This thesis, consisting of three papers and a summary, studies properties of stratified algebras and representations of Lie superalgebras. In Paper I we give a characterization when the Ringel dual of an SSS-algebra is properly stratified. We show that for an SSS-algebra, whose Ringel dual is properly stratified, there is a (generalized) tilting module which allows one to compute the finitistic dimension of the SSS-algebra, and moreover, it gives rise to a new covariant Ringel-type duality. In Paper II we give a characterization of standardly stratified algebras in terms of certain filtrations of (left or right) projective modules, generalizing the corresponding theorem of V. Dlab. We extend the notion of Ringel duality to standardly stratified algebras and estimate their finitistic dimension in terms of endomorphism algebras of standard modules. Paper III deals with the queer Lie superalgebra and the corresponding BGG-category O. We show that the typical blocks correspond to standardly stratified algebras, and we generalize Kostant's Theorem to the queer Lie superalgebra.

The essay is about how teenagers around 18 years of age in a small town in Sweden talk about gender, body and sexuality. The study is based on two focus group interviews with five boys and four girls. We have then thematized and analyzed the material with queer theory.The results show how young people see heterosexuality as something 'natural' and gender as biologically determined. The teenagers are critical towards anything that deviates from the traditional nuclear family consisting of mother, father and children. Norms are created in their speech as some of them acts as so called "border guards" for these norms. Our conclusion is that there are difficulties to be deviate in terms of gender, sexuality and body in a small town.

This paper describes what some 9th grade students think of their sex education in school, especially when it comes to gender, sexual identity, norms and deviation. I have been using group interviews in two different schools, two groups per school. The result of the students' answers have been analysed on the basis of queer theory focusing on gender and sexual identity. The result of the study shows that the students consider their sexual education to be lacking, especially when it comes to gender, sexual identity, norms and deviation. Another conclusion of the analysis is that a sex education grounded in queer theory would be more inclusive.

This thesis presents theatrical queer feminist interpretations of architecture staged within a series of architectural scenes: architect Eileen Gray’s building E.1027 in the south of France (1926-29); author Natalie Barney’s literary salon at 20 rue Jacob, Paris (1909-1968); and author Selma Lagerlöf’s former home and memorial estate Mårbacka, situated in mid-west Sweden and transformed between 1919 and 1923. Interpreted as queer performative acts, or enactments of architecture, these cases bring into play the interconnectedness of material container, the setting, the deeds and the actors. A broad aim of the thesis is to explore the role played by architecture in the social and cultural constructions of bodies, in particular in relation to gender and sexuality. Architecture is investigated as one of the subjectivating norms that constitute gender performativity. The thesis is thus not only about but also operates through enactment. It masquerades as a series of lectures written in the form of scripted drama. The aim of this formal experiment is not only to explicate and critique from a detached perspective but also to represent architecture in the process of being enacted. Architecture is investigated not only as a theoretical metaphor but also as a concrete material practice always entangled with subject positions. With this exploration into the queerness and the theatricality of architecture, Behind Straight Curtains seeks to affect both the analysis and enactment of architecture and contribute to an architectural shift towards a built environment that does not simply repeat repressive structures but attempts to resist discrimination and dismantle hierarchies. / QC 20100630

This study focuses on Finnish transmen and their life stories. It goes through the practical reality of the gender re-assignment process, but focuses on the personal experiences of two individual men. The study is based on in-depth interviews with informants, material which has been analyzed with the help of Judith Butler’s theory on gender. / Den här uppsatsen handlar om två finska transmän och deras livshistorier. Studien går igenom den praktiska realiteten av könskorrigeringsprocessen, men fokuserar på de personliga erfarenheterna av dessa två individuella män. Den är baserad på djupintervjuer med informanter, material som har analyserats med hjälp av Judith Butlers teori om genus.

This thesis has focused on the construction of homosexual parenthood in Swedish law and preparatory work. The purpose was to describe the norms about legal parenthood and examine if and how homosexual parenthood was included in the normative parenthood. The study was jurisprudential and based on methods such as sociology with a juridical focus and critical discourse analysis of the juridical texts. The theoretical framework was the critical discourse analysis as well as a queer perspective, both influenced by social constructionism and a poststructional theory. The conclusion of the study is that parenthood is described from what is presumably best for the child, which is two parents of different sexes and biological origin. Homosexual parenthood is described as “good” as heterosexual parenthood, which is described as the norm. Homosexual parenthood is also described as different with flaws in comparison to the norm and for those flaws the homosexuals have to compensate. With a standpoint in queertheory this shows both how homosexual parents are assimilated and excluded from the norm of parenthood.

