Under en lång tid har Harlequin-romaner och romantiska fantasier varit populära bland kvinnor. Den klassiska berättelsen om hjältinnan som finner kärleken med den perfekta mannen är specifikt riktad mot kvinnor. Det har forskats kring dessa romantiska fantasier, men det saknas forskning om hur dessa romantiska fantasier representerar maskuliniteten bland de manliga karaktärerna. Målet med det här arbetet är att försöka fylla en del av det tomrummet. Med hjälp av William Labovs narrativa modell och en kvalitativ textanalys har jag analyserat två filmer inom genren chick flick, Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) och Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason (2004). Min analys visar att maskuliniteterna som framställs i romantiska berättelser följer väldigt stereotypiska maskulina drag. Exempelvis använder sig de manliga karaktärerna ofta av fysiskt våld för att visa sin manliga dominans och genom att vinna i ett slagsmål vill de visa vem som är den bästa mannen för Bridget Jones. / Harlequin novels and romantic fantasies have been popular with women for a number of years. The classic story of the heroine finding her true love with the perfect man is directed specifically to women, for their enjoyment. While there have been studies about the romantic fantasies themselves, there’s a distinct lack of research on how these romantic fantasies portray the male characters and their masculinity. This study is a step towards filling that gap. Using a combination of William Labov’s narrative model, as well as a qualitative textanalysis, to examine two chick flicks, Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001) and Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason (2004), I have found that the masculinities portrayed in romantic fantasies follow very stereotypical male behavior. For example, the male characters will often resort to physical violence to prove their male dominance and by winning a fight they want to prove that they are the right man for Bridget Jones.

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In the chapters of my thesis, I explore how "soft" consciousness-raising novels of the first, second and third-waves of feminism practice underground feminism by covertly exposing women's socio-political issues outside of the confines of feminist rhetoric. In moving away from the negative connotations of political language, the authors enable the education of female audiences otherwise out of reach. Working from and extending on various theorists, I construct a theoretical model for what I term underground feminism. Running on the principal of conducting feminist activism without using feminist rhetoric, underground feminism challenges the notion that "subtle" feminism means weak feminism. In illustrating how underground feminism works in novels and in physical activism, I hope to encourage the recognition of the political utility of women's writings that do not fit the strict archetypes of feminist authorship. Analyzing the effectiveness of covert feminist conversion narratives, I discuss one soft consciousness-raising novel for each wave. The novels - Sarah Grand's The Heavenly Twins (1893), Dorothy Bryant's Ella Price's Journal (1972), and Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (1996) - accused by scholars of employing weak feminist politics, are investigated as feminist literature that disidentifies with the feminist label with the possibility of facilitating a wide spread conversion process in "would be" feminists. After analyzing how the novels place women's issues at the center of discourse by discussing female education, women's voice, and narrative control, I consider how the underground feminism implicit in the texts extends to activism outside of literature. I also end by arguing that these novels enable a more intricate conversation about women's issues in which the voices of both self-identified and non-identified feminists are recognized.

This thesis explores the relationship of the Sermo Angelicus of St. Birgitta of Sweden, written in the fourteenth century, with the Nativity/Concert of Angels panel of the Isenheim Altarpiece, painted by Matthias Grunewald in 1514 for a hospital and monastery run by the Antonite Order. Taking into consideration the context of the altarpiece, this thesis analyzes its iconography in relation to specific passages from the Sermo Angelicus, suggesting that the text was a possible source used by the Antonites in the Nativity/Concert of Angels panel. By doing so, parallel themes of salvation in both the text and the panel are discovered that in turn relate to the altarpiece in its entirety and present a message fashioned specifically for those patients at the hospital at Isenheim that viewed the altarpiece.

