SENSATIONELLA BROTTSFALL SOM KULTURARV. En folkloristisk fallstudie av da Costa-fallets epitet “Obducenten” och “Allmänläkaren”; hur sensationella brottsfall kan ses som mörka kulturarv

Abstract

This thesis presents a case study of the so called da Costa murder case, approached not as a juridical matter but as an example of intangible dark heritage. It examines how the narratives of contemporary media can contribute to transforming a sensational criminal case into a culturally significant “site” of remembrance imbued with contemporary moral panic and fabulation; common folkloristic themes. Particular attention is given to the recurring use of the titles “Allmänläkaren” (the General Practitioner) and “Obducenten” (the Pathologist) in the daily press and how these titles came to signify something greater than the two individuals accused for the murder. The thesis argues that medial narratives played a central role in constructing these men as monstrous figures; functioning as vessels for collective societal fears and perceived threats. In doing so the media contributed to establishing the case as one that remains active/has left an impact in modern cultural memory, reminiscent of other instances of dark heritage. The theoretical framework draws on folkloristic monster theory, which paints monsters in literature and popular culture as cultural “symptoms”, something this study uses to identify and analyse signs of cultural projection within contemporary media. The analysis is then further explained through theories of dark heritage and so called mediated crime. Methodologically the study takes the shape of a qualitative textual analysis of articles published between 1984 and 1989 in the Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Expressen, accessed via the National Library of Sweden’s digital database Svenska tidningar. The thesis is written in Swedish.