This is a study about the “grilljanne”, a type of young dandy in fin-de-siècle Stockholm. The “grilljanne” was known for his odd, flamboyant sense of style, his constant economic troubles, and his disruptive behaviour in public. The main source for descriptions of the “grilljanne” is the boulevard newspaper Figaro and its editor-in-chief Georg Lundström (who published under the signature Jörgen). The purpose of the study is to examine how the “grilljanne” was portrayed as an opposite to the dominant bourgeoise ideals of the 1890s. By considering the “grilljanne” a stereotype, it looks at how the stereotype was constructed by the writers of Figaro, and how it relates to contemporary discussions about class, gender, sexuality and youth. The analysis is inspired by recent research into the history of masculinity, and how deviant forms of masculinity have been constructed as countertypes to the dominant ideals. The “grilljanne” was continuously mocked in Figaro, both because of his style and his behaviour. Specifically, he was portrayed as the antithesis of bourgeois masculine ideals of self-restraint and moderation. His vanity, snobbishness and excessive interest in fashionable consumption makes him comparable to various forms of dandyism during the second half of the nineteenth century and made him a caricature of over-the-top elegance. The negative portrayal can also be seen as an expression of anxieties regarding blurred lines between classes, changing sexual morality and increasingly unclear distinctions between male and female behaviour. The “grilljanne” was often also described as a symptom of a debased and degenerate youth. This related to the specific fear of decadence, a phenomenon which has usually been studied by historians of literature. This study has shown that phenomena such as decadence and dandyism were intimately connected to fin-de-siècle anxieties about class, masculinity, sexuality and youth.

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This essay examines possible subject positions offered to a female in relations to the decadence genre in the novel Berta Funcke (1885) by Stella Kleve, pseudonym for Mathilda Malling. The aim is to study how a female can be decadent. I analyze subject positions and examine how they enable decadent expressions of the female character. To understand subject positions in relations to the historical context I use Chris Weedon’s approach to feminist poststructuralism. I define decadence as a relative concept and understand it as a wider experience of decadence and dissolution in society. The methodological framework is based on hermeneutic reading. The result shows that the female protagonist is under the influence of many subjectivities simultaneously. Her decadence can be seen as both a source of emancipation and of constraint. From the analysis, I’ve been able to distinguish four characteristic subject positions: The Erotic, The Hermaphrodite, The Actress and The Hothouse Plant. The subject positions are bound to stereotypes of the time but also permits the female protagonist to transcend gender definitions. The result shows that the decadent aesthetics, expressions and vocabulary open up new ways of being for the female character.