This thesis is aimed at investigating the concepts of otherness and the abject/abjection in the various characters' discourses in the two short stories "Dimensions" and "Child's Play" in Alice Munro's collection Too Much Happiness from a psychoanalytic perspective in conjunction with a Critical Discourse Analysis. Both texts share features of otherness which manifest in various forms in the characters. In "Dimensions" otherness has to do with insanity, domestic terror, and self-alienation in a dysfunctional marriage, whereas in "Child's Play" it concerns children's othering of a disabled young girl which eventually leads to her death. What both stories also show is that certain characters experience a sense of abjection or can be seen as embodying the abject, which eventually make them commit murder. Moreover, this thesis also argues that certain characters in both stories attempt to control and manipulate the course of events in both narratives even retrospectively. A psychoanalytical approach based on Jacques Lacan's and Julia Kristeva's theoretical framework in conjunction with Norman Fariclough's Critrical Discourse Analysis serve as the basis for this investigation.

I den här fallstudien undersöks fenomenet representation i nyhetsmedier genom att analysera hur kvinnliga våldtäktsoffer framställs i tryckt kvällspress i Sverige, ur ett kritiskt diskursanalytiskt perspektiv. Norman Faircloughs tredimensionella modell används för att genomföra analysen för att slutligen kunna besvara fallstudiens frågeställningar: Med hjälp av vilka lexikala val konstrueras kvinnliga våldtäktsoffer i Aftonbladet? samt, På vilket sätt utmanas eller reproduceras så kallade våldtäktsmyter i Aftonbladets rapportering om våldtäkter? Analysen lutar sig mot ett ramverk för att förstå de underliggande meningarna i texten. Ramverket består av gestaltningsteorin, genusforskning och våldtäktsmyter. Analysen genomförs på tre analysnivåer utifrån Faircloughs modell, med hjälp av två analysverktyg: lexikala val och aktörens konstruktion. Fallstudien analyserar de lingvistiska valen som gjorts, ur ett kritiskt synsätt, för att se de implicita betydelserna i texten.  I analysen av fallstudiens första frågeställning identifierades ett antal kategorier som delas in i tre olika teman: förövarens narrativ, svag och beskyllande. Resultatet visar att det kvinnliga våldtäktsoffret benämns minimalt i många av artiklarna och är snarare en del av förövarens historia. Det empiriska materialet visar hur olika stereotypa könsroller upprätthålls genom Aftonbladets framställningar av det kvinnliga våldtäktsoffret som rädd, hjälplös och som faller offer för den överordnade mannen. Genom rapporteringen skuldbeläggs hon till viss del för våldtäkten, både explicit och implicit. Fallstudiens andra frågeställning besvaras med hjälp av resultatet från den första frågeställning tillsammans med en djupare analys på en tredje analysnivå. Resultatet visar att Aftonbladets representation av våldtäkter och kvinnliga våldtäktsoffer har möjlighet att reproducera våldtäktsmyter genom deras rapportering.    Fallstudien lyfter mediernas potentiella inflytande över den samhälleliga förståelsen för fenomenet. Vidare diskuteras det huruvida Aftonbladet, och nyhetsmedier, potentiellt har möjlighet att påverka och forma diskurser i samhället om våldtäkter, offer och kön. / This case study examines the phenomenon of representation in the news media by analyzing how female rape victims are represented in the printed evening press in Sweden, from a critical discourse analysis perspective. Norman Fairclough's three-dimensional model is used to conduct the analysis in order to answer the case study's questions: “What lexical choices are used to construct female rape victims in Aftonbladet?” and “In what way are so-called rape myths challenged or reproduced in Aftonbladet's reporting on rape?” The analysis uses a framework to understand the underlying meanings of the text. The framework consists of framing theory, gender research and rape myths. The analysis is conducted on three levels of analysis based on Fairclough's model, using two analytical tools: use of lexical choices and the construction of the actor. The case study analyzes the linguistic choices made from a critical point of view to see the implicit meanings in the text.    When analyzing the first question of the case study, a number of categories were identified and then divided into three different themes: perpetrator's narrative, weak and blaming. In many articles, the female rape victim is minimally referred to and she is rather part of the perpetrator's story. The empirical material shows how the stereotypical gender roles are maintained through Aftonbladet's portrayal of the female rape victim as afraid, helpless and a victim of the superior man. Through the reporting, the woman is to some extent blamed for the rape, both explicitly and implicitly. The second question of the case study is answered using the results from the first question together with a deeper analysis on a third level. The results show that Aftonbladet's representation of rape and female rape victims has the potential to reproduce rape myths through their reporting.    The case study highlights the potential influence the media has on the societal understanding of the phenomenon. Furthermore, it discusses whether Aftonbladet, and news media, have the potential to influence and shape discourses in society about rape, victims and gender.

