“Ett så ruskigt skådespel” : Pressens skildringar av intramurala avrättningar och deras offentlighet i Sverige 1879–1910.

Sammanfattning

This study examines how executions in Sweden were portrayed in Swedish newspapers after public executions were abolished in 1877. Through a qualitative analysis of digitised newspapers from 1879 to 1910, the study investigates how the public sphere was affected by the intramural executions’ press coverage. The analysis focuses on how newspapers described the execution process before, during, and after the event, including religious preparation, emotional state, the people present, the moment of execution, and the handling of the body. Jürgen Habermas’s concept of the public sphere is used to problematize the intramural executions through how the press mediated them. The study found that although the public was physically excluded, newspaper readers were given access to the executions through detailed and sensationalistic descriptions. At the same time, the material shows variation in which not all executions were reported with the same level of detail, depending both on execution and part of the process, which affected how public each execution became through the press.