The aim of this study has been to explore how a construction of an “us” and “them” can be related to how the Sami people are portrayed in different discourses identified in two dominant Swedish daily newspapers. The purpose has been to see which different discourses are identifiable in the newspapers and how these frame the Sami population in Sweden. Through the theoretical framework of Fairclough’s discourse and the theory of “us” and “them” that has been applied in this study, a critical discourse analysis (CDA) was conducted. This was done through a framework of questions designed to explore the discourse and what value was put into the language in the articles.

In the critical discourse analysis of newspaper articles from Svenska Dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter, three main discourses, where the concept of “us” and “them” was detectable. These were: cultural-heritage discourse, conflict discourse and historical discourse. After the analysis of all articles, a comparison between the articles from the different time periods was conducted. In the comparison it was found that the oldest articles were more prone to using a narrative illustrating the Sami people as separated from the rest of the Swedish society; thereby creating a “us” and “them”. In the later articles, published in 2015 and 2024, this was more rare. This study has analyzed the portrayal of Sami people in Sweden, in daily newspapers, and with the data gathered from CDA has been used in order to come to conclusions about the use of “us” and “them” in discourse as well as suggestions for further research.