Diss. Alnarp : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2005.

Diss. Stockholm : Stockholms universitet, 2007.

Extensive witchcraft trials took place in Sweden between the years 1668 and 1676. Approximately three hundred individuals were executed during a period of very few years. However, far more common were trials of a more modest nature, concerning minor magic and malevolent witchcraft without aspects of diabolism. The present dissertation deals with these minor cases, which have previously attracted very little academic interest. The source material for this study comprises 353 cases (involving 880 individuals), submitted to the Göta Royal Superior Court by informants during the period 1635-1754. The area of jurisdiction covered by the Göta Royal Superior Court embraced the southernmost areas of Sweden. This study discusses witchcraft and magic trials from three perspectives: 1. The elite perspective (the acculturation model); 2. The functionalistic conflict perspective; and 3. The systems-oriented perspective of popular magic. Ideologically and religiously coloured perceptions of magic became more pervasive at the same time as the number of trials increased. This was caused by central administrative measures, which broadened the opportunities for pursuing cases on the local level. However, the increased influence of the dite cannot be characterized as a conquest of folk culture by the elite. It is more adequate to speak of a movement of repression, originating in a state become all the more civilized. Death sentences were few and far between and most of the cases concerned minor magic. There existed no independent popular level such as emerges in the reports from the proceedings of the trials. People clearly differentiated between different types of malevolent witchcraft when standing before the courts. They were more likely to go directly to trial when the signs preceding their misfortunes hinted at magical activity (viewed as sorcery), than they were when suspicions against witches were based on threats made in conflict situations. Witchcraft which had its basis in conflict situations appears to have been more dependent upon first receiving encouragement in the form of obliging courts, before people would take their cases to trial. This has created a pattern which ostensibly makes it seem that the level of social tensions was low, so that people therefore appeared indifferent toward malevolent witchcraft. Just as illusory is the competing image of an uninfluenced popular perception of witchcraft which actually emerges in the Göta Royal Superior Court. However, this does not mean that the actions of individuals was characterized by an assimilation of the values of the dominant culture. Receptivity to the signals of the elite was certainly clear, but at the same time the responses indicate a great deal of independence. Popular participation in witchcraft trials took place without any prerequisite profound cultural transformations. / digitalisering@umu

Bibliography : leaves 281-290. / xii, 290 leaves : maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Anthropology, 1994?

Civil servants with close access to monarchs have often been seen as influential advisers. A specific group of civil servants were the Royal Secretaries in Sweden and Spain, and the Secretaries of State in England and France. They all held offices which gave them close and continuous access to their masters. In all the above-mentioned countries these civil servants were recruited from among groups divergent from the political, social and economic elite. This discrepancy in social status was most apparent in Sweden and Spain. In Spain this led to a political conflict between secretaries and the aristocracy, which in turn led to the marginalization of the secretaries; in Sweden a similar political conflict remained unresolved throughout the century. In England and France the old establishment was able to enclose both the administration and its members. In Sweden the aristocracy failed to integrate this new office-holding nobility, thus laying the foundations for the strengthening of a homogeneous group which politically was strongly supportive of the monarchs. In France, England and Sweden the secretaries could use their offices to influence political decisions. This became a problem in Sweden since the Royal Secretaries within their own group were well-integrated by family and friendship connections. By supporting the monarchs, they themselves gained support and towards the end of the century these socially inferior civil servants had grown in importance and formed a politically important group alongside the established nobility. / digitalisering@umu

Zugl.: Göteborg, Handelshögskolan, Diss., 2007

Ordet läsning har och har haft olika betydelser. Studien undersöker hur ordet läsning varierats i svensk dagspress mellan år 1900–2016. Sammantaget identifieras 60–70 variationer av ordet. I studien undersöks även om det finns förändringar när dessa ordvariationer används. I studien kombineras två ämnesfält. Det är ämnesfältet läsning och dess historia och ämnesfältet språk och dess utveckling. Detta område undersöks ur ett biblioteks- och informationsvetenskapligt perspektiv, utifrån en teoribildning som beskriver en intensiv läsning, en extensiv läsning, en funktionell läsning, en informativ läsning och en digital läsning. Materialet till studien består av söksträngar insamlade från Kungliga bibliotekets dagspressarkiv. Dessa korta texter granskas med en metodkombination av verktyg från Informationsvetenskap och Systemisk funktionell textanalys. Resultatet visar att ord som relaterar till en intensiv läsning minskar i användning mellan år 1900–1930. Under samma tid ökar användningen av ord som beskriver ett tyst extensiv läsande. Analys av ord och ordstruktur lyfter betydelsen av det kollektiva läsandet. I början av seklet används ord som högläsning, uppläsning och föreläsning relaterade till folkrörelserna. År 1925, då radion får sitt genombrott, ökar användningen av ordet uppläsning. Under samma tid används ett ord som beskriver ett tydligt tal. Det är ordet välläsning. I söksträngarna återfinns en koppling mellan ordet välläsning och frasen dialekt borttagning. Ett tydligt läsuttal diskuteras under en tid då ett kollektivt läsande omskrivs, men en analys av hur ordet används pekar även på att det finns underliggande spänningar mellan dialekter och riksspråk. Under 1960-tal identifieras ett skifte där ord som beskriver en teoretiskt informativ läsning tar över efter ord som beskrivit en praktisk instruktiv läsning.

This thesis takes a historical approach to its subject and focuses on Swedish cinema of the 1940s and 1950s. The thesis argues that Swedish cinema experienced a renaissance in the 1940s, lasting approximately from 1940 to 1953. It further suggests that one of the most important filmmakers in this renaissance was Hasse Ekman. By focussing upon Ekman and this renaissance, a much-needed contextualisation of Ingmar Bergman will be achieved. Ingmar Bergman is one of the most well-known and well-researched filmmakers of all time, but there are still gaps in the material surrounding him, and one such gap concerns his cinematic origins. Bergman was a part of the 1940s renaissance, during which Bergman worked with, and was influenced by, other filmmakers and in particular Ekman. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the relevant literature and discusses ideas of authorship and national cinema. It also provides a historic overview of Swedish society and cinema during the 1940s and 1950s, providing the context needed to better understand the films of Ekman, and Bergman too. This part also looks at the 1930s to illustrate what came before this renaissance, and how the films of the 1940s differed from what had gone before. The second part is a chronological overview of Ekman's career from the late-1930s to his move to Spain in 1964. The last part is a discussion of Ekman's relation to Swedish society and his view of the world, based on close textual readings of his films. The aim of the thesis is to present, for the first time, a coherent and extensive overview of Ekman's career and body of work, while also situating it in the specific context in which it emerged, thereby shedding new light on an important, though neglected, episode in cinema history.