This papers purpose is to compare the female protagonist as a subject and reader in Madame Bovary, Watermelon and Bridget Jones´s diary. The aim is feministic, where Judith Butler’s concepts of subjectivity and performativity have been used besides the method of close reading. These novels are pioneering works of each genre; the realistic novel and chick lit. Emma Bovary loses her subjectivity and turns in to a passive object when she is desired and looked at by men. Instead dead objects gets animated, which produces an extremely objectifying portrait of Emma. This culminates with the depiction of her suicide. Surprisingly Emma’s position as a subject, if she ever has one, appears through her reading. The performativity of the texts gives her power and agency to try to change her life within the limits of the bourgeoisie marriage. The protagonists of Watermelon and Bridget Jones´s diary are two female subjects in a modern society, who loves reading. Despite their different opportunities to live fulfilling lives, as compared to Emma, they tend to objectify themselves in relationship to men. They also emphasize the importance of love and having a man in their life, which is according to the genre. Interpreted through Butler, an explanation could be that the power of submission not only sets the outer limits, it also influences our internal desires. These chick lit-novels also discuss literature and cultural hierarchy, where the protagonists tend to prefer popular literature. Watermelon also contains an opening for subversion, depicted by Claire’s achieved independency at the end of the novel, and through some gender-parodies. Most of all, these two chick lit-novels tend to reiterate and consolidate a traditional gender-order through their performativity, although ironizing over the same. Keywords: Reading, genre, realistic novel, chick lit, feminism, Judith Butler, subjectivity, performativity, Madame Bovary, Watermelon, Bridget Jones´s diary. / Uppsatsens syfte har varit att analysera och jämföra den kvinnliga protagonisten som subjekt och läsare i tre romaner; Madame Bovary, Vattenmelonen och Bridget Jones dagbok. Metoden har varit närläsning och den teoretiska ingången feministisk och normkritisk. Judit Butlers teorier har varit tongivande, inte minst begreppen subjekt och performativitet. Resultaten visade bland annat att Emma Bovary tenderar att förlora sin roll som subjekt och förvandlas till ett passivt objekt när hon blir betraktad och åtrådd av män. Istället animeras döda ting som får liv och börjar agera som subjekt, vilket skapar en extremt objektifierad gestaltning av Emma som kulminerar i gestaltningen av hennes självmord. Om det alls går att finna någon subjektsposition hos Emma, uppstår den paradoxalt nog genom hennes läsning. Texternas performativitet skapar förvisso orimliga förväntningar på kärleken, men får även Emma att förändra sitt liv inom de snäva ramar 1800-talets borgerliga äktenskap innebär. Protagonisterna i Vattenmelonen och Bridget Jones dagbok är två kvinnliga subjekt som lever i ett modernt samhälle och liksom Emma älskar de att läsa. I dessa romaner förs även en diskussion kring litteratur och kulturella hierarkier. Alla tre protagonister i de undersökta romanerna kan kategoriseras som passionerade läsare och de föredrar att läsa populärlitteratur. I Vattenmelonen och Bridget Jones dagbok har protagonisterna helt andra förutsättningar till självförverkligande och att leva ett självständigt liv, jämfört med Emma Bovary. Trots detta tenderar både Claire och Bridget att objektifiera sig i sina relationer till män. De verbaliserar ofta vikten av kärlek och att ha en man i sitt liv, vilket också är genretypiskt. Tolkat enligt Butler (och Foucault) är förklaringen till detta ”frivilliga” förtryck att underordning inte enbart skapas genom yttre begränsningar, utan även genom påverkan av människors inre, via internaliserade drömmar och önskningar. I Vattenmelonen finns trots allt en subversiv ansats, vilken gestaltas genom Claires nyvunna självständighet i slutet av romanen, samt i förekomsten av ett antal genusparodier. Mest av allt tenderar dock dessa två chick lit-romaner att återupprepa och befästa traditionella genusmönster, trots att de samtidigt ironiserar över dessa.

Although two hundred years separate Jane Austen and Helen Fielding and, subsequently, also their portrayals of society, the similarities outweigh the differences. When juxtaposing Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones’s Diary in the light of feminism it is evident that both books provide clear examples of the prevailing situation of women in each time and place. The aspects of the study, which are especially important today, show both the development and some degree of stagnation of women’s rights and identities.

