This thesis deals with ethnic and religious continuity among the Wichí Amerindian people of Argentina, after their conversion to Pentecostalism in the beginning of the 1980’s. The underlying assumption in the thesis is that no fundamental religious or ritual changes take place suddenly. The aim is to look at how Pentecostalism is articulated in local terms, and how important rituals are for the sense of continuity and well-being of the Wichí society. These questions are based on a theoretical discussion about religion and ritual, continuity and change. The fieldwork carried out among the Wichí is to a large extent based on participant observation of the Wichí Pentecostal service, the culto, and a mainly interpretative approach is taken to the topic. The results from the fieldwork demonstrate that a so-called merging has taken place between the traditional religion of the Wichí and Pentecostalism. The healing frequently carried out in the Wichí culto, for instance, is virtually shamanic healing in a Pentecostal setting. The symbolic communication of the ritual of the culto, such as dancing and healing,permits the Wichí and Western missionaries to participate together, but also to interpret the happenings from their respective cultural point of view. / Esta tesis trata sobre la continuidad étnica y religiosa entre un pueblo Amerindio, los Wichí de Argentina, después de su conversión al Pentecostalismo a principios de los años 1980. El supuesto principal en esta tesis es que ningunos cambios fundamentales suceden repentinamente, ni en la religión ni en el ritual. El objetivo es observar como el Pentecostalismo está articulado de una manera local, y , además, observar la importancia del ritual para la continuidad y bienestar de la sociedad Wichí. Estas preguntas están basadas en una discusión teorética sobre religión y ritual, continuidad y cambio. El trabajo de campo realizado entre los Wichí está en gran parte basado en observación participante en el culto Pentecostal de los Wichí, y un enfoque largemente interpretativo es utilizado para el asunto. Los resultados del trabajo de campo demuestran que una así llamada mezcla(’merging’) ha tomado lugar entre la religión tradicional de los Wichí y el Pentecostalismo.La curación, por ejemplo, que a menudo se lleva a cabo en el culto Wichí, es virtualmente curación chamánica en un entorno Pentecostal. La comunicación simbólica del ritual del culto, como el baile y la curación, permiten a los Wichí y a los misioneros occidentales participar juntos, pero también les permite interpretar los acontecimientos desde su respectivo punto de vista cultural.

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En uppsats om hur flyktingar skapar och formar sin identitet i mottagarlandet, i relation till gränser, idén om kulturella rötter och hur samhällen kategoriserar immigranter.

This dissertation examines a commercial media culture as articulated by a television production company in Stockholm, Sweden, and is based on nine months of extended fieldwork. The dissertation discusses the production process, its problems and constraints, and the role of the producer using a theoretical framework elaborated by Pierre Bourdieu. The TV producers are involved in a constant process of interpretation, evaluation and negotiation related to the symbolic and economic power relationships that determine the field. The practical production cannot be reduced to a one-way communication system. Commercial TV production involves more than supplying the channels with those programs they demand and attracting the desired target groups; programs produced at the company must be "good" and give a "value" to the viewers. The production process implies a tightly interwoven relationship between the producer and the audience, conceived of in terms of "the average person". The producers create an image of an audience based on statistical figures, reference persons, viewer ratings and of themselves functioning as surrogate audience. This constructed viewer wants something more than pure entertainment. The public-educator ideal that has been a reason for the Swedish public-service-television's authority and legitimacy, has come to be an important component of the television produced at the described television company. A public-service tradition is reformulated to fit into a modern, commercial context, at the same time as it legitimizes and gives meaning to its own enterprise. The created viewer's demand for entertaining knowledge and information is satisfied.

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