Denna studie har som mål att undersöka hur normer och konformitet skapas i ett modernt, teknologiskt samhälle genom att studera satirisk populärkultur. Det är den tredje säsongen av den satiriska, dystopiska tv-serien Black Mirror som studeras. Syftet är att hitta avsnittens gemensamma diskurser kring normer för att därefter göra en koppling till den teknologiska utvecklingen och dagens samhälle. Studiens grundläggande teori och metod är multimodal kritisk diskursanalys (MCDA) som analyserar både skrivna, verbala och visuella tecken. Det teoretiska ramverket består även av socialpsykologisk rollteori, ideologiteori och teknologisk determinism, som används för att hitta och analysera materialets diskursiva teman. Tre teman med fokus på normer upptäcks - rädslan för utanförskap och nonkonformism, politisk ideologi som normskapare samt teknologins påverkan på normer. Trots att seriens avsnitt huvudsakligen utspelar sig i en dystopisk och högteknologisk framtid, är det möjligt att genom tematiseringen observera flera intressanta kopplingar till dagens samhälle. I analysen hittas samband till bland annat förintelsen, Sverigedemokraterna, fenomenet #metoo och Kim Kardashians populära Instagram-konto. / The intention of this study is to explore how norms and conformity is created in a modern, technological society, through studying satirical popular culture. The third season of the satirical, dystopic tv-series Black Mirror, is the subject of analysis. The aim is to find the episodes shared discourses evolving norms, to then draw parallells to technological development and todays society. The underlying theory and method is the multimodal critical discourse anlaysis (MCDA), for an analyzis of written, verbal and visual elements. The teoretical framwork additionally consists of social psycology’s roletheory, ideology theory and techological determinism, which will be used to find and analyze the materials discoursive themes. Three themes with focus on norms are discovered - fear of exclusion and nonconformity, political ideology as a creator of norms and technology’s influence on norms. Although the episodes mainly take place in a dystopic, highly technological future, it is possible through thematisation to observe connections to todays society. Although the series mainly takes palce in a dystopic and highly technological future, it is possible through thematization to observe several interesting parallells to todays society. In the analysis connections are found including The Holocaust, Sverigedemokraterna, the #metoo-fenomenon and Kim Kardashians popular Instagram-account.

The diploma th sis is conc rn d with uncov ring th full sp ctrum of humanity through th prism of mysticism and humanistic psychoth rapy. The author s parat s th cont nt into thr s ctions. In th firrst h roots his thoughts in th mysticism of Doroth Söll and h r book The Sil nt Cry: Mysticism and R sistanc , which l nds th th sis th qualiti s of mystical spirituality in th mundan and v ryday lif . From th book th author focus s on th mystical path of "The s lf and th lib ration from th s lf" that invit s th conc pt of go, consum rism and th r lationship toward th inn r cor of th human. The s cond s ction xplor s th th rap utic contribution of humanistic th rapists Virginia Satir and Carl Ransom Rog rs. The auth r introduc s th ir th rap utic mod ls in thr chapt rs: The D v lopm nt of th Mov m nt, The Human Imag and The The rap utic Proc ss and Goal. The th sis is thus imbu d with conc pts aiding fulfirlm nt of a Human Lif : a human r lationship, congur nc and th importanc of s lf- knowl dg ; congru nc b ing th k y t rm inviting spiritual mom nts into th quasion. The third s ction outlin s a shar d spac for mysticism and humanistic psychoth rapy. The author introduc s th ‚mystical human' in cont mporary postmod rn atmosph r , conn cting th discov ri s from th firrst two s ctions of th th sis. The...

