Maternal abandonment and queer resistance in twenty-first-century Swedish literature 1st ed.

Author

• Björklund, Jenny

Additional Author(s)

-

Publisher

Cham, Switzerland : Springer International Publishing, 2021

Language

English

ISBN

9783030728922

Series

Subject(s)

• MOTHERS IN LITERATURE
• SWEDISH LITERATURE

Notes

. .

Abstract

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.

Physical Dimension

Number of Page(s)

1 online resource (X, 293 p.)

Dimension

-

Other Desc.

ill.

Summary / Review / Table of Content

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.

Exemplar(s)

#	Accession No.	Call Number	Location	Status
1.	00884/21	839.70935220905 Bjo M	Online !	Available