Den frånvarande intellektuelle : En diskursteoretisk analys av en kollektiv representation

Sammanfattning: From an institutionalized conception of contemporary intellectuals as silent or absent, the aim of this thesis is to analyse how the representation of the intellectual changed from a hero of reason to a more or less absent actor. Descriptions of intellectuals that were initially analysed which showed that the representation of the intellectual, besides being linked to modernity, contained a relationship between the individual actor and political power, a relationship which could be traced back to ancient myths. Using discourse theory and concepts primarily from Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe, the dissertation demonstrates how the discourse of intellectuals changed the representation content in relation to the myth of the postmodern and to the myth of the modern society. In relation to the modern intellectual, the discourse linked the representation with elements as reason, freedom and politics. Texts written after the linguistic turn or the myth of the postmodern describe intellectuals as specific, bourgeois, academic and politicized. This makes the representation impossible in relation to the initial establishment. The main contribution of the thesis to research on the discourse of intellectuals is the myths bearing on how intellectuals can or should act and how the representation can be described. The notion of the intellectuals can only be understood in an already existing discourse based on what an intellectual should do or be.