Uppsatsen undersöker den konstvetenskapliga diskussionen angående  rimligheten i att läsa in moraliska budskap i holländsk genrekonst från 1600-talet. Detta görs utifrån en diskursanalytisk metod med fokus på textanalys. De texter som behandlas är skrivna av konsthistoriker under 1980- och 1990-talet och belyser tolkningsfrågan ur olika synvinklar..

The purpose of the present study is to investigate mindfulness as a New Age phenomenon in the modern western society. Since a religious phenomenon does not exist in a vacuum, but is dependent on its historical and cultural context, my aim is to give a broad depiction of mindfulness and New Age in its wider context, the historical background and the societal implications of common values, themes and concepts that are frequent in the literature, how mindfulness is presented by the authors of popular literature and also how it is presented in science. In order to bring forward a deeper understanding of New Age and mindfulness? role in the modern western society, my intention is to see how the authors of mindfulness claim validity of their doctrines in the discourse. Mindfulness attracts a wide range of perpetrators and is used in many areas in the society today.