Konstituerade kön i mytologisk allegori : En diskursiv läsning av Olof Rudbecks Atlantica

Sammanfattning: The intention of this essay is to inquire into the (re-)constitution of gendered/sexed identities in a gothicistic discourse. The used material is the work Atlantica, chapter 5, vol. 2, written by the Swedish historian/Medical professor Olof Rudbeck. I have chosen this chapter for its description of mythological characters relationship with the earth, the sun and the moon. A description based on a concept of strength and reproduction as gendered characteristics. How does gendered subjects positions appear in Rudbecks rewriting of mythology? How can these gendered positions transcend and what are the limits of this transcendence? How can this transcendence be understood in the text? I have used Judith Butlers theories about performativity, gender as a subjection that makes us more or less understandable as humans, constituted by structural frames. I have also used Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffes discourse analysis, both as a theory and a method, to located subjects positions as “the warrior” and ”the reproduction/parenting”. The warrior is coded by a nationalistic thought of a gothic inheritance, a position that is framed with constituted masculinity. Characters described as female can take this position but will still be understood as female. Characters describes as males that fail to stay in this position transcend into a position as females. This transcendence is by Rudbeck described with the term “hermaphrodite” as an allegorical description rather than an actual position.