Religiös galenskap och genusstereotyper

: En kritisk diskursanalys av Knutbysekten

Abstract

This study examines how the Knutby cult and the members of it are represented in Swedish public news media. We examine how these representations are based on ideological notions and power structures in society. Drawing from a social constructionist perspective. Theories of victimhood, perpetrators and gender theory we analyse media material and news article from two nationwide Swedish newspapers, Aftonbladet and Expressen. The method used is critical discourse analysis, which is also partly used as theory. The result indicates that representations of victims, perpetrators and gender stereotypes corresponded well with previous research on media representations of cult members. One conclusion is that media representations of the sect and its members are largely supported by ideological notions and power structures in society, which are based on, among other things, normative notions of how an individual should be and stereotypical notions of gender. Another conclusion is that the representations in the media have a tendency to be exaggerated, skewed, and unfair. A reason for this is the fact that the media representations are largely created based on a for-profit mindset to produce stories that have a higher entertainment and news value.

Date of Award	2022-Jun
Original language	Swedish
Supervisor	Sophia Yakhlef (Supervisor) & Anna Berglund (Examiner)