Uppsatsen syftar till att studera svenska tidningars rapportering om Kina och klarlägga hur bilden av Kina konstrueras i tidningarna. Detta görs genom en diskursanalys av artiklar från tre av Sveriges största dagstidningar. Både teori och metod har sin utgångspunkt i Laclau & Mouffes diskursteori. Valet av artiklar grundar sig i att artiklarna på ett eller annat vis handlat om, eller tagit upp Kina och därigenom hjälpt till att konstruera en bild av landet. I analysen har det insamlade materialet sorterats in i tre olika teman utifrån vad artiklarna berör, dessa teman är, ekonomi, politik, och orientalism. De två första innefattar artiklar om Kinas ekonomiska och politiska förfarande. I det tredje temat, orientalism, innehåller artiklar där landet och dess invånare framställs som ”Den andre”, motsatsen till väst. Resultatet visar att de tre utvalda tidningarnas likartade rapportering kring de olika temana skapar en enhetlig bild av Kina. Det är den liberala demokratin och marknadsekonomins hegemoniska position som genomsyrar samtliga tidningars konstruktion av Kina. / This essay aims to study how Swedish newspapers are constructing China textually. This is done by a discourse analysis of articles from three of the biggest newspapers in Sweden. The essays theoretical and methodical background stems from Laclau & Mouffe’s discourse theory. The selection of newspaper articles is based on the simple fact that they are written about China or that they mention China, and thereby helps to construct an image of the country. In the analysis of the gathered articles, the material has been sorted into three different themes depending on what the subject matter of the articles was. The themes are economics, politics, and orientalism. The first two themes address Chinas economic and political actions. The third theme, orientalism, includes articles where the country and its inhabitants are portrayed as “the other”, the opposite to the western world. The results show that the three newspapers selected all portray the same things in regards to the different themes that helps create a unified image of China. It is the liberal democracy and the market economy’s hegemonic position that permeates the reporting on China in the newspapers.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed Jan. 21, 2010). Additional advisors: Cathleen Cummings, Heather McPherson, Mindy Nancarrow. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-71).

This study is a comparative analysis of how Hollywood portrays people from the Middle East before and after 9/11. The films used to conduct this study are True Lies (1994), The Siege (1998), The Kingdom (2007) and Body of Lies (2008). With a qualitative methodology, discourse analysis and postcolonial theory this study analysed not only how people from the Middle East is portrayed, but also how the Americans in the films are presented and how the characters in the films changed in the movies produced after 9/11.      The results show that people from the Middle East are portrayed in a negative way and that Hollywood uses stereotypes. However, people from the Middle East are more gradated in the films post-9/11. There is a bigger focus on Islam in the movies produced after 9/11 and the study also shows that family values play a less central part in the story in the films made after 9/11 and that work is of more importance. The American characters have a greater need to help their country in the war against terrorists in the films produced after 9/11 compared to the American characters in the films made before 9/11.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, a vast discourse on contemporary terrorism has emerged within 'Western' media. This thesis analyzes the discourse of contemporary terrorism, and highlights how the postcolonialist critique of Orientalism pioneered by Edward Said is still relevant within the discourse. This is accomplished by analyzing books that have been published post-9/11 and which have been reviewed in the journal Foreign Affairs. A primary goal of this thesis is to facilitate the de-reification of the socially constructed concepts of both 'the East' and 'the West' which currently dominate representations within the discourse, as well as to highlight some of the key features of the discursive field on contemporary terrorism. The binary representation and stereotyping within the contemporary discourse provides a one-dimensional representation of the issue of terrorism, and by questioning the conformity of these representations we can critically examine one of the most important social issues within our society.

