The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press

During the summer of 2023 news and debates about public burnings of the Qur’an dominated the Swedish and international media. In the aftermath of the flames and the debate this article aims to present and discuss the representation of the event as a ‘crisis’ in the Swedish daily press between 1 Apr...

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Main Author: Mia Lövheim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Finnish Society for the Study of Religion 2024-12-01
Series:Temenos
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/142668
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author Mia Lövheim
author_facet Mia Lövheim
author_sort Mia Lövheim
collection DOAJ
description During the summer of 2023 news and debates about public burnings of the Qur’an dominated the Swedish and international media. In the aftermath of the flames and the debate this article aims to present and discuss the representation of the event as a ‘crisis’ in the Swedish daily press between 1 April and 1 October 2023. The article uses a quantitative analysis of the main topics in a selection of Swedish and Nordic daily newspapers, and a combination of co-occurrence and qualitative frame analysis of how the event came to be debated in a sample of Swedish opinion articles. Theories of mediatized conflicts as dynamic and complex processes revealing the state of democracy in a society are used to analyse the findings. The results are discussed in light of previous research on Qur’an burnings in Sweden and on debates about previous events involving clashes between freedom of speech and freedom of religion in the Nordic countries. The article concludes by arguing that the ‘Qur’an crisis’ as a mediatized conflict co-structures an ongoing negotiation between different positions on the most fundamental values of democracy, which has become increasingly contentious in Swedish public and political debate.
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spelling doaj-art-ddba4165f8f744248eddcb37aa8a624b2025-08-20T02:40:40ZengFinnish Society for the Study of ReligionTemenos2342-72562024-12-0160210.33356/temenos.142668The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish PressMia Lövheim0Uppsala University During the summer of 2023 news and debates about public burnings of the Qur’an dominated the Swedish and international media. In the aftermath of the flames and the debate this article aims to present and discuss the representation of the event as a ‘crisis’ in the Swedish daily press between 1 April and 1 October 2023. The article uses a quantitative analysis of the main topics in a selection of Swedish and Nordic daily newspapers, and a combination of co-occurrence and qualitative frame analysis of how the event came to be debated in a sample of Swedish opinion articles. Theories of mediatized conflicts as dynamic and complex processes revealing the state of democracy in a society are used to analyse the findings. The results are discussed in light of previous research on Qur’an burnings in Sweden and on debates about previous events involving clashes between freedom of speech and freedom of religion in the Nordic countries. The article concludes by arguing that the ‘Qur’an crisis’ as a mediatized conflict co-structures an ongoing negotiation between different positions on the most fundamental values of democracy, which has become increasingly contentious in Swedish public and political debate. https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/142668Qur’an burningsSwedenmediatizationdaily pressfreedom of speechreligious diversity
spellingShingle Mia Lövheim
The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press
Temenos
Qur’an burnings
Sweden
mediatization
daily press
freedom of speech
religious diversity
title The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press
title_full The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press
title_fullStr The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press
title_full_unstemmed The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press
title_short The ‘Qur’an Crisis’ in the Swedish Press
title_sort qur an crisis in the swedish press
topic Qur’an burnings
Sweden
mediatization
daily press
freedom of speech
religious diversity
url https://journal.fi/temenos/article/view/142668
work_keys_str_mv AT mialovheim thequrancrisisintheswedishpress
AT mialovheim qurancrisisintheswedishpress