”En ung verkligen bättre herre aldrig är klädd på det viset” : Grilljannen som hot mot borgerliga manlighetsideal 1890–1900

Sammanfattning: 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.