En kold og bitter affære”
Negative intimiteter i Tomas Lagermand Lundmes Forhud
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 16944723 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anton Juul (0000-0002-4593-9818, University of Copenhagen, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 51 |
| Issue | 136 |
| Pages | 105-128 |
| Publication date | 2024-01-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | K&K - Kultur og Klasse (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0905-6998 • E-ISSN: 2246-2589 |
| Publisher | Det Kgl. Bibliotek/Royal Danish Library (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.7146/kok.v51i136.143211 |
| OpenAlex | W4391360426 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 8 |
In this article, I analyze and discuss the potentials of what I call negative intimacies in Tomas Lagermand Lundme’s debut novel Forhud (1998) through the lens of antisocial queer theory. Through Berlant’s concept of intimacy as inherently threatened by an internal failure, I identify three types of negative intimacies in the novel: 1) Incestuous intimacy, in which the narrator denies the incest taboo and the Oedipus complex as foundation of heteronormative sociality through a perversion of the father figure. 2) Masochistic intimacy, in which the symbolic function of the father as authority is negated through contractual submission. And, lastly, 3) impersonal intimacy, which I argue is the overall mode of intimacy that the novel explores both in its content and as a gesture toward its reader. Impersonal intimacy offers an ethical alternative to heteronormative identity- and relation-based intimacy. In the impersonal intimacy I find what Tim Dean has called an ”ethics of alterity,” that is, a radical openness to otherness. In Forhud only strangers can be lovers, which is precisely the queer potential of the novel. I argue that these queer intimacies do not lend themselves to any kind of positive representation of queerness, but rather a negative critique of heteronormative sexuality. Though Forhud does not express any optimistic hope for queerness, it nevertheless stresses the pleasure of being intimate with the stranger
| Highly cited | No |
|---|