<p>In this essay I compare the notion of the accomplished woman in Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice and Helen Fielding’s novels about Bridget Jones. My claim is that the notion of the accomplished woman that Austen described 200 years ago is still very relevant and not much different today as reflected in Helen Fielding’s narrative in Bridget Jones, but also that both authors satirically describe the pressure that is put on women to reach the ideal of the accomplished woman. I initially discuss feminist literary theory, and then I analyze the following characteristics and ideas which make up the accomplished woman: Physical appearance, Education & Knowledge, Marriage & Having Children, Career and Skills, Status & Class and Manners & Behaviour. This essay shows that the notion of the accomplished woman is still very much present and in some cases, like physical appearance, the pressure on women to reach this ideal has actually gotten worse. Both Jane Austen and Helen Fielding use irony and satirically describe the pressure on young women as a way of actually criticizing their contemporary societies.</p>

Avhandlingen syftar till att jämföra och förstå variationen av historiebruk i samband med minnesfiranden av heliga Birgitta i Sverige och hellig Olav i Norge med fokus på olika aktörers motiv, resurser, budskap och identitetsskapande processer i en tid av modernisering och sekularisering. Under den katolska medeltiden var helgonfiranden vanliga, men de förbjöds i samband med reformationen. I slutet av 1800-talet, samtidigt med omvandligen av de båda länderna till moderna industri-samhällen, väcktes återigen intresset för dessa helgonfiranden. Det var bland annat liberala rörelser som brukade helgonen för att förankra de förändringsprocesser, som man ville göra, i historien. Heliga Birgitta användes i Sverige av kvinnorörelsen som en medeltida förebild i kampen för ökat inflytande i samhälle. Hellig Olav blev under samma tid i Norge en symbol för nationell självständighet i kampen för upplösning av unionen med Sverige. För den katolska kyrkan, som under 1800-talet åter fick verka i de båda protestantiska länderna, blev bruken av heliga Birgitta och hellig Olav en historisk länk till medeltidens kyrka och för att därigenom legitimera sin verksamhet, medan de lutherska kyrkorna tog avstånd från dessa firanden. I avhandlingen följs utvecklingen av dessa minnesfiranden i relation till samhällsförändringarna. På 1920-talet väcktes även de lutherska kyrkornas och det offentliga samhällets intresse för Birgitta- och Olavjubileer. Genom det ekumeniska genombrottet på 1970-talet och kyrkornas ökade engagemang i sociala och kulturella frågor efter Andra Vatikankonciliet blev jubileerna arenor då den ekumeniska gemenskapen och kulturella öppenheten synliggjordes vilket bidrog till att bredda intresset för dessa firanden. Detta förstärktes i tiden kring sekelskiftet 2000 samtidigt som engagemanget från det offent-liga samhället och kommersiella aktörer ökade. Författaren ser utvecklingen av dessa jubileer som uttryck för olika identitetsprocesser. Hellig Olavs roll som en nationell symbol har varit mycket tydlig medan heliga Birgitta framför allt symboli-serat Sveriges internationella roll. Orter som varit viktiga i helgonberättelserna har brukat helgontradi-tionerna i lokala identitetsprocesser vilket allt mer betonats genom turismens ökade betydelse. Jubile-erna har även öppnat för individuella identitetsprocesser med helgonen som religiösa förebilder. För kvinnorörelser har heliga Birgitta genomgående under åren framförts som en viktig förebild. I avhandlingen diskuteras även hur det ökade intresset för firanden av heliga Birgitta och hellig Olav förhåller sig till teorin om den ökade sekulariseringen i det moderna samhället. Med stöd av religionssociologisk forskning diskuteras detta samband. En religiös pluralism kan öka det religiösa utbudet och därmed även ”konsumtionen” av religion. Många kombinerar även det moderna samhällets rationalitet med irrationella föreställningar och upplevelser. / The aim of this thesis is to compare and understand the variations in the use of history in connection with the commemorations of S. Bridget and S. Olav while focussing on different participants’ motives, assets, messages and identity construction processes in an era of modernization and secularization. During the Catholic Middle Ages, celebrations of saints were common, but after the Reformation they were forbidden. At the end of the 19th century, parallel to the development of modern industrial societies in Sweden and Norway, a new interest in celebrating the national saints was aroused. It was mostly the liberal movements who made use of the saints in order to establish the changes they wanted to do in the past. S. Bridget was used by the women´s-rights movements as a role model from the middle ages in the struggle for more influence in society. In Norway, S. Olav was held up as a symbol for national independence in the struggle for the dissolution of the union with Sweden. For the Catho-lic Church, which was re-established in both countries in the 19th century, their use of S. Bridget and S. Olav became a historical link to the medieval church and as a means to authorize their activities. On the other hand, the Lutheran churches repudiated these celebrations of saints. This thesis follows the development of the commemorations in relation to the changes in the socie-ties. In the 1920s the Lutheran churches and the public bodies became interested and involved in cele-brating S. Bridget and S. Olav. After the radical change of the ecumenical climate in the 1970s and a stronger ecclesiastical engagement in the social and cultural life after the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, the commemorations became arenas where the ecumenical fellowship and cultural openness were visible. These events also promoted a growing general interest in these celebrations. This was strengthened around the year 2000 and at the same time the engagement from the public bodies and commercial players increased. The author describes the development of these commemorations as expressions of different identity construction processes. S. Olav became a national symbol while S.Bridget became primarily a symbol for Sweden in the international community. Places with important roles in the stories about the saints have used the traditions in local identity processes. This has been increasingly emphasised because of the growing importance of tourism. The celebrations have also opened the possibility for individual identity processes with the saints as important models. For women´s-rights movements S. Bridget has been used as a strong ideal. The thesis also discusses how the growing interest for commemorating S. Bridget and S. Olav is linked to the theory of secularization of modern society. This connection is discussed in relation to research in the sociology of religion. Religious pluralism can increase the religious supply and thereby also the “consumption” of religion and many people seems to combine the rationality of the modern society with irrational ideas and experiences without difficulties.

