From AIDS to Assimilation: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Swedish Literature
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From AIDS to Assimilation: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Swedish Literature Timothy Ryan Warburton A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2014 Reading Committee: Ann-Charlotte Gavel Adams, Chair Ia Dübois Andrew Nestingen Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Scandinavian Studies ©Copyright 2014 Timothy Ryan Warburton University of Washington Abstract From AIDS to Assimilation: Representations of Male Homosexuality in Swedish Literature Timothy Ryan Warburton Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Ann-Charlotte Gavel Adams, Barbro Osher Endowed Professor of Swedish Studies Department of Scandinavian Studies This dissertation examines representations of male homosexuality in Swedish literature from 1968-2013. Since the initial visibility of homosexuality with the coming-out of Bengt Martin on Swedish television in 1968, dominant gay rights discourses in Sweden have been characterized by internal dissent over the “proper” image of male homosexuality. Rather than tracing is origins to the Stonewall Inn Riots of 1969, this dissertation focuses on the AIDS crisis as a crucial and pivotal turning point in the history of homosexuality, and as playing an integral role in the shaping of contemporary discourses on male homosexuality. The project expands the history of homosexuality in Sweden beyond legislative milestones, and analyzes key sociopolitical moments in Swedish history in order to locate the literary representations into a broader context. This study is organized into four chapters that examine the literary representations of male homosexuality. The first two chapters of this study offer analyzes of the literary history as iii well as the political and legal discourses through which ideas about homosexuality were circulated. Chapter I discusses Bengt Martin’s coming-out on Swedish television, and argues that Martin’s trilogy about the young homosexual in Stockholm, Sodomsäpplet (1968), Nejlikmusslan (1969) and Finnas till (1970), first established literature as a space in which dominant ideas about homosexuality were contradicted. Prior to Martin’s coming-out, the medical profession and legal discourses produced information about homosexuality unilaterally. Chapter II examines Ola Klingberg’s Onans bok (1999) in the context of two pieces of legislation surrounding HIV/AIDS, inclusion of HIV under Smittskyddslagen (1985) and Bastuklubbslagen (1987). This chapter analyzes the legacy of these pieces of legislation in both Onans bok and the coming-out of Swedish pop star Andreas Lundstedt in 2008. The two latter chapters of this dissertation reflect the shift in the way homosexuality and gay identity have been discussed in a broader sense since the late 1980s, and thus employs a more theoretical framework in order to drive its discussion. Chapter III works with the idea of the cultural amnesia of the AIDS crisis, which was undertaken by dominant gay rights discourses in order to promote a bourgeois image of male homosexuality. This chapter looks at two subgenres of Swedish literature: the young adult novels Duktig pojke (1977) by Inger Edelfeldt and Spelar roll (1993) by Hans Olsson; the gay chick lit novels Jaktsäsongen (2006) and Bekantas bekanta (2007). The analysis focuses on the symptoms experienced by gay culture and identity as a result of the phenomenon of cultural amnesia. Chapter IV employs trauma theory to examine Jonas Gardell’s trilogy Torka aldrig tårar utan handskar (2012-13) and focuses on the idea of the double trauma of the AIDS crisis. This chapter argues that Gardell’s trilogy demanded a cultural recollection of the AIDS crisis, and engages scholar Sara Edenheim’s critique of the media discourse that ensued. iv This dissertation considers the broader effects of the overall increase in acceptability and visibility of homosexuality, and concludes that literary representations of male homosexuality demonstrate a distinct departure from earlier representations that were informed by medical discourses and discourses of disease; the analysis presented in this study demonstrates how representations of male homosexuality published after the AIDS crisis unanimously support gay identity as a valid expression of an authentic self. The study also concludes that Jonas Gardell’s trilogy marks a crucial shift in the role of representations of homosexuality in literature, as the trilogy is the first example of literary discourses of homosexuality informing dominant discourses on cultural memory and sexual identity. