| Popis: |
The purpose of this qualitative study is to gain knowledge about the discourse present in the written communication from the Supreme Commander (SC) of the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF) to SAF employees in situations of crisis where the employees are affected. The intention is also to clarify how power relations are expressed in the analyzed texts. The method used is critical discourse analysis (CDA). Strategic communication and crisis communication are the study’s theoretical foundations. The material consists of texts from four editorials from the SAF staff magazine Försvarets forum from December 2015 to October 2018. Because of the focus on crisis situations, two themes have been chosen in the analyzed material named ”special events” and ”internal issues”. These themes include events in which SAF employees have been attacked, injured or killed as well as occurrences of violation or harassment. The results of the study show an emphasis on equality and thus a lack of hierarchical power claims from the SC over the employees, as well as an effort to boost moral by heightening the status of the military profession. Lastly, the explicit mention of problematic occurrences like death or sexual harassment is either toned down or absent. In conclusion, the texts of the SC are very much in concordance with the strategic communication guidelines of the SAF. |
