A comparative critical discourse analysis of the news coverage of the rape law reform in Sweden and Denmark

Sammanfattning: This thesis examines the discourse concerning the consent-based rape law reform in Sweden and Denmark. Sweden implemented the consent-based rape law July 2018 and has since been evaluating the law while the current Danish government promised that the law will change to a consent-based law. I focus on eight Danish articles and eight Swedish news articles in which the consent-based rape law reform is discussed. The articles are chosen from the two newspapers with most online visits in each country; Aftonbladet and Ekstra Bladet. In analysing these articles, the study will use elements from Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis and Entman’s framing theory. The study analyses the use of frames in news media while also analysing the use of interactional control, politeness, modality, and word meaning in the chosen news articles. The study specifically focuses on text analysis and an analysis of the social practice in which the orders of discourse, the ideological and political effects of discourse and the social matrix of discourse are studied. I identified the overarching frames in the coverage and found that the interpretation of consent and rape is dynamic and influenced by changing power dynamics. I found that the development in the Swedish legislation and news coverage of the legislation can be seen as a precursor for the Danish development depending on the nature of the law following the publication of this thesis and the political and legal response to the reform.