In a well-known verse Swedish eighteenth century writer Anna Maria Lenngren advise her fictive daughter to avoid reding, since it might distract her from her household chores. This paper intends to examine attitudes towards women’s reading in eighteenth century Sweden, using different kinds of sources: Satirical verses, conduct books for girls and young women and genre paintings by Swedish painter Pehr Hilleström, depicting bourgeoise and aristocratic interiors. In my analysis I make use of the public-private distinction formulated by Jürgen Habermas. Habermas describes the literary public debate as a first step towards a political public debate. The private sphere, in which women a supposed to remain, is in Habermas version divided in an economic and an intimate part, centered on the family and the home. In the satirical verses reading and books aren’t a prominent topic but is mentioned as one of many vices connected to conspicuous consumption and a life “à la mode”. The verses like to contrast the vane, modern woman to the ideal of the good householder. The conduct books give a more nuanced picture of reading as a part of an aristocratic or bourgeoise woman’s life. Reading can be seen as a useful pastime, preferable to playing cards or making idle gossip. According to the conduct books the main purpose of reading should be to inform and educate the reader, not just to entertain her. The paintings confirm the impression that reading was a well-established part of domestic life for women of the leisured classes, but some of them still allows for a more critical view, like the one seen in the verses. The written sources are consistent in the conviction that women’s reading shouldn’t lead to their participation in any public debate. Reading and the fruits of reading are seen to develop and expand the readers personality, and possibly make her more attractive to a future husband, but it is meant to be kept in the private, intimate sphere of the home.

This essay concerns on how my novel The Teacher was influenced by the Masters course I completed in Creative Writing at Linnaeus University (2012 – 2014). Basically, The Teacher is about a love affair between a teacher and a student. With an intertextual, comparative and structurally inspired method I examine the process of writing my text. I also examine how my work relates to the great changes of the Swedish school system in the early 1990:s: deregulation, decentralisation and management by objectives. These changes are satirised in the novel. The essay also deals the role of the city in its time, the school in its town, contemporary literary texts with corresponding thematic, the moral values in their time and overall existential questions about responsibility, guilt, acceptance, non-judgmental attitudes, forgiveness and being in the present moment. The examining part of the essay shows how these premises get a concrete expression in the main conflict, main theme, characterization, narrative and stylistic choices. The essay clarifies the satirical point of view that turns The Teacher into an ironical reflection on the Swedish school system after the so-called “kommunaliseringen” (communities taking over from the state). The essay also clarifies how grown ups abdicate from responsibility in the Swedish society and how people judge each other and cling to roles. For that reason The Teacher is relevant within its time but also and even more since it is about recurring existential questions about responsibility and non-judgmental attitudes.

This thesis deals with the short story “Wanderer, kommst du nach Spa ...” (1950) by the German author Heinrich Böll (1917-1985). The well-established interpretation of this famous short story is that it deals with the dismal fact that the Nazis ended the development of Western culture, which cumulatively had been on its way since Greek antiquity. In this paper another reading is proposed, namely that the short story sheds light on the influence of the Romantic era in Germany and that a certain interpretation and use of Romanticism provided some of the seeds to the obscure ideas of the Nazi era. Research on Böll´s early writings is presented. The notion of cultural memory is introduced. The intertextual connections between Bölls text and other texts are being uncovered. Most fruitful proves the connection between “Wanderer” and the poem “Der Spaziergang” (1795) by Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) to be. “Wanderer” can be read as a satirical version of Schillers poem. Reasons for Böll to choose Schiller’s elegy as a target are discussed at length. A parable in the story, ”wie ein Gesicht eines Schlafenden” / like a face of a sleeping person, unfolds an undertext to the short story, a Catholic text. Jesus, the Holy Communion, prayers and the eternal cross are present. Wanderer can be read as a requiem over the young soldier. Further, the inability of the wounded soldier to connect to his surroundings is interpreted as a parallell to Germany at the end of the war; the Nazis had stolen the Heimat from the people and it was no longer possible to interpret the world as something you belonged to. While Heinrich Böll on the surface of the text tries to recapture the German language from its nazi-poisend condition, the protagonist within the text regains his identity by means of his own handwriting - a part of his language.