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the American-Scandinavian Foundation for its generous support, which allowed me to conduct research necessary to complete this project. I wish to thank my advisor Lotta Gavel Adams, for her wisdom, support and dedication, as well as my committee members, Ia Dübois and Andrew Nestingen, for their valuable feedback and insights. Lastly, I wish to thank my fellow graduate students for making the difficult times bearable, and the good times that much better: Pétur Valsson, Anna Rühl, Anna Peltomäki, Désirée Ohrbeck, Kirstine Kastbjerg, Katja Shaye and Margareta Dancus. vi DEDICATION For my parents, without whom this would have never been possible. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS……………………………………………………………………..…vi DEDICATION…………………………………………………………………...…...………….vii INTRODUCTION Dissertation Focus: Homosexuality in Literature…………………………………………1 The History of Homosexuality in Sweden………………………………………………...6 Previous Research………………………………………………………………………..17 Why Homosexuality in Literature? ……………………………………………………...31 Theoretical Terminology………………………………………………………………...36 Methodology and Chapter Outlines……………………………………………………...46 I. THE COMING OUT REVOLUTION OF THE 1970S Bengt Martin and the Apple of Sodom…………………………………………………..51 The Homo Hunt.………………………………………………………………………....57 The Coming Out of Bengt Martin…………………………………………......................66 Homosexuality and Mental Illness……………………………………………………….69 The Trilogy About Joakim: Young and Homosexual in Stockholm……….……………74 II. THE AIDS CRISIS Representations of AIDS in Swedish Literature…………………………………………94 AIDS Comes to Sweden…………………………………………………….……….…..98 The Infectious Diseases Law and The Bathhouse Law……………………………...…108 Onans bok by Ola Klingberg…………………………………………...........................114 Andreas Lundstedt Comes Out as HIV Positive………………………………………..121 III. CULTURAL AMNESIA OF THE AIDS CRISIS The Gay Lobby and Destroyer Magazine………………………………………………125 Cultural Effects of the AIDS Crisis………………………………………….................133 Young Adult Novels…………………………………………........................................145 Gay Chick Lit…………………………………………...................................................160 IV. CULTURAL RECOLLECTION OF THE AIDS CRISIS Cultural Images of Male Homosexuality in the New Millennium……………………..179 The Gardell Debate…………………………………………..........................................182 The Trauma of the AIDS Crisis………………………………………….......................187 Don’t Ever Dry Tears Without Gloves ……………………………………...................197 Jonas Gardell Cries Only for the Men………………………………………….............210 Royal Recognition and National Mourning ……………………………………………219 CONCLUSION…………………………………………............................................................221 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………........................................................230 viii INTRODUCTION Dissertation Focus: Homosexuality in Swedish Literature The project of gay rights in the twentieth century is one that has resulted in remarkably swift and widespread legislative, political, and social change in the Western world. Sweden is often touted as one of the pioneers of this progressive sociopolitical movement: homosexuality was decriminalized in 1944, Sweden’s (RFSL) Riksförbundet för homosexuellas, bisexuellas, transpersoners och queeras rättigheter1 [Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights] was established in 1950, registered partnership was granted to same-sex couples in 1995, and same-sex marriage was sanctioned by Svenska kyrkan [the Church of Sweden] in 2009. The history of homosexuality in Sweden often contradicts this progressive myth, however, with intensely homophobic periods occurring in the 1950s and the drastic public health measures taken in the 1980s with the spread of the AIDS epidemic. Ideas about male homosexuality had circulated in broader medical and state discourses in Sweden since the late nineteenth century, but the new visibility of homosexuality in the late 1960s and 1970s began to challenge the dominant discourse on homosexuality. This dissertation examines representations of male homosexuality in Swedish literature from 1968-2013 that have driven the discourse forward, a progression that also complicates Sweden’s status as an LGBTQ2 pioneer. In literature testimonies on the individual level often contradict the legal, political, social official history of homosexuality. 1 This organization was formerly known as Riksförbundet för sexuellt likaberättigande and is one of the oldest gay rights organizations in the world. 2 Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans Queer. HBT (Homo Bi Trans) is commonly used in Swedish. 1 The discourse on male homosexuality since the AIDS crisis has been driven forward by what I call cultural amnesia. My study defines cultural amnesia as the process through which certain histories, memories, and experiences have been purposefully suppressed in order to drive the project of gay rights forward. This dissertation locates the cultural