Maternal Abandonment and Queer Resistance in Twenty-First-Century Swedish Literature

This book questions why so many mothers leave their families in twenty-first-century Swedish literature, analyzing literary representations of maternal abandonment in relation to sociopolitical discourses. The volume draws on a queer-theoretical framework in order to highlight norm-critical dimensions, failure, and resistance in literature about motherhood. Jenny Björklund argues that novels about mothers who leave can be understood as ways to problematize and challenge Swedish-branded values like gender equality and a progressive family politics that promotes ideals of involved parenthood, the nuclear family, and pronatalism. The book also raises questions beyond the Swedish context about maternal ambivalence, family politics, and privilege and discusses how literature can work as resistance and provide alternatives to the current social order.

Considers an understudied aspect of literary representations of motherhood Draws on feminist theory as well as queer theory Demonstrates the complexity of family life and motherhood even in a welfare state where gender equality is emphasized

Autorentext

Jenny Björklund is Associate Professor of Gender Studies and Comparative Literature at Uppsala University, Sweden. Her books include Lesbianism in Swedish Literature: An Ambiguous Affair (2014), and, as co-editor with Ursula Lindqvist, New Dimensions of Diversity in Nordic Culture and Society (2016).

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 1: Happy Endings: (Re)producing the Gender Equality Ideal.- Chapter 3: Bad Mothers: Challenging Good Motherhood.- Chapter 4: The Nuclear Family as Well-Trodden Path and Script: Mental Ill-Health.- Chapter 5: Unwilling Mothers: Challenging Swedish Pronatalism.- Chapter 6: Conclusion: Dreams of a Different Future.