Situation: säljare av en gatutidning : En narrativanalys av säljarreportage i Situation Sthlm

Sammanfattning: This rhetorical study analyzes three articles in the Swedish street magazine Situation Sthlm. Each article deals with people who sell the magazine. Situation Sthlm is sold on the streets by homeless, or former homeless, people who live in social exclusion. The theoretical framework of this study is argumentation in narratives, different perspectives on ethos and rhetorical agency. With a narrative method of analysis, this study examines how the sellers’ ethos is established in comparison with their ethos as citizens. The study also examines what kind of agency functions these articles create, and explores which potential participants are invited to be engaged in the issue of how the sellers’ situation can be changed. Another purpose with the essay is to investigate the link between narrative arguments, social ethos and collective agency. The conclusion of the analysis in this study is that the sellers’ social ethos as citizens is in greater focus than their ethos as sellers. Another conclusion is that Situation Sthlm creates a space for action for the sellers in the sense that they can tell their stories. However, the audience that reads the articles is not invited to create any change. Narrative arguments show how social ethos is constructed and creates collective agency for people who have a similar position in society.