Öfvernormala företeelser och själsgåfvor : Maktdynamik inom den svenska spiritismen 1891–1922

The purpose of this study is to explore different power dynamics in the spiritualist movement of fin-de-siècle Sweden. The source material for this exploration is the spiritualist magazine of Efteråt, which was the main spiritualist magazine in Sweden at the time, in print between 1891–1922. The main material for this study is specifically the texts that fall under the genre of ”fictionalized witness-accounts” of supernatural phenomena. These witness accounts yield reoccurring tropes that are either actors, arenas, or narratives. The process of finding these tropes is made through discourse analysis as constructed by Norman Fairclough complemented using grammar and props as presented by Mattias Fyhr. The theoretical tools utilized are the framework of Luce Irigaray and the relationship between the subject and the object, the concept of receptivity as coined by Ann Cvetkovich, and finally the concept of heterotopia as coined by Michel Foucault. The relationship between a masculine subject and a feminine object is generally maintained throughout the source material. However, this dynamic is open to destabilization. This is especially prominent in the arena of the séance room, where perceived feminine volatility is both a liability and a resource. This also rises interesting perspectives concerning male mediums. This destabilization in further deepened when the concept of receptivity is applied and the relationship between the spirit world and the material world is come into question: where is agency situated? The last result concerns the spiritualist movement and its relationship to hegemonic society. With the help of the concept of heterotopia the different spiritualist rooms show what is deemed lacking in society at large, as well as the perceived functions they have within the movement