L'Art a toujours consacré une grande part à l'image du féminin. Que cela soit dans l'iconographie gréco-romaine ou judéo-chrétienne, ses multiples représentations sont synonymes de confusion et d'ambivalence. La femme et l'image ont en commun de susciter méfiance et fascination. C'est au travers de l'étude approfondie de quelques figures clefs de l'histoire de l'art, que nous vous proposons une relecture post-féministe des diverses facettes du féminin, prises dans la dyade sacré/profane. Mythes et croyances donnèrent naissance à un métissage pagano-chrétien qui fit émerger un Eternel Féminin inébranlable encore très prégnant dans l'art actuel. Tantôt dans la foi de l'image, tantôt dans sa condamnation, ainsi se résume l'insoluble combat entre l'humain et le divin. La Femme restera à jamais l'élément trouble associé au paraître et à la beauté. Dans nos recherches nous avons constaté que la femme et la peinture sont en parfaite adéquation. Elles sont indissociables car iconoclasme et misogynie vont souvent de pair. Peu à peu, le corps remplacera la toile et le fard, la peinture pour les artistes transgenres. Dans d'étranges (queer) parodies entre exhibition et chamanisme, ils réinventeront leur devenir-féminin. La surface de l'œuvre devient alors le miroir où se reflète cet Autre, alter ego tant recherché. La pensée féministe se met en marche au travers des révolutions des genres et des sexes. Ainsi, c'est entre Pygmalion et Narcisse que les artistes des XXéme et XXIéme siècles, nous offrent, entre mascarade et mélancolie, la vision d'un idéal sans original. Enfin, nous revenons sur l'art des femmes. Leurs pratiques sont souvent borderline, partagées entre violence, humour et Charis dans leur quête d'un sacré hors religion. Elles offrent un devenir-pandorien de l'art pour briser à jamais le désormais trop célèbre : " Sois belle et tais toi! "

This thesis is a queer analysis of two graphic novels by writer Alan Moore: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series (art by Kevin O’Neill, 1999-Present) and Lost Girls (art by Melinda Gebbie, 1992-3). These two works re-contextualize familiar characters such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mina Murray, and Alice to uncover both the liberating desires and the sexist, homophobic, and imperialistic anxieties underlining historically popular fiction. Focusing on three characters utilized in Moore’s work, this thesis argues that the ideological associations with those chosen characters and the reconstructions of queerness in their narratives offer contemporary subjects resistance to limiting cultural tendencies and create an alternative space that call attention to phobic societal constructs. Both Lost Girls and the League series redefine discursively constituted identities and offer the potential to re-write normative codes of sex and sexuality.

This paper will consider the function of queer space and presence in the post modern horror film genre. Beginning with George Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead and continuing through to contemporary examples of the genre, the paper posits the function of the queer monster or monstrous as integral to and representative of the genre as a whole. The paper analyzes both the current theory and scholarship of the genre and through Lacanian psychoanalytic theory and queer theory offers a theory of how these theories can add to existing theory and scholarship.

The collection of paintings and drawings constituting the thesis exhibition The Anxious Actor are rooted within the visual language of contemporary realist figurative painting and drawing, with a focus on the male body. Traditionally in western culture, the depiction of the human form, both male and female, has sought to reinforce hierarchical constructions and meta-narratives implicit in religious and imperialistic structures. I paint and draw my own body as subject, exploring personal narratives that contradict these pre-existing notions. As a queer man interested in the vocabulary of realist figurative painting, my body is a catalyst for my fascination with stereotypic masculine portrayals.<p> Utilizing historic themes of male bravado, heroism and narcissism I juxtapose the mundane realities of everyday contemporary life. My narratives are situated within the complex visual languages of Neo-classical, Baroque, Rococo and Renaissance style painting. These specific pictorial vocabularies add both psychological and metaphoric weight to my conceptual process; locating my marginalized identity within historic and contemporary archetypes.