In this essay I compare the notion of the accomplished woman in Jane Austen’s Pride &amp; Prejudice and Helen Fielding’s novels about Bridget Jones. My claim is that the notion of the accomplished woman that Austen described 200 years ago is still very relevant and not much different today as reflected in Helen Fielding’s narrative in Bridget Jones, but also that both authors satirically describe the pressure that is put on women to reach the ideal of the accomplished woman. I initially discuss feminist literary theory, and then I analyze the following characteristics and ideas which make up the accomplished woman: Physical appearance, Education &amp; Knowledge, Marriage &amp; Having Children, Career and Skills, Status &amp; Class and Manners &amp; Behaviour. This essay shows that the notion of the accomplished woman is still very much present and in some cases, like physical appearance, the pressure on women to reach this ideal has actually gotten worse. Both Jane Austen and Helen Fielding use irony and satirically describe the pressure on young women as a way of actually criticizing their contemporary societies.

The purpose of this study is to introduce the ten documents, written in the Italian language, registered by Riksarkivet, Stockholm. The oldest document being written in 1346 and the last one in 1520, they all belong to the European medieval period. The study provides the texts (sometimes contracted, sometimes partly translated from Latin), the cultural backgrounds to the texts and possible reasons why they are written in Italian. An additional question concerning the existence of people in Medieval Sweden who were able to read and understand Italian texts is discussed. The importance of the extension of the Italian language in the Mediterranean area as well as in the Levant is referred to as an explanation of the use of Italian in the documents. Important motives of the fact that some of the documents are being found in the Swedish archive are the activities of the Swedish Expeditions to the Vatican library as well as the life of Bridget of Sweden, who played an outstanding role in the political, cultural and political life in Europe in the fourteenth century. A short background to the studies at the Studio of Siena of a number of Swedish students is given and also to the foundation of the University of Uppsala. The study is concluded by presenting an evaluation of the ten documents.