The purpose of this essay is to examine the construction of the norm-breaking characters Saga from the young adult novel Tusen gånger starkare written by Christina Herrström and Pippi Longstocking from the books written by Astrid Lindgren. In order to do this I have applied queer theory as well as theories of narrative in my analysis. To be able to study the breaking of norms, it has been essential to first examine the way the norm itself is manifested in the books. Because of this I have chosen to begin my analysis with an examination of two other characters who by their normative behavior contrasts against Pippi and Saga, namely Signe and Annika. The understanding of the normative discourse that Signe and Annika represent is crucial in understanding the way Saga and Pippi later turn against it. After that I examine in which ways Saga and Pippi breaks prevalent norms and how they as characters are constructed as being different. Subsequently I study the effects of Saga’s and Pippi’s norm-breaking, taking focus on how it influences Signe and Annika. Finally I discuss the view of Saga and Pippi as subversive characters, and however the books can be said to have a subversive effect. Even though the norms are revealed as arbitrary through Saga’s and Pippi’s behavior, the books about Pippi as well as Tusen gånger starkare send out a clear message about what the expectations of normative behavior look like.

The aim for this thesis was to investigate how the rape narratives, where men are raped by women, are portrayed in Swedish youth literature to be able to discover whether the discourse of rape has been subjected to change over time. This is done through a comparative analysis of the male victims, the female perpetrators and how power structures determine the credibility of the victims in Glappet (1998) by Christina Herrström and Sebbe sa nej (2019) by Niclas Christoffer. The investigation is done against the context that shows how female on male rape has been constructed and reproduced as unlikely, based in culturally established norms that depict men as sexually active and women as sexually passive. A model combining Judith Butler’s theory regarding how penetration secures the sexes, with Gayle Rubin’s theory on the sexual value system, is developed and used to detect how the unintelligible rape is made intelligible. In addition to this Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubars’ angel/monster dichotomy is used to explain the construction of the female perpetrator. Through the analysis it becomes visible that the narratives are shaped in certain ways to make the unintelligible rape intelligible. The understanding of sexual perpetrators and victims is deeply connected to the cultural understandings regarding gender norms and sexuality. In many ways female on male rape is constructed as an exception in the novels, and explained in terms that fit within a heteronormative framework. Despite this, the comparison of the narratives shows that the concept of rape has broadened enough to include female on male rape as a type of sexual violence.