Skeva flickexemplar : En queerteoretisk studie om femininitet och sexualitet i Sara Stridsbergs Darling River

The aim of this essay is to study constructions of femininity and sexuality in Sara Stridsberg’s novel Darling River (2010). The analysis is based on queer theory and the term ’skev’ – a variation of ’queer’ that allows one to focus on additional forms of normativity apart from sexual desire – and examines how the characters of the novel are challenging the heteronormative framework by performing gender and sexuality in non-normative, subversive ways. In short, I discuss how the relationship between femininity, body and destiny is being portrayed, how the characters question heteronormativity by overdoing femininity, and by being unable (unwilling) to perform adult femininity. I also show how the novel constitutes non-normative sexuality in, for example, incestuous, non-reproductive and non-monogamous ways. Furthermore, I locate queer leakages in the text, and discuss how the characters relate to objectification and agency.