Uppsatsen undersöker med hjälp av en hermeneutisk närläsning och en komparativ studie likheter och skillnader mellan ortodox och hinduistisk syn heliga bilder och statyer. Undersökningen har tre jämförelsepunkter: framställning, form och funktion. Undersökningen utgår från två böcker, Pavel Florenskijs Iconostasis. (1996) och Darśan, det gudomliga skådandet  av  Diana L. Ecks (1996). Resultatet visar att det finns många likheter i valet av material och hur gudabilderna framställs. I båda traditionerna finns kanoniska skrifter som ger riktlinjer som efterföljs. Det kan handla om vilka material som används samt vem som får framställa gudabilderna.  Det finns även likheter i form och funktion där gudabilden i båda traditionerna vördas och hedras och anses vara vad den rumänska religionsvetaren Mircea Eliade kallar hierofanier. Det heliga manifesterar sig i dessa bilder. En skillnad är att det i hinduismen är guden själv som tar boning i bilden medan den kristna ikonen bara har en symbolisk koppling till helgonet, visserligen finns en ontologisk koppling mellan bilden och den avbildade men det det är inte guden som tar plats i den. Två möjliga utvecklingar av materialet hade varit att ta med C G Jungs arketyper i resonemanget samt att även jämföra med den tibetanska buddhistiska ikonografin.

Tyr – A historical and comparative study of configurations and formations connected to the Old Norse god Tyr. Klas af Edholm   This thesis has two aims. One is a discussion of the history of the study of Old Norse religion and related aspects, centered on how general tendencies within the area of research have affected the interpretations of the god *Tīwaz/Tyr. Thereby, it treats a selection of influential trends of interpretation, and a selection of prominent scholars of the field. The second aim is an empirical and comparative analysis of the Old Norse source material and, to some degree, the continental Germanic, the Baltic, and the other Indo-European material. Tyr has been interpreted according to trends of research in the field; the mythological character has been used as a projection screen of the theories. Already from the beginning, Tyr was interpreted as a sky god; connected to this was the conception of an original high god. The interpretations of Tyr as a sun god, sky god, and/or law god are close related to this high god conception. These interpretations of the god Tyr has built their arguments upon the etymological connection to Indo-European words for ‘heaven, celestial’ and ‘god’, but they have not taken enough consideration of the Old Norse sources. Georges Dumézil interpreted Tyr, according to his système tripartite, as a law god. This understanding of the god has been widely adopted, but cannot be confirmed; the Old Norse material only speaks of Tyr as a war god. The comparative Indo-European etymological material indicates that his function as sky god is archaic, while the martial traits shared with the continental Germanic and Celtic counterparts prove that this characteristic must have evolved early. Tyr (or rather his predecessor *Tīwaz) lost his celestial traits and became an unmitigated war god, and as such we perceive him in the Old Norse religion.

In the year of 2012 a unique three dimensional figurine was found in Hårby, Denmark depicting what seems to be a woman holding a sword and a shield. Immediately it was defined as a Valkyrie, a female servant of the Viking god Odin. However, this is most likely a simplified interpretation since most female figurines from the Viking age is interpreted in this way. This thesis questions this interpretation, creating an identity crisis for the Valkyries due to their interpretation no longer being obvious and simple. Instead this thesis recognizes the gender ambiguous features of the Hårbyfigurine and tries to determine what it can tell about the perception of gender during the Viking Age. The purpose of this thesis is thus to present how gender theory, queer theory and a comparative method can be used to interpret a gender ambiguous object from the Viking Age. This is done based on the Hårbyfigurine and its different attributes and concludes that the arguments against that female figurines from the Viking Age depicts Valkyries are more numerous than the arguments that support this identification. Alternative interpretations for the figurine is therefore suggested. The thesis also shows that the interpretations gender theory, queer theory and comparative method can produce differs in its complexity and in how they handle the gender ambiguous qualities of the Hårbyfigurine. The conclusion drawn from this is that gender ambiguous objects cannot be interpreted in one single way but must be tackled with a variety of theories and methods to be able to tell something about the worldview of the people who lived in the Viking Age. The term gender ambiguous is also re-evaluated throughout the thesis and turns out to be an interpretation applied to objects based on a modern way of defining gender and sex and is not a trait of the object itself. This means that gender is not defined in the same way today as it was in the Viking Age. Gender is thus strongly connected to the ruling culture and not stable, but ever changing.

