Heteronormative fantasy? A queer theoretical analysis of six fantasy novels

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine how six fantasynovels reflects or breaks the heteronormativity in society bylooking at how gender roles and sexuality are described.The theoretical framework is based on Judith Butler's theoryabout the heterosexual matrix which requires two separategenders and a compulsory heterosexuality and YvonneHirdman's two principles about dichotomy and hierarchy.The method used was idea analysis where dimensions basedon the theoretical framework were constructed. Thesedimensions were: behaviour, tasks, relationships and roles.The result shows that all of the books both breaks andreflects the society's values on gender and sexuality. Thereare some stereotypes present, for example that intuition isassociated with femininity and physical strength withmasculinity. However, the books also offer characters ofboth sexes that break the gender stereotypes, such asstrong women and emotional men. This is consistent withwhat previous research has shown. The relationships offersome examples of norm breaking but the nuclear family andheterosexual couple is a clear norm. Some of the writersseem to have a more conscious approach to normssurrounding gender and sexuality and these books also offermore character variation.Program: Bibliotekari