This study is focused on representations of power and masculinities in the movie “Warrior”(2011). By using the notion of interdiscursivity, as discussed by Norman Fairclough, my goal isto analyze how the roles of the characters relate to existing discourses in today’s society. I amprimarily interested in discourses revolving around MMA-fighters, masculinities and familyrelations.The movie to be analysed in this study is suited for interpreting new sorts of masculinitiesthrough the sport of MMA, which itself is fairly new and therefore might represent a new type ofmasculinity in the making. To be able to analyse this in the best possible way, I will be looking atmasculinities using a perspective developed by the Australian sociologist Raewyn Connell. Byrelating to four different dimensions of masculinity, this theory enables me to interpret whichtypes of masculinities, or combinations thereof, are presented in the film.

Public policies are often driven by a combination of factors, such as the elected government's political profile and the public opinion and pressure.  Media plays a vital role in documenting and educating public opinion on relevant issues, and that is not different for the feminist and LGBTQIA+ demands. This study analyses the Brazilian media representation of feminist movements through qualitative textual and visual analyses of selected news material from the two most prominent national newspapers ranging between 2010 and 2022. The study critically examines how the media has portrayed feminist movements in Brazil and therefore sheds light on the challenges faced by feminist activists in bringing these movements to the forefront of public discourse and driving public opinion in their favour. Overall, this thesis provides important insights into the role of the media in shaping public opinion and influencing policy outcomes. It also highlights the importance of media literacy in shaping public opinion and advancing social justice movements.

The climate crisis that the world is facing has resulted in a generally greater awareness about how climate friendly the products that we consume are. This has led companies all over the world to develop their sustainability marketing communication in order to attract consumers. As a fast fashion company, it could be quite a battle to communicate sustainability as it is stated that the textile industry has the greatest negative environmental impact on the climate today. H&M and Lindex are two Swedish-founded fast fashion companies which, among many others, have adapted their communication on their media channels to highlight the environmental friendliness for their consumers.  The purpose of this study was to investigate how H&M and Lindex communicate their sustainable marketing communication on their official websites. The theoretical framework used in the study is Framing theory and Public Relations. By applying a Critical Discourse Analysis based on Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis model the result of the study shows how the two fast fashion companies' sustainable communication is framed. The result of the study shows that both H&M and Lindex use sustainability in their marketing communication as a way to position themselves in the fashion market as active actors by highlighting their own sustainability achievements. By also urging consumers and other actors to contribute with sustainable and environmentally friendly measures, both brands create a role where they take social responsibility in engaging and encouraging a more sustainable world. Future goals and measures pursued in the companies’ sustainability work are also explained in both companies' web communication. Both brands also position themselves as a source of information for consumers, since  they inform them about how climate change can affect society. The differences that were found in the two companies' sustainable marketing communication were above all that Lindex, unlike H&M, places a greater focus on the empowerment of women in its sustainability communication.

This thesis explores the Twitter discourse surrounding French secularism, referred to as laïcité, and its interplay with Islam in France. The research aims to provide an in-depth synchronic analysis of patterns and Twitter users’ language and rhetoric when discussing the principle. Moreover, it attempts to examine the variations of these discussions based on their contextual relevance and Twitter’s algorithm. To achieve this, I conducted a Critical Discourse Analysis on three data sets containing the hashtag #laïcité and pertaining to discussions on France and Islam: The first set is a compilation of tweets from the 26th of March to the 1st of April 2023; the second set is a compilation of tweets following the Charlie Hebdo attacks, from the 8th of January to the 14th of January 2015; and the third set is a compilation of “Top Tweets” initiated by Twitter’s algorithm retrieved on the 4th of May 2023. The findings show a frequent instrumentalisation of laïcité to place the principle in elite and ideological discourses, discriminating against French Muslims. I identify two common discourses on #laïcité. First, laïcité is often associated with conservative France and is employed as a justification for propagating hate speech towards Islam and Muslims, especially on Twitter, where the platform's features and algorithm amplify this negative rhetoric. Second, laïcité is viewed as a critical aspect of French identity that frames the assimilation of French Muslims as the only way to comply with this principle.

