La représentation de Satan et de ses différentes dénominations a constitué un sujet majeur de l’histoire de l’art occidental chrétien des premiers siècles de notre ère jusqu’au début du vingtième siècle. Alors que nous estimions le thème définitivement abandonné suite au fort recul de la pensée religieuse – notamment de la croyance au Diable – dans les sociétés actuelles, nous relevons que l’art contemporain lui accorde une place prépondérante dans sa production et ses manifestations. Le constat de ce décalage ostensible est à l’origine de la volonté d’étudier les raisons, les expressions et les conséquences qui accompagnent la présence de Satan dans l’art d’aujourd’hui. Pour rendre compte de cette discordance, cette thèse se scinde en trois mouvements : une étude comparative de l’histoire de la figure entre son passé et son présent, puis de sa disparition relative à sa réincarnation effective ; une analyse du traitement de l’imagerie diabolique par les artistes, et des messages qu’ils transmettent à travers elle ; une réflexion sur la survie théorique de la figure, et sur le silence du monde de l’art face à l’omniprésence de sa représentation. Le «retour» du Diable s’explique par deux raisons principales : détaché de ses racines théologiques, il est devenu aisément manipulable ; héritière de son glorieux passé, son image possède une force symbolique irremplaçable. La figure de Satan dans l’art contemporain est le reflet de nos sociétés, de nos angoisses, et de nos espoirs de libération – symptôme et possible remède. Vouloir l’ignorer revient à refuser d’affronter la préoccupante situation sociopolitique du monde : un vœu pieux potentiellement dangereux. / The representation of Satan in his various denominations has constituted a major topic for Western Christian art history, from the first centuries A.D. to the beginning of the twentieth century. While, following the large decline of religious thought and of the belief in the Devil, the theme was considered as permanently obsolete in our present day societies, we notice that contemporary art provides it a leading place in its productions and expressions. The genuine will to study the reasons, the manifestations and the consequences accompanying the presence of Satan in today’s art comes from the observation of this blatant discrepancy. In order to figure out this discordance, this thesis is divided in three parts: a comparative study of the figure between its past and its present, then from its relative disappearance to its effective reincarnation; an analysis of the diabolical imagery as it is treated by artists, and of the messages they deliver through it; a reflection on the theoretical survival of the figure, and on the art world’s silence in the face of his omnipresent representation. The Devil’s “come back” can be explained by two main reasons: cut from his theological roots, this character is easily maneuverable; his image possesses an irreplaceable strength inherited from his glorious past. The figure of Satan in contemporary art mirrors our societies, our fears, our hope for liberation – a symptom and a possible remedy. To try to avoid it is to refuse to contend with the worrying socio-political situation of the world: a potentially dangerous vain wish.

Esoterismens förekomst i konst- och kulturlivet i Sverige är särskilt utmärkande under sekelskiftet. Fenomenet har tidigare funnits i samhället men genom lagstiftningar marginaliserats till det övre samhällsskiktet och därmed förbjöds allmänheten från sådana praktiker. Esoteriska praktiker och idéer om verkligheten kan däremot spåras i modernismens konstnärliga rörelser som symbolism och abstrakt konst. Hilma af Klint var en av de konstnärerna som praktiserade esoterism och förmedlade dess ideologier i sina verk. Uppsatsens syfte är att lyfta fram fenomenet i konst under sekelskiftet och studera hur det etablerades, samt vilken effekt hade det i konst-och kulturlivet? Hur kom de esoteriska influenserna till uttryck i konst? Hur kan dess effekter spåras i ett konstnärskap? Uppsatsen utgörs av två huvudkapitel, som undersöker den esoteriska kontexten, budskapsförmedlingen i konstverk samt dess effekt i af Klints konstnärskap. Undersökningen visar att esoterism spreds till följd av modernitetens innovationer. De skapade de rätta förutsättningarna för esoterismens etablering och influerande i konst-och kulturlivet under tiden. Kultursfärens transnationella resor bidrog också till approprierande av esoteriska idéer i andra europeiska länder, som inte begränsades av lagstiftningar. Sådana idéer togs med hem till Sverige och spreds. Det abstraherade bildspråket i konstverken är sprungen ur esoteriska praktiker som seanser och automatism, samt dess verklighetsföreställningar. Därför kan bildspråket anses vara symbolladdat och refererande. Sådan konst kräver en betraktare initierad i de esoteriska visdomarna för uttolkningen av det symboliska meddelandet. Den insikten resulterade i slutsatsen att marginaliseringen av esoterismen till övresamhällsskiktet var med syftet att bevara den visdomen bland invigda i de esoteriska kunskaperna. Konstnärer som af Klint etablerade inom den kontexten, bör således omvärderas från enbart abstrakta, till möjligen missionerande spirituella sådana, som sökte återge och etablera esoteriska ideologier.

The main aim of this thesis is to contribute to the enlargement of the knowledge base about the crucial historic period of the -Velvet Revolution‖ and the subsequent transition period. The key sources were interviews with the professional and interest groups of active esoterics, performed using the oral history method. The text is also based on information from The National Archive, the Czech Television archive, the The Archive of Security Forces and relevant literature. Given the specific nature of this topic, this thesis reflects the impact of the new social order in the period after 1989 on the professional and private life of the selected sample of narrators and offers a view on the interaction between the witnesses and the state and the general public. Another aim of this research was to extend the existing knowledge about the esoteric scene in the period after 1989. Nevertheless, it does not aspire to provide a definitive list of various esoteric disciplines in the early transformation period. Additional topics concerning the socialist dictatorship are included to provide a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon. This part analyses the attitude of the communist ideology to esoterism. This thesis also deals with the motivation of the interview subjects leading them to develop this interest...

With this essay my aim is to uncover the content in the discography of the Swedish Black Metal act Watain in respect to lyrically expressed religious themes revolving around the tendencies within occulture and the Black Metal scene. To investigate the matter I have combined quantitative and qualitative analysis methods from the fields of corpus linguistics as well as content analysis, which provided me with an array of key words and their respective concordances (Key Word In Context, KWIC) in the texts. Through the analysis three overlapping main themes became apparent: satanism, gnosticism and finally apocalypticism. I described each of the themes in detail based on my linguistic findings in the corpus so as to yield a deeper understanding of the religious symbols communicated in the material and their interrelationship. The result was that neither one of these could be explained in isolation as they are all part of a larger system of philosophy, namely the esoteric movement chaos-gnosticism tied to the Swedish order Temple of the Black Light, but also products of occulture. The discussion proved that, although satanism may seem to be the thematical centerpoint in Watain’s lyrics, it is not, as this is a far too simple conclusion in relation to the complexity of the results. Instead, the content requires to be understood in terms of the dark Left-Hand Path spirituality as well as the occultural melting pot of paranormal and occult ideas. / <p>För att få tillgång till mitt korpus och mina korpusresultat hänvisar jag till min privata e-post adress hans.jonsall@gmail.com alternativt att man kontaktar mig via sociala medier.</p>