Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

"I'm an ordinary faggot" – Scripts of male homosexuality in urban and rural Sweden in the 1940s

Rydström, Jens LU (2011) Feelings in the city: Emotions and urban space
Abstract
The paper explores the flux of male homosexual identity between urban subcultures and small rural settings in Sweden. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick has claimed that we cannot interpret Foucault’s History of Sexuality as if one understanding of sexuality was substituted by another, but that many forms of sexuality coexist in any given time. Inspired by her analysis, this paper claims that a shift between two paradigms took place in Sweden in the 1920s, but that they continued to coexist and that one person could perform according to different scripts in different situations.



Urban homosexual subcultures had developed in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö since the end of the 19th century. It was not until the spreading of the concept... (More)
The paper explores the flux of male homosexual identity between urban subcultures and small rural settings in Sweden. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick has claimed that we cannot interpret Foucault’s History of Sexuality as if one understanding of sexuality was substituted by another, but that many forms of sexuality coexist in any given time. Inspired by her analysis, this paper claims that a shift between two paradigms took place in Sweden in the 1920s, but that they continued to coexist and that one person could perform according to different scripts in different situations.



Urban homosexual subcultures had developed in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö since the end of the 19th century. It was not until the spreading of the concept of homosexuality that some men desiring men in the countryside began identifying as homosexuals. The policing of sexuality changed profoundly during the first half of the 20th century and reflects the different ways men who desired other men negotiated their feelings in rural areas, small towns and big cities. Examples from Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö will be compared to expressions of male-male desire in places like Halmstad (pop. 26,000) Sandviken (13,000), and Långsele (700). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to conference
publication status
unpublished
subject
keywords
homosexuality, emotions, urban history
conference name
Feelings in the city: Emotions and urban space
conference dates
2011-11-04
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
60fc4835-c2ec-47fe-8c0e-08c6ef69393a (old id 2227034)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 14:21:54
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:19:54
@misc{60fc4835-c2ec-47fe-8c0e-08c6ef69393a,
  abstract     = {{The paper explores the flux of male homosexual identity between urban subcultures and small rural settings in Sweden. Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick has claimed that we cannot interpret Foucault’s History of Sexuality as if one understanding of sexuality was substituted by another, but that many forms of sexuality coexist in any given time. Inspired by her analysis, this paper claims that a shift between two paradigms took place in Sweden in the 1920s, but that they continued to coexist and that one person could perform according to different scripts in different situations.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Urban homosexual subcultures had developed in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö since the end of the 19th century. It was not until the spreading of the concept of homosexuality that some men desiring men in the countryside began identifying as homosexuals. The policing of sexuality changed profoundly during the first half of the 20th century and reflects the different ways men who desired other men negotiated their feelings in rural areas, small towns and big cities. Examples from Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö will be compared to expressions of male-male desire in places like Halmstad (pop. 26,000) Sandviken (13,000), and Långsele (700).}},
  author       = {{Rydström, Jens}},
  keywords     = {{homosexuality; emotions; urban history}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  title        = {{"I'm an ordinary faggot" – Scripts of male homosexuality in urban and rural Sweden in the 1940s}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/6343347/2227035.pdf}},
  year         = {{2011}},
}