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När krisen når kronan

Neuhauser, Iben LU and Gidebratt, Vilma LU (2026) SKOK11 20261
Department of Strategic Communication
Abstract
This study examines how discursive legitimacy is constructed in strategic external crisis communication. Crisis communication and discursive legitimacy have rarely been studied together, although both fields examine how legitimacy is negotiated and maintained. Through a qualitative discourse analysis of multimodal media material, the study explores how language is used to manage a legitimacy threat against an institution. The study focuses on the Norwegian royal family’s communication during the crisis surrounding Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein. The theoretical framework combines Situational Crisis Communication Theory, legitimacy theory and discursive legitimacy. The analysis shows how legitimacy is... (More)
This study examines how discursive legitimacy is constructed in strategic external crisis communication. Crisis communication and discursive legitimacy have rarely been studied together, although both fields examine how legitimacy is negotiated and maintained. Through a qualitative discourse analysis of multimodal media material, the study explores how language is used to manage a legitimacy threat against an institution. The study focuses on the Norwegian royal family’s communication during the crisis surrounding Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein. The theoretical framework combines Situational Crisis Communication Theory, legitimacy theory and discursive legitimacy. The analysis shows how legitimacy is discursively constructed through three different layers: first, the interplay between discursive strategies; second, how responsibility is sorted through discursive positioning; and third, how the institution relates to broader values. The findings demonstrate how legitimacy is discursively constructed through an interplay in which language continuously draws boundaries between communicative tensions within strategies, responsibility distribution and institutional values. The study contributes to crisis communication research by applying a nuanced discursive legitimacy perspective to crisis. The study’s main contribution is discursive boundary-drawing in crisis communication, which highlights how legitimacy is strategically communicated through the management of communicative tensions. In cases where an institution cannot be fully separated from the actor implicated in the crisis, discursive boundary-drawing becomes central to maintaining legitimacy. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Neuhauser, Iben LU and Gidebratt, Vilma LU
supervisor
organization
course
SKOK11 20261
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Crisis communication, Legitimacy, Discursive legitimacy, Discursive boundary-drawing, Monarchy, Discursive strategies, Discursive positioning, Institutional values
language
Swedish
id
9230838
date added to LUP
2026-06-25 11:04:41
date last changed
2026-06-25 11:04:41
@misc{9230838,
  abstract     = {{This study examines how discursive legitimacy is constructed in strategic external crisis communication. Crisis communication and discursive legitimacy have rarely been studied together, although both fields examine how legitimacy is negotiated and maintained. Through a qualitative discourse analysis of multimodal media material, the study explores how language is used to manage a legitimacy threat against an institution. The study focuses on the Norwegian royal family’s communication during the crisis surrounding Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s connection to Jeffrey Epstein. The theoretical framework combines Situational Crisis Communication Theory, legitimacy theory and discursive legitimacy. The analysis shows how legitimacy is discursively constructed through three different layers: first, the interplay between discursive strategies; second, how responsibility is sorted through discursive positioning; and third, how the institution relates to broader values. The findings demonstrate how legitimacy is discursively constructed through an interplay in which language continuously draws boundaries between communicative tensions within strategies, responsibility distribution and institutional values. The study contributes to crisis communication research by applying a nuanced discursive legitimacy perspective to crisis. The study’s main contribution is discursive boundary-drawing in crisis communication, which highlights how legitimacy is strategically communicated through the management of communicative tensions. In cases where an institution cannot be fully separated from the actor implicated in the crisis, discursive boundary-drawing becomes central to maintaining legitimacy.}},
  author       = {{Neuhauser, Iben and Gidebratt, Vilma}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{När krisen når kronan}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}