This study aims to research the progress and evolution of the Swedish medical discourse regarding childbed fever. Several texts that are considered to be part of said discourse have been chosen, the earliest being Dr. Joseph Elliot's book regarding childbed fever from 1844 and the latest being two articles from the Swedish midwifery and women's health journal Jordemodern from 1903. During this time several discoveries on the subject of hygiene and antiseptics took place in Europe, leading to a quick development in the medical field eventually making its way to Sweden. This knowledge led to a hypothesis that the definition, belived causes and desirable measures taken to control the outbreaks of childbed fever, would change from 1844 to 1903.  By analyzing these sources through a genus theoretical framework a change was indeed found. The disease was originally belived to be airborne and none of the taken measures had any effect. By 1903 the germ theory had arrived and settled in the Swedish medical discourse and it became widely known that the disease was transmitted from doctors and midwifes to the patient by contact and appropriate measures could be taken.  Lastly the studiy aims to present a viable way to use this information in a classroom situation related to the syllabus for both primary and upper secondary school.

Denna uppsats presenterar en kritisk diskursanalytisk studie av den svenska kvällspressens artiklar om endometrios. Det empiriska materialet består av 23 stycken artiklar från åren 1996 till 2016. Studiens övergripande syfte är att synliggöra hur sjukdomen och de drabbade som lider av den porträtteras samt medias makt att skapa, upprätthålla eller förändra diskurserna om endometrios. För att uppnå detta utgår uppsatsen från tre teoretiska perspektiv: 1) kvinnors smärta och sjukdomar har inte uppmärksammats medicinhistoriskt. 2) det feministiska perspektivet att detta beror på könsmaktsordningen, 3) medias makt att påverka samhället. Med en socialkonstruktivistisk syn på språk undersöks situationskontexten och artiklarnas makro- och mikroteman. Detta utgör sedan den kritiska diskursanalysen. Resultatet visar att pressen mestadels skriver utförligt om än förenklat om endometrios. Kvinnornas smärta beskrivs som allvarlig, men endometrios framställs också många gånger som ett fertilitetsproblem. Diskurser som visats i tidigare forskning om kvinnors smärta och sjukdomar kunde ses. Under tidsperioden synliggörs även en förändring vad gäller medias beskrivning av endometrios och det diskursiva perspektivet. Den medicinska informationen om sjukdomen blir mer korrekt och den diskursiva förändringen mer feministiskt vinklad. / This thesis presents a critical discourse analysis of how the Swedish tabloids write about endometriosis. The empirical material consists of 23 articles which focus on the disease endometriosis, published between the years of 1996–2016. The thesis’ overall aim is to examine how the disease and individuals who suffer from it are portrayed, and what power the press has to create, maintain or change discourses of endometriosis. To achieve this the thesis uses three theoretical perspectives: 1) women’s pain and diseases have not been acknowledged in the medical history, 2) the feministic perspective, that this depends on the gender order, and 3) the press’ ability to affect society. Guided by a social constructive understanding of language, the thesis analyses the situation context and the articles’ themes on a micro and macro level, which is later constructed into the critical discourse analysis. The result shows that the press mostly writes detailed, although simplified information regarding endometriosis. The pain women experience is described as severe, but endometriosis is also often portrayed mostly as a fertility problem. Discourses shown in previous articles about the pain and diseases in women could be seen in the articles. However, a change can be noted during the investigated time period, both considering the press’ description of endometriosis and the discursive perspective. The information about the disease gets more medical correct and the discursive change tends to have a more feministic approach.