Wilde – Mannen som föll offer för den hegemoniska maskuliniteten : En begreppshistorisk analys av fem författares framställning av Wildes homosexualitet

• Main Author: Al-Mansour, Nawal
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV) 2014
• Subjects: Oscar Wilde; history; sexuality; homosexuality; genus; masculinity; hegemonic masculinity; R W Connell; Foucault
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-35024

The aim of this study has been to examine six books about Oscar Wilde’s homosexuality during the years 1906 – 2003. I have been analyzing their descriptions about his sexual orientation and compared them to each other to see the changes through time. In order to see some clear changes the main focus was to choose time differences between the books. It was clear that the earlier writers had negative opinions and thoughts about his sexual deviation the way they described it. The writers from the older books focus on Oscar Wilde’s achievements more than his sexual orientation. The analysis was made through two theories, Michel Foucault’s theories about sexuality, power and knowledge, and the second Raewyn Connell’s theory about hegemonic masculinity. The theories have been fundamental for this study on the basis of the changes through time and how societies viewed masculinity and sexual orientations. They have also been important for the descriptions of Oscar Wilde’s feminine attitude and his addiction to his looks. My method for the essay has been a conceptual analysis. The choice of this method was not hard because it has been important to the comparison and the analysis for the writers’ usage of word descriptions of Oscar Wilde’s homosexuality. The results showed a large amount of resemblances and differences between the books, which can be seen against the background of the society and its view on homosexuality.