Terroristen som slöt cirkeln - Terrorismdiskurs i DN och Aftonbladet efter bombdådet i Stockholm 2010

Sammanfattning: In this paper I examine the Swedish discourse on terrorism to be found in the Swedish newspapers Dagens Nyheter and Aftonbladet following the bombings in Stockholm 2010.The research question that the paper revolves around is: What discourse on terrorism was dominating Swedish media following the bombings in Stockholm 2010 and what discourse was the strongest challenger? Which are the discourses’ nodal points and what are the main antagonisms to be found? As is revealed within the terminology of my research question, I will use the work of Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe to develop a method of analysis. I will identify one dominating discourse and one challenging discourse by constructing chains of equivalences. I will argue that both discourses have the same nodal points, “The Other” and “We”, even though the different discourses put different meanings into these perceived political units. Hence, the sheer notion of the existence of a division between “Us” and “The Other” has a hegemonic position, while there is a lot of antagonism about what these units consists of. I will argue that there is a particularly strong antagonism around the position of Islam in the dominating discourse on terrorism.