TY - JOUR AU - Olsson, Annika PY - 2021/12/10 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Groteska kroppar i folkhemmets sverige: PUSS – opassande estetik och retorik