Förklädda flickor: könsöverskridning i 1980 - Åbo Akademi

The narratological analysis is complemented in the fourth chapter,
“Carnival gender structure”, by another theoretical perspective namely
carnival theory. Here the carnival strategies of increased masculinity
and emancipation are juxtaposed. Disguise is a carnival motif, the
representations of girlhood stage the reverse logic of the carnival
through the grotesque body, verbal acrobatics, inverted power
relationships and temporary rebellions. According to the principal of the
grotesque, girls are represented as superior to boys in strength and
courage. Girls outshine boys verbally and disrupt the gender structure
through their performative behaviour creating gender trouble within the
text. Thus, carnival theory provides the possibility of enacting mockery
and exaggeration in connection with gender construction. The carnival
principle also leads to a temporary disregarding of current gender and
power structures, in the shape of a sanctioned or conservative rebellion,
whilst order is always restored in the end. Despite this, the theme
provides the opportunity to express moments of emancipation.
The result is that the shift towards masculinity, which is the
basic premises of the motif of cross-dressing, is contradicted by an
emancipatory potential, which prepares a space for the girl and is a sign
of the girl valuing her femininity. If the emancipatory aspect is lost the
girl risks internalising boyhood and of developing an outright contempt
towards other girls. She becomes no more than a hero in drag, and
thereby a representative of reversed gender stereotypes. In certain cases,
the carnival provides some protection from subordination. This is
emphasised by that the fact that other girls in the text fall victim to
sexual violence while those in disguise escape. In extreme cases, it is
the disguised girl who becomes the perpetrator. Thus the study
demonstrates that it is through integrating an emancipatory strategy
with masculinity that a believable portrayal of girls is possible.
In the fifth and final chapter, “The emancipatory potential of
the closure”, the discussion develops by combining feminist narratology
and carnival theory with ideological criticism. An inevitable part of the
carnival plot pattern is a return to the original gender structure, which in
this case manifests as an unmasking at the closure. The most common
resolution is thus a return to femininity, a convention familiar from
classical comedies of mistaken identity. This study shows, however,
that during the 80s there occurred a rewriting of the submission plot.
This is because a complete return to the former role of a girl is often
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