ATT ANDRAFIERA OCH STIGMATISERA TERRORISTEN - En kritisk textanalys av andrafiering och stigmatisering i kvällstidningar

Abstract

Terrorism and the discourse about War on Terror are global challenges, which I wanted to study in the Swedish locality, bringing together perspectives on the issues in a new way. The aim of this study is to analyse, compare and critically discuss how two newspapers constructed the perpetrators of two attacks in Sweden during the 2010s, Lundin Pettersson and Akilov, using theories of othering and stigmatisation. The study is written within a postcolonial and social constructivist framework, using theoretical tools from theories on othering, stigmatisation, racialisation, orientalism and madness. The study analyses articles from Expressen and Aftonbladet, two of the biggest Swedish newspapers, using critical textual analysis in the form of ideal type analysis. The result of the ideal type analysis were The suicidal failed lonely wolf, The far right aggressive racist , The ideologically motivated terrorist, The failed infidel muslim, The unhonorable expelled Uzbek and The aggressive jihadist who wanted to become a martyr . The analysis concluded that both perpetrators were othered and stigmatised, using both techniques of the construction of the mad and of orientalism. Lundin Pettersson was partly constructed as insane, and Akilov was completely racialised and exposed to orientalism. The discussion concluded that this othering and stigmatisation could have both practical and discursive consequences.