Karlson embodies this kind of queer man-child character because he defies categorization from the normative world through his many unconventional facets: the separated space he inhabits on the roof, his diminutive appearance, his self-important psychosocial persona, his bizarre interpersonal communications, and his scandalous antisocial behavior Throughout the series, Karlson violates traditional expectations of social interactions, familial ties, physical and verbal courtesy, and proper decorum regarding other people’s property, time, and needs. 2 Westin also describes Karlson as “a character that moves freely between different zones and positions: between earth and sky, between child and adult” (140) 3 Karlson’s mobility between child and adult informs the focus of this article on one specific binary – child/adult – and how Karlson subverts this binary as a queer literary white man-child character.Ī white man-child character can serve several functions within a text, providing comic relief and opportunities for adventure, instilling wonder, offering social commentary, or combining all the aforementioned while befuddling characters and readers through unusual behavior, speech patterns, and rhetoric. 1 As a person with a button on his stomach that operates a propeller on his back that allows him to fly, Karlson represents what Boel Westin describes as a “technobody,” which differs from Donna Haraway’s concept of the cyborg and refers more to “the technologized body or the body as an engineering product” (133).
Astrid Lindgren’s character Karlson from her Karlson on the Roof trilogy (1955–1968 ) could be analyzed as a subversive agent of quite a few different binaries, including the natural/artificial. In other words, Cleto considers how “queer,” both as a noun and a verb, reconfigures or questions our socially constructed ways of living in, navigating through, or co-existing alongside traditional society. The books are written by Astrid Lindgren and illustrated by Ilon Wikland.In his discussion about queer theory, Fabio Cleto notes, “Queer thinking thus promotes a sabotage of the manifold binarisms (masculine/feminine, original/copy, identity/difference, natural/artificial, private/public, etc.) on which bourgeoise epistemic and ontological order arranges and perpetuates itself” (15).“They can be make-believe themselves!”, Karlsson snorts. Little Brother loves Karlsson but Mum, Dad and the older siblings insist he’s make-believe. He loves getting presents and getting up to all sorts of shenanigans – and if something breaks or disappears, well then they’re just material things and are nothing to be sour about anyway. He’s convinced that he’s best at everything and is not shy to tell everyone so. Karlsson does whatever Karlsson wants – eats all the sweets by himself, always chooses the largest slice of cake and enjoys trickelytricking and tirritating people. Attached to his back he has a small propeller with which he can fly… He decides to come in to land at Little Brother’s. He is, in his own words, a handsome, thoroughly clever, perfectly plump man in his prime. Up on the roof, in a small house behind the big chimney, resides a gentleman by the name of Karlsson. In a perfectly ordinary building, on a perfectly ordinary street in town lives Smidge.
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