Archaeologists have employed a method to determine individuals’ sex through objects in grave contexts, this method is called archaeological sex determination. However, this method has proven to be misleading in interpretations in correlation with the concepts of gender and sex. This will be highlighted through a comparative study of two case studies: “Birkakrigaren” and “Barumskvinnan”. The concept of gender has grown stronger in the public debate concerning the difference between gender and sex, which has contributed to the concept’s amplification in the archaeological discipline, specifically gender theory. Gender theory will be used to explain and clarify the problems of archaeological sex determination, in addition how it could be used for criticism of a current case study, which is “Birkakrigaren” and why the criticism differed between two case studies: “Birkakrigaren” and “Barumskvinnan”. In order to reach the desired results, different articles and books will be examined, simultaneously with articles and blogs on the subject of the criticism.

Syftet med förevarande studie är att undersöka skönlitteratur, mer specifikt lyrik, från upplysningstiden fram till i dag med fokus på ortografi för att påvisa konkreta förslag på hur skönlitteratur kan användas som ett didaktiskt verktyg i undervisning i det svenska språkets ortografiska utveckling. Det valda materialet består av lyrik hämtad från sju litterära epoker. Tre av verken är författade av kvinnor och fyra av verken är författade av män. Analysen avgränsades till fyra utvalda ortografiska variabler. Till att börja med genomfördes analyser av de enskilda verken med hjälp av systematiserade analyser med inspiration från deskriptiv stilistik och brukstextanalys. Sedan utfördes komparativa diakrona analyser för att utforska ortografins utveckling. Resultatet visar att det går att se tydliga likheter och skillnader avseende de utvalda ortografiska variablerna. Resultatet visar även att en kronologisk utveckling kan iakttas eftersom det finns tydliga skillnader i dikterna publicerade innan och efter stavningsreformen 1906. I diskussionen framgår det även att det går att påvisa ett flertal möjligheter till hur lyrik kan användas i undervisning i det svenska språkets ortografiska utveckling. Två exempel är att använda det analyserade materialet som underlag för diskussion om stavningsregler samt potentialen att använda materialet för att ge eleverna möjlighet att utveckla en historisk medvetenhet om språket.

Studiens syfte är att bidra till att beskriva hur tidningarna The New York Times, The New York Post och The Hollywood Reporter har rapporterar om manusförfattarstrejken i Hollywood som var 2007–2008 och den som var 2023, kontra hur de tidningarna har förändrats i deras rapportering. Uppsatsen utgår från Norman Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys som både teori och metod, samt användning av komparativ metod. Studien empiriska material är artiklar från när de båda strejkerna precis innan och efter de började 2007 och 2023. Resultatet visar att alla tre tidningar har ändrat deras sätt på hur de rapporterar sina nyheter från 2007 till 2023. The New York Post har blivit mer konservativ genom åren och tenderade att skriva mer negativt om Writers Guild of America (WGA) 2023 än vad de gjorde 2007. The New York Times har gått från att vara en relativt neutral tidning 2007 till att öppna sin tidning för WGA-medlemmar och låta dem skriva debatterande artiklar på deras hemsida. The Hollywood Reporter har gått från att vara positiva för WGA tills att vara helt öppet på deras sida och även de har öppnat sin tidning för WGA-medlemmar att skriva anonyma artiklar om vadsomhelst under och efter strejken.

This thesis analyses protagonist Elizabeth Bennet in Jane Austen’s book Pride and Prejudice (1813) and protagonist Bridget Jones in Helen Fielding’s book Bridget Jones' Diary (1996) from a gender theory perspective. I use a comparative method to analyse how two themes are portrayed in the books: family and marriage and education and career.  The study shows that Elizabeth, from a gender perspective, is controlled by the society and her family's expectations that she must marry a man of the right table. Bridget, on the other hand, lives in accordance to the patriarchal norm, but this seems rather appear on a more personal level. Regarding education and career it seems to have gone from seeing this as an important part of being a woman not just for herself personally but also for being more attractive for men, to an objective perspective where education seems to define your work ability instead of the woman herself.  The study, in a didactic point of view, can be useful for teachers to help their pupils to see how gender is constructed and deconstructed from time to time. The syllabus of the subject of Swedish gives opportunities for the pupils to discuss and maybe first and foremost problematize gender and equality in both a literary historical perspective and a personal way.

