Religion, en identifierbar faktor i människans inre : En kritisk diskursanalys av religionsbegreppet i svenska läroböcker

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the concept of religion is constructed as a category in Swedish textbooks from the 1970s until the 1990s. The method consisted of a qualitative approach and Fairclough´s three-dimensional model with the three levels: text, discursive practice and social practice. Six Swedish textbooks for secondary school have been examined with the analysis tool modality. The results from the study show how religion was constructed as a timeless phenomenon, which can be traced through the history of mankind. Throughout the whole study period, human beings were described as being able to reach an inner contact with a higher power through an external action such as prayer. In the study, human life issues were constructed as an eternal need and religion was explained to extinguish these needs