The Swedish Food Agency is responsible for giving guidelines and recommendations for businesses producing, importing, selling, and serving agricultural products in Sweden. The general discourse of these guidelines and recommendations are based on the notion of safeguarding the consumer from potential risks and harms. The discourse is further based on the European Union legislation of good governance which dictates the terms and conditions for businesses operating withing the EU market. In this explorative feminist decolonial discourse analysis I am analyzing the guidelines and recommendations for businesses dealing with agricultural products in Sweden communicated on the Swedish Food Agency’s website. The analysis is investigating the colonial epistemic and ontological assumptions underpinning the discourse. The analysis concludes that the discourse is based on modern/colonial assumptions about whom is to be kept safe and from what, and which products, countries, and territories are not safe to consume from. The discourse assumes humans as a homogenous group separate from animals and plants, and assumes that modern-scientific knowledge production will safekeep all humans and animals, and that food, supplements, and medicines should be understood as separate categories of foods. It is within and through these assumptions that the coloniality is being produced and reproduced in the discourse of the Swedish Food Agency. The discourse allows little to no room for other ontological and epistemic ways of relation to production, distribution and consumption of agricultural products. The discourse is limiting Swedish businesses in their ability to explore decolonial and unconventional business practices through border thinking, being, and doing at the colonial difference by engaging with other ways of relating to the world and the production, distribution, and consumption of food of the land.

In today's modern society we are highly exposed to different media in our everyday life, and individuals may spend a large part of their time taking part in media debates, news and other information shared on different media channels. Through this, news media have become an influential factor for how individuals in today's society perceive and construct reality, and consequently the public's perception of crime. This critical analysis strives to elucidate how crime in Malmö is presented in Swedish newspapers. This report is centered on which discourses emerge throughout the chosen empirical material, how different crime types are presented and how victims and perpetrators are constructed in this material. By studying how Malmö is presented through a commonly used news media source, it is possible to uncover how collective understandings of crime are created and affirmed, which is essential in order to be able to influence this established (but arguably somewhat radical) image. Newspapers' presentation of Malmö differs from the description of other major cities in Sweden, and Malmö is often illustrated as a dangerous or unsafe city with high crime rates. The perception of crime in Malmö given through the official statistics are overshadowed by news media's accentuation of violent and lethal crime. A skewed division of crime reporting, may therefore be an important factor for the public's perception of crime in Malmö. Crimes are depicted as an effect of larger societal problems and an integral part of everyday life. Few articles dispute the established image of Malmö as dangerous, and the few who do only briefly highlight this to an extremely limited extent, resulting in the preservation and reproduction of the majority's presentation of Malmö as a dangerous or unsecure city.

Cybersecurity is an increasingly important topic to all actors from the private individuals to international institutions. The borderless nature of the internet has however made it more difficult for nation states to take care of their own security and institutions like the EU are also coping with the difficulties of defending themselves from attacks that can affect practically any part of the system and cause wide-spread damage. The EU has tried to address these issues by publishing strategies to improve the cybersecurity of the Union and its Member States. This thesis studies the discourse that is used by the Union in its strategies from 2013 and 2020. This is done to determine how the EU portrays each level, the national, institutional, or private and how responsible they are for the cybersecurity in the Union and to see how this discourse has changed in the previous few years. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of neofunctionalism and historical institutionalism which are used to explain the direction of the development of the EU’s discourse. The study is conducted using critical discourse analysis and qualitative content analysis. The findings of the analysis suggest that there is noticeable shift to the EU taking more responsibility and actions to ensure its cybersecurity. Similarly it seems remarkable how the importance of the private sector seems to have diminished in the newer discourse.

Since the publication of A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), Berliner and Biddle (1995) have argued media have assisted leaders in creating a “manufactured crisis” (p. 4) about America’s public schools to scapegoat educators, push reforms, and minimize societal problems, such as systemic racism and declining economic growth, particularly in urban areas. The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act (2001) functions as an important articulation of this crisis (Granger, 2008). Utilizing the theoretical lenses of master narrative theory (Lyotard, 1984), Critical Race Theory (Delgado & Stefancic, 2001), and social capital theory (Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman 1988), this study employed critical discourse analysis (Reisigl & Wodak, 2009) to unmask the mainstream media’s master narrative, or dominant story, about Victory High School (VHS), which was reconstituted under the authority of the NCLB Act (2001). Findings revealed a master narrative that racialized economic competition, vilified community members, and exonerated neoliberal reforms. Drawing on the critical race methodology of counter-narratives (Yosso, 2006), individual and focus group interviews with 12 VHS teachers, alumni, and community elders illustrated how reforms fragmented this school community, destroying collective social capital, while protecting the interests of capitalism and neoliberalism. By revealing the interests protected by the media’s master narrative and beginning a counter-narrative voiced by members of the community, this study contributes to recasting the history of the VHS community, to understanding the intersections between race and class in working class communities of color, and to exposing the impact of neoliberal educational reforms on urban schools.