The need to collect electronic communications for foreign intelligence purposes has increased in the past two decades, primarily due to the increase of international threats such as terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Meanwhile, digitalization and technical innovation have given rise to new possibilities for government surveillance and expanded the scope of the types of communications that may be collected. This gives rise to issues concerning the balance between effective foreign intelligence activities and the protection of personal integrity. This thesis performs a comparative analysis of the protection of personal integrity in signals intelligence in Sweden and the United States, by examining the protection of personal integrity under the Swedish Instrument of Government and Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights (European Convention) compared to the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and the requirements for signals intelligence under the Swedish Act (2008:717) on Signals Intelligence in Defense Intelligence Operations (the Surveillance Act) and § 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA, as amended). The analysis further includes a review of the safeguards adopted in each legal system to limit the collection of communications and to ensure that personal integrity is considered in signals intelligence operations. In regard to the protection of personal integrity, the analysis concludes that Swedish law, combined with the European Convention, offers a wider and more extensive protection for individuals when compared to the United States’ framework. However, all provisions include a requirement of proportionality or reasonableness intended to balance the need for effective law enforcement with the protection of personal integrity. The analysis further concludes that the Fourth Amendment has limited impact on signals intelligence carried out under § 702 FISA due to its limitations to the people of the United States, and that individuals' ability to exercise their rights is greater under the European Convention. The European Convention further offers protection beyond Sweden's borders, resulting in some protection for non-Swedish persons. As for the signals intelligence conducted under the Surveillance Act and § 702 FISA, several similarities and differences are identified. Both regulations limit the signals intelligence to be carried out for certain purposes. However, a notable difference is that, while signals intelligence under both the Surveillance Act and § 702 FISA are limited to foreign conditions, Swedish signals intelligence may be conducted on communications that cross Sweden’s borders. Meanwhile, collection under § 702 FISA may only target non-US persons outside of the United States. Despite this difference, signals intelligence under both regulations result in the collection of communications of the country’s own citizens. To limit the collection, both the Swedish National Defense Radio Establishment (Sw. Försvarets Radioanstalt, FRA) and the United States National Security Agency (NSA) apply certain safeguards. These include the use of search terms in Swedish signals intelligence and selectors in American signals intelligence. While they are both used to make relevant selections in the collection of communications, there are some notable difference between the two. For example, selectors consist of, inter alia, an email address or phone number, while search terms should not, as a general rule, target a specific individual. Further, there is no warrant requirement for collections under § 702 FISA compared to the Surveillance Act, which requires court approval. Lastly, in regard to the control and review of Swedish and American signals intelligence, the analysis concludes that such activities are conducted in different manners in both legal systems. This includes both internal and external controls. However, the Swedish control units appear to have greater opportunities to intervene by, for example, controlling the FRA's access to signal carriers and interrupting an ongoing collection if needed.

This thesis aims to analyze how tendencies to corruption affect trust in Central Managing Authorities: Sweden Public Employment Service, National Service Center, and Swedish Insurance Agency.  The research questions are:  · Can the trust and legitimacy for the three Central Managing Authorities has been affected by corruption?  · What similarities and differences exist about the corruption into Swedish Public Employment Service, National Service Center, and Swedish Social Insurance Agency?  · Can the lack of trust and legitimacy have other causes than the occurrence of corruption?  The study used comparative method, where cases have been compared and analyzed out from theoretical framework. Through comparation, similarities and differences between the cases and find explaining factors about how corruption can affect trust through applying of the theoretical framework was identified. There are some important implications. First, corrupt tendencies can lead to common interests be override because of personal interests. Second, the democratic values in the public administration can be affect negatively because of corrupt tendencies. Lastly, knowledge and awareness are fundamental for how corrupt tendencies affect citizen’s trust for Central Managing Authorities.