Postmoderne flaneurisme. Køn og klasse i Therese Bohmans Aftenland

Abstract

In this article, Therese Bohman’s Aftenland (2017) is analyzed with a focus on the presentation of the post-modern Scandinavian class society – a theme that has been widely neglected in Danish literary
criticism. The novel takes place in contemporary Stockholm, but at the same time it contains nostalgic references to a modern fin-de-siècle literature, most clearly represented in the protagonist’s role as a flaneur. The point of departure of the article is the assumption that the modern flaneur as a literary figure conveys the bourgeoisie’s gaze on the proletariat. Using the gaze as an analytical tool along with Beverley Skeggs’s sociologically based class theory, it is shown how the use of a postmodern flaneur in the novel similarly conveys the middle class gaze on and devaluation of the working class. Finally, the article argues that the post-modern flaneur of the novel differs from the modern flaneur through a more ambiguous representation of class differences, which the article explains with post-modern
society’s constant demand of self-realization, which is connected to an ever-expanding market. The novel shows that the nature of consumption in this market has evolved to also apply to cultural
appropriation between classes, which ultimately contributes to maintain class structures.