also offer characters ofboth sexes that break the gender stereotypes, such asstrong women and emotional men.

This two years master?s thesis is about book circles for children, arranged by the public libraries in Sweden. The purpose is to gain knowledge about how children experience their participation in book circles, and how they experience their own reading. It focuses on children aged 10 to 12 years, and their leisure reading. The research questions are: What are the book circles? function for the participants? How and why do the children read? What kind of literature do they like? Do the children experience that their reading has developed through their participation in the book circles? What parts of the reading process do the book circles influence?The theoretical framework is threefold.

The aim of this master thesis is to show how the dissemination of scientific information took place and developed during the 19th century. The main focus is Lund University. Therefore I have formulated two questions: How did the five heads of the history department at Lund University publish their research findings in the 19th century? What factors in society influenced the scientific spreading of results in the 19th century? To assess the scientific reliability of the sources I have used a method based on source criticism and hermeneutics. The thesis covers important concepts such as the exchange of publications between the universities, commercium litterarium and Akademischer Tauschverein and also the development of Lund University yearbook.

This essay examines wether the prevailing opinion of Machiavelli as a prominent figure in political realism is correct or if the author is misinterpreted and can be said to represent something more. Thus, the puropse of this essay is to revise the description of Machiavelli given in widely used Swedish textbooks. This is done on the basis of a thesis saying that Machiavelli, judged not by his renowned book ?The Prince? (Fursten), but in the light of his extensive work ?Discourses? (Republiken), does not advocate a sovereign power but rather promote a pluralistic society. The method used in this essay is a qualitative textanalysis, which is done on the two books in purpose to examine three central themes in Machiavelli?s writing; the morality, the view on humanity and the state and citizen.

There are a huge number of books and articles written in the field of usability and about the art of giving the user the opportunity to find the information he is trying to reach while browsing the website. The writers of these books are handling guidelines that are recommended to be followed, as well as describing their own views, ideas and theories of the subject. We found an interest to research the different possibilities, if any, to develop a website optimal for the user from a usability point of view. Another thing we noticed was that a need of a substantial guidance existed in website development aimed for recently started companies.New theories and rules regarding usability, which are seen as superior to the old ones and therefore replaces them, is not created that often. This is different from other IT related subjects.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to investigate if the ideas of the realistic tale in Swedish literature for children can be identified by examining four books for children. The four books are all published between the years 1965 to 1975. The methods used to identify the ideas of the realistic tale are the concepts of alienation and antiestablishment. By using the theory of true and false consciousness represented by Diderichsen and the theory of Socialisation by Giddens, two questions are addressed. The questions are if the ideas of the realistic tale develop a true or a false consciousness.

The object of this study has been to establish how language is used to present and establish a person?s identity. The studied language usage is that of renowned author Selma Lagerlöf and the language studied is that of her personal correspondence. This language picture is placed alongside the public depiction of her and a comparison of sorts is made. The chosen method has been to study Lagerlöf?sprivate correspondence and to compare her language markers in those to the literature history?s picture of her.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether or not capitalism, viewed here as the system that is currently the dominant economic system in the Western world, can be seen as a modern myth or not. An author, Brian Tracy, of several popular self-help books is the target of this investigation and the language he uses in his books have been scrutinized in order to see whether or not he uses a religiously influenced, and more importantly, myth-creating language. In order to do so, Bruce Lincolns theories of myth have been used in correlation with Stefan Arvidssons definition ov myths. Also of interest is whether or not Tracy in his books uses any of the instruments of power defined by Michel Foucault to support his claims.The investigation shows that capitalism indeed can be seen as a modern myth. This claim is supported by the facts that Tracy not only uses a language heavily influenced by Christian texts and belief but furthermore because he descirbes himself and the people he claims to have helped in a way that strongly resembles the narratives of myths.

Title: To sell the country of Lagom: a study of the Swedish Institute?s re-branding of Sweden and impact on the swedish citizens Authors: Rebecca Dahl & Ellinor Thungren Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to study the Swedish Institute?s branding of Sweden. We have explored if the branding is consistent with the picture that Swedes generally have of themselves and Sweden, and also looked at which consequences differences in this picture may have. Method/Material: Semiotic analysis and interviewMain Results: The results of the thesis shows that SI?s branded image of Sweden agree with the picture that Swedes have of themselves and Sweden.

The main purpose of this Masters thesis is to examine how Braille users needs are satisfied by The Library of Talking Books and Braille TPB. The other issues are: How do some of the library workers at TPB experience that the needs of Braille users are satisfied? Is it possible to make the service better in the future for Braille users and in that case, how? The study is based upon interviews with five persons, who have defective vision and read Braille. I have also interviewed two employees at TPB who have defective vision. To build up a complete background presentation of the subject I have chosen a book about hermeneutic interpretation to understand how historic facts influence the function of the subject today and in the future.

In recent years coaching has become an increasingly popular phenomenon outside of the sports world. More and more people have found coaching to be a helpful tool for achieving greater performance and fulfillment in their lives. This thesis is a comparative literature study of three books about coaching where the authors use different theoretical bases to explain and teach coaching. The aim of the thesis is to explain how coaching as a phenomenon is described and compare these descriptions as well as to look at the ideals and norms that are produced and reproduced in the use of coaching. The study compares the three books from six different themes and shows that, in the use of coaching, the ideal of a rational and action oriented individual is constructed and the aim for this individual is some form of success.

AbstractThis research is about how some swedish teachers in high school choose literature in schools. The purpose is to underline the reasons for how some teachers think about selection, canon, classic and contemporary literature. Two survey methods were used to find the answers, wich consisted of interviews and questionnaires. The letter methods was used to obtain informations about student´s views on literature.Previous research shows that there are different opinions in what kind of literature the pupils should read in school. The results of literature, questionnaires and interviews also showed that the underlying reasons for the choice of literature, varied among those interviewed further forward ofthe students also prefer to read books during lessons, and that they prefer reading books by popular contemporary writers..

Books and reading are important elements in cultural policy. On 1 January 2002 VAT on books and magazines was reduced from 25 per cent to 6 per cent. The purpose was to increase reading in all sections of the population. A special Book Price Commission was appointed to follow and examine price trends and to work for an enhancement of reading in all groups of the Swedish population. But what form of reading are the BPC talking about? With a theoretical point of departure in the theory of power and discourse by Michel Foucault the aim of this thesis is to explore if there is an existing discourse about reading and, if so, how this discourse is operating in the BPC reports.