The aim of this study was to examine the discourse of asylum seekers in Sweden from January 2009 to December 2013 in the newspapers Helsingborgs Dagblad and Dagens Nyheter. By using discourse analysis as a theory and method, combined with the theory of orientalism, I have analysed and compared news articles from these two newspapers. The findings of the study shows that asylum seekers are often portrayed as a group rather than individuals. Included in the group identity are several subgroups, for example asylum seekers are portrayed as victims, as a cost to society and as a highly suspect group that cannot be controlled. Furthermore, asylum seekers are depicted as “the other” in contrast to the Swedish “we”, where differences in culture and tradition are frequently mentioned. The analysis also highlights the differences between what the two newspapers believe are the main difficulties in taking in asylum seekers into the community. Whereas articles in the nationwide Dagens Nyheter see the resistance in municipalities as the major problem, the local newspaper Helsingborgs Dagblad describes how municipalities are being forced to take in asylum seekers even though they do not have the resources to manage them.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, a vast discourse on contemporary terrorism has emerged within 'Western' media. This thesis analyzes the discourse of contemporary terrorism, and highlights how the postcolonialist critique of Orientalism pioneered by Edward Said is still relevant within the discourse. This is accomplished by analyzing books that have been published post-9/11 and which have been reviewed in the journal Foreign Affairs. A primary goal of this thesis is to facilitate the de-reification of the socially constructed concepts of both 'the East' and 'the West' which currently dominate representations within the discourse, as well as to highlight some of the key features of the discursive field on contemporary terrorism. The binary representation and stereotyping within the contemporary discourse provides a one-dimensional representation of the issue of terrorism, and by questioning the conformity of these representations we can critically examine one of the most important social issues within our society.

This thesis deals with the characterization of Japan and Japanese people by Swedish travelers during the Meiji period. It seeks to answer what aspects of Japanese people two Swedish travelers chose to highlight, and how these aspects were presented in their travelogues. This thesis also has a second aim. By applying Edward Said’s theory of orientalism, it wants to answer if Swedish travelogues were influenced by western 19th century ideas of colonialism and imperialism. Finally, the third question deals with the question if these travelogues fit the general European discourse regarding Japan. The results show that the two Swedish travelers present many different parts of the Japanese; topics such as nature, industry and the character its inhabitants were all accounted for. Most of these different aspects were presented in a positive light, and this seems to hold true for the general perception of the country. It also shows that the travelogues fits in with the general Swedish perception of Japan; that it is a country inhabited by intelligent people that are considered to be highly civilized. However, it is still implied that the Japanese are not considered to be true equals, despite the travelers' claim that they are excelling in many areas compared to Europeans. The Japanese discourse is therefore one of admiration and also of a subtle feeling of superiority, though the latter is not as overt in its presentation as it was with orientalism.

Under många år har islam som religion varit ett omdiskuterat ämne i Sverige. Det finns många faktorer som påverkar hur vi uppfattar religionen i sin helhet. Beroende på vilket samhälle eller tid vi lever i så kommer uppfattningen att variera och diskurserna kommer att förändras genom detta. Tidigare forskning har visat att islam ofta framställs utifrån stereotypiska föreställningar där utövarna ses som annorlunda och en tro att det en rätt form av islam. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att se vilken framställning av islam i uppslagsverk som är dominerande genom tiden och se hur språket förändras eller förblr detsamma beroende på under vilken tid som uppslagsverket var författat. Detta gör att en kritisk diskursanalys utgör metoden för hur jag tolkar framställningen av islam i fem uppslagsverk. Den teoretiska anasatsen består av en postkolonial teori utifrån Saids beskrivning av orientalism tillsammans med ett socialkonstruktionistiskt angreppssätt och Otterbecks undersökning av diskursers förändring över tid. Resultatet visade att den orientaliska framställningen var genomgående framförallt i de äldre uppslagsverken där religionen framställs som sträng, fatalistisk, stereotypisk och oföränderlig och som ett typiskt österländskt fenomen utan koppling till väs. De senare verken har kvar en viss stereotypisk framställning men med en nedtonad orientalistisk diskurs. Jämställdhets och mångkultursdiskurser var två delar som var utmärkande för de senare verken men som hade en nedtonad roll i de tidiga verken. I övrigt var det tydligt att de senare verken fokuserade mer på kulturen och lärorna i islam och de tidiga verken var centrerade till den historiska och teologiska utvecklingen.

The purpose of the essay is to investigate how today’s multicultural society is reflected in teaching materials for the elementary school’s later years in the subject Swedish. The purpose is also to investigate how the school’s mandate to develop a capacity to live with and realize the values of cultural diversity is evident in the chosen teaching materials in Swedish as a subject. The material consists of 3 teaching materials, all issued for the national curriculum in 2011 and they are also basic books for the elementary school’s later years in the subject Swedish. In addition, the lesson is published by various publishers and these three aspects, published after the 2011 curriculum, the basics and published by various publishers have been the criteria that have led to the choice of material. The idea of the paper is to get an insight into how multicultural is represented in the teaching materials used in the Swedish subject, and therefore the analysis is based on two aspects that are common regardless of teaching materials, names and authors. In order to be able to complete the essay’s purpose, it is a qualitative content analysis with quantitative elements that form the basis of the study and the teaching materials have been manually examined. A literature review shows that there are clear indications that teaching should be based on the pupils’ life worlds to create an inclusive education, where students can relate to real people with both Western and non-Western authors and example names. By reflecting both Western and non-Western, the diversity found in the classroom can identify with the content of the teaching materials. Teaching based on students’ life worlds not only benefits learning but also their self- image, which means that intercultural learning is required to accommodate the multiculturalism of classrooms. However, it turns out that the non-Western is underrepresented in all teaching materials and therefore the teacher’s role is of great importance in the content of, for example, authors and texts from different parts of the world. In addition, teaching that touches authors and texts from different parts of the world, as well as focusing on the cultural diversity events, is something that is emphasized both by the Swedish subject and the school’s value base and mission. The essay’s results suggest that multiculturalism should be better reflected in the teaching materials developed after the 2011 curriculum. / Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur dagens mångkulturella samhälle speglas i läromedel för grundskolans senare år i ämnet svenska. Syftet är också undersöka hur skolans uppdrag för att utveckla en förmåga att leva med och inse de värden som ligger i en kulturell mångfald synliggörs i de utvalda läromedlen i svenskämnet. Materialet består av tre läromedel, alla utfärdade för läroplanen 2011 och de är även grundböcker för grundskolans senare år i ämnet svenska. Läromedlen är dessutom utgivna av olika förlag och dessa tre aspekter, utgivna efter läroplanen 2011, grundbok och utgivna av olika förlag har varit de kriterier som har legat till grund för valet av material. Tanken med uppsatsen är att få en inblick i hur det mångkulturella representeras i de läromedel som används i svenskämnet och därför har analysen utgått från två aspekter som är vanligt förekommande oavsett läromedel, nämligen namn och författare. För kunna fullfölja uppsatsens syfte är det en kvalitativ innehållsanalys med kvantitativa inslag som ligger till grund för undersökningen och läromedlen har granskats manuellt. Forskningsläget visar att det finns tydliga tecken på att undervisningen bör vara baserad på elevernas erfarenhetsvärldar. Detta för att skapa en inkluderad undervisning där eleverna kan relatera till realpersoner både med icke-västerländska och västerländska författare och namnexempel. Genom att spegla både det västerländska och det icke-västerländska kan den mångfald som finns i klassrummet identifiera sig med läromedlens innehåll. Undervisning som utgår från elevernas livsvärldar gynnar inte enbart lärandet utan även deras självbild, vilket innebär att det krävs ett interkulturellt lärande för att kunna bemöta klassrummens mångkulturalitet. Det visar sig emellertid att det icke-västerländska är underrepresenterat i samtliga läromedel och därför blir lärarens roll av stor vikt vid innehåll av exempelvis författare och texter från olika delar av världen i svenskundervisningen. Att undervisningen ska beröra författare och texter från skilda delar av världen, samt fokusera på de möten som sker i en kulturell mångfald är dessutom något som både understryks i svenskämnets syfte och skolans värdegrund och uppdrag. Avslutningsvis är valet av läromedel i svenskundervisningen avgörande för den interkulturella pedagogik som ska prägla undervisningen.

Critical studies of upper secondary text books in religion is a popular essay topic for soon to be teachers in Swedish universities. In particular the study of the portrayal of Islam in said textbooks, using Edward Saids well discussed oriental studies as a foundation. Thus, there are a lot of earlier essays and works showing similar results: that Islam and muslims tend to be ”othered” by being portrayed as a homogenous tradition and a homogenous group of people. This study also uses Saids oriental studies as at theoretical standpoint, but also the concept of religious literacy. By using qualitative content analysis this study has come up with similar results as many other essays. The main difference is the way the study shows how muslims are being ”othered”. By focusing on the textbooks usage of the word ”Allah” - the arabic word for ”God” - and how muslims are portrayed, the results show that muslims tend to be portrayed not only as a homogenous group, but as one with a specific God, different from the Judeo-Christian one. The results also show that certain phenomena that the different religions have in common tend to be left out when describing one or the other. All these tendencies combined might give the students a religious literacy constituted of facts and representations of islam characterized by the discourse Edward Said called orientalism.