A close reading of a series of books by Eoin Colfer that enjoyed universal success showed a change in the language between the books especially with respect to minor linguistic features such as choice of location and abstract vs. concrete language. The books are about the boy Artemis Fowl, and were presumably conceived as children’s books. My original thesis was that the writer could not be sure of the success of the first book, but would definitely be aware of a worldwide audience for at least his third book, due to, for example, questions raised by the translators. If the original audience was expected to be Irish, or British, with very much the same cultural background as the author’s, the imagined subsequent audiences would change with success. My hope was to be able to show this by comparing linguistic features. And indeed, even though some changes could be due to coincidence there was a specific pattern evolving in the series, in that the originally Irish cultural background became less exclusive and more universal. The writer also used more details concerning locations, with added words to specify a place. What could thus be expected in the translated versions would be omissions and additions in especially the first book, but less need for that in later books. This, however, could not be proven in the Swedish translations. I thus conclude that the books became easier to follow for a wider, in this case Swedish, audience mostly because of efforts by the author and less because of the translator.

This thesis examines issues of cultural identity and modernity, and the anthropology of spirituality and sacred sites by conducting ethnographic research on fairy beliefs in contemporary Ireland. Irish folk belief has traditionally identified a spirit world intertwined with our own which is inhabited by spirits, often collectively referred to as fairies. Belief in these spirits was once widespread. My research sought to determine the prevalence of these traditional beliefs among modern Irish people within my research area, as well as differences in belief across variables including age, gender, and religious preference. I conducted eight weeks of ethnographic fieldwork during June-August 2008 in and around Sligo Town in County Sligo, Ireland. I selected County Sligo as a research site because it is a sparsely populated, largely rural area, identified in an earlier major study of Irish folklore as a region where belief in the Irish spirit world persisted more strongly than in other parts of the country. My primary research methodology was to conduct structured and unstructured interviews, complemented by visual site surveys. In the preparation of this thesis I utilized data from 52 Sligo residents plus ten other visitors to the area from surrounding Irish counties. While my research suggests that few Sligo residents from the project area continue to believe in the literal existence of fairies, it also shows a much more common belief in a "power" associated with sites identified as "fairy forts," which are natural features of the landscape or the remains of ancient burials or dwellings apocryphally endowed by folk tradition with supernatural or mysterious energies. These beliefs led to a taboo against intruding on, altering, or destroying these "forts" that is still very much alive today. Additionally I was able to discuss at length the subject of the Irish death-herald spirit called the banshee (bean sidhe) with several study participants. Although it can be classified under the umbrella label of "fairy", my research indicates that the banshee is seen as a stand-apart element of Irish tradition by research area residents, and is believed in by those who do not otherwise profess a belief in "fairies" in general.

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This thesis focuses on the significance of blood and the perception of the body in both learned and popular culture in order to investigate problems of identity and social exclusion in early modern Europe. Starting from the view of blood as a liminal matter, manifesting fertile, positive aspects in conjunction with dangerous, negative ones, I show how it was believed to attract supernatural forces within the natural world. It could empower or pollute, restore health or waste corporeal and spiritual existence. While this theme has been studied in a medieval religious context and by anthropologists, its relevance during the early modern period has not been explored. I argue that, considering the impact of the Reformation on people’s mentalities, studying the way in which ideas regarding blood and the body changed from late medieval times to the eighteenth century can provide new insights about patterns of social and religious tensions, such as the witch-trials and persecutions. In this regard the thesis engages with anthropological theories, comparing the dialectic between blood and body with that between identity and society, demonstrating that they both spread from the conflict of life with death, leading to the social embodiment or to the rejection of an individual. A comparative approach is also employed to analyze blood symbolism in Protestant and Catholic countries, and to discuss how beliefs were influenced by both cultural similarities and religious differences. Combining historical sources, such as witches’ confessions, with appropriate examples from anthropology I also examine a corpus of popular ideas, which resisted to theological and learned notions or slowly merged with them. Blood had different meanings for different sections of society, embodying both the physical struggle for life and the spiritual value of the Christian soul. Chapters 2, 3 and 4 develop the dualism of the fluid in late medieval and early modern ritual murder accusations against Jews, European witchcraft and supernatural beliefs and in the medical and philosophical knowledge, while chapters 5 and 6 focus on blood themes in Protestant England and in Counter-Reformation Italy. Through the examination of blood in these contexts I hope to demonstrate that contrasting feelings, fears and beliefs related to dangerous or extraordinary individuals, such as Jews, witches, and Catholic saints, but also superhuman beings such as fairies, vampires and werewolves, were rooted in the perception of the body as an unstable substance, that was at the base of ethnic, religious and gender stereotypes.