Skildringen av samtida asatro i svensk media : En innehållsanalys av hur samtida asatro representeras i digital nyhetsmedia

Sammanfattning: This study focuses on how Asatrú movements in Sweden are depicted and discussed in digital news articles through two different lenses: How are these movements depicted and which aspects of these movements and their faith are brought up most frequently? The theoretical framework for the study consists of Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory, positive and negative Essentialism as well as Erving Goffman’s theory of Stigma. The method consists of a qualitative content analysis focusing on analyzing the ideas, ideologies and narratives presented in the studied articles, and the material consists of digital articles picked from various Swedish news publications such as Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Expressen, published between 2015 - 2021. The study shows that the discussion of these Asatrú movements is dominated by their perceived connections to racism and right wing extremist groups. On the other hand, the articles and their authors also make attempts to counterbalance this depiction by discussing aspects of the religion such as Blót, ritual sacrifices, as well as by interviewing members of these movements to show their thoughts and feelings about their religion.