In this essay, Hanya Yanagihara’s main characters from the novel A Little Life (2015) are analyzed, with the basis of gender stereotypes and with the help of Raewyn Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity. It argues that the characters in question challenge the typical gender roles in the way that they are lacking in comparison to Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity and are portrayed with feminine attributes. Yanagihara’s portrayal of masculinity creates a depth to the characters in questions and a more complex view of masculinity. / I denna uppsatsen analyseras Hanya Yanagiharas fyra huvudkaraktärer i boken Ett Litet Liv (2015) utifrån könsstereotyper samt med hjälp av Raewyn Connells teori om hegemonisk maskulinitet. Den argumenterar för att karaktärerna utmanar de typiska könsrollerna genom att de inte når upp till den hegemoniska maskuliniteten och visas med feminina attribut. Sättet Yanagihara visar upp maskulinitet skapar ett djup om karaktärerna och en mer komplex syn på maskulinitet.

I denna kandidatuppsats har ett utdrag ur Hanya Yanagiharas roman The People in the Trees analyserats och översatts från engelska till svenska utifrån ett såväl postkolonialt som sociolingvistiskt perspektiv. Översättningen är huvudsakligen interventionistisk och experimentell till sin natur, och är utförd i enlighet med Lawrence Venutis främmandegörande strategi samt med utgångspunkt från Tejaswini Niranjanas poststrukturalistiska syn på översättning i en postkolonial kontext. Översättningen har även kommenterats utförligt med särskilt fokus på hur olika slags asymmetriska maktrelationer kommer till uttryck rent språkligt, och i detta avseende har bl.a. Norman Faircloughs version av kritisk diskursanalys varit behjälplig. Kandidatuppsatsen avslutas med en ansats till syntes i vilken några av de slutsatser som kan dras av innehållet i föreliggande arbete redogörs för kortfattat. / This thesis contains both an analysis and a translation into Swedish of an excerpt from Hanya Yanagihara’s novel The People in the Trees. Both analysis and translation have been conducted using a postcolonial and sociolinguistic theoretical framework. The translation is of a predominantly interventionistic and experimental nature, and has been done with Lawrence Venuti’s foreignizing method in mind, as well as with Tejaswini Niranjana’s poststructuralist view of postcolonial translation. The translation has also been extensively commented upon with an emphasis on how different kinds of asymmetrical power relations are manifested in terms of language use. To this end, Norman Fairclough’s version of critical discourse analysis has been especially helpful. The thesis concludes with a brief summarizing chapter in which certain conclusions are drawn from the present study.

The main aim of this thesis was to evaluate the effect of prednisolone and valaciclovir in a large number of Bell's palsy patients. The incidence and intensity of pain around the ear, in the face or in the neck during the first two months of palsy, and its prognostic value, was also assessed. We also investigated how study design and choice of analysis method affect the rate of facial recovery. Furthermore, the agreement between the Sunnybrook, House-Brackmann and Yanagihara facial grading systems was evaluated. From May 2001 to September 2007, a prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre trial with 12-month follow-up was performed in patients with Bell's palsy. Of 839 randomised patients, 829 were included in the intention-to-treat analysis; 206 received placebo plus placebo, 210 prednisolone plus placebo, 207 valaciclovir plus placebo, and 206 prednisolone plus valaciclovir. Time to recovery was significantly shorter in the 416 patients who received prednisolone compared with the 413 who did not (p<0.0001). At 12 months, 300 of 416 patients (72%) in the prednisolone group had recovered compared with 237 of 413 patients (57%) in the no prednisolone group (p<0.0001). Valaciclovir was not found to affect time to facial recovery or outcome at 12 months. Prednisolone and/or valaciclovir did not affect the incidence or intensity of pain. Presence of pain at day 11 to 17 indicated a worse prognosis for facial recovery at 12 months. We also found that recovery rates in a Bell's palsy trial are substantially affected by the choice of analysis method and definition of facial recovery. We used weighted Kappa statistics in 100 examinations of patients with facial palsy to assess the agreement between the Sunnybrook, House-Brackmann and Yanagihara scales. The highest agreement was found between the regional Sunnybrook and Yanagihara scales. An evaluative difference between the Sunnybrook and House-Brackmann systems was observed.