Det ironiska och det tragiska i androgynens gestaltning i C. J. L. Almqvists Drottningens juvelsmycke och Sara Stridsbergs Drömfakulteten

Abstract

This paper tries to reveal the connection between the motif of androgyne and the concept of tragedy and irony. The starting point of the analyses of the tragic is The Birth of Tragedy (1872) by Friedrich Nietzsche. This work introduced two such aesthetic categories as Apollonian and Dionysian. These concepts help to illuminate not only the aesthetics of tragedy, but the role of dialogue in literary works. The other examined concept, the androgyny is based on Plato’s Symposium. The concept of androgyny is connected to love which influenced the Romantic writers.  The androgyne also represents creation and work of art in Carl Jonas Love Almqvist’s novel. Tintomara, the protagonist of The Queen’s Jewelpiece (1834), embodies the perfect harmony of existence, art and love. She is like a mirror for everyone, therefore not only the object of desire but also the desired self. This problem leads to the question of identity which is also an important issue of Almqvist’s novel. The analysis compares romanticism with postmodernism through the concept of irony and the problem of identity (Lacan, Jameson).  The postmodernism was highly influenced by romanticism as many theoretical writings pointed it out. The motif of the postmodern androgyne will be examined through Sara Stridsberg’s The Faculty of Dreams (2006). This novel is based on the life of a radical American feminist writer Valerie Solanas who attempted to murder the pop-artist, Andy Warhol.