Tron som botemedel? :  En diskursanalys av synen på F.A Boltzius i Aftonbladet och Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfarts-Tidning år 1885

Fredrik August Boltzius was a Swedish faith healing preacher during the second half of the 19th century. In this qualitative content analysis studie with comparative approaches, I will with the help of Norman Fairclough’s discourse analysis, analyse how the discourse about the Swedish faith healing preacher F.A. Boltzius looked like in newspaper articles from the Swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfarts-Tidning during the year 1885. The study suggests that the attention Boltzius received during the year 1885 was likely the result of several factors. He was active during a period of religious transformation, where the normative and established church were challenged by revivalist movements and religious liberalism. Boltzius came to embody a personal and revivalist form of faith, which provoked both interest and criticism. The media practices during the 19th century, such as republication of other newspaper articles contributed to a chain reaction of national attention. Two contemporary events, the trial against the newspaper Väktaren and Carl von Bergen’s lectures, also helped increase the attention Boltzius recieved. The results show that both newspapers generally portrayed Boltzius in a negative way. Often as an imposter with easily deceived followers. However, Göteborgs Handels- och Sjöfarts-Tidning occasionally offered a more nuanced portrayal and even called for open-mindedness, a statement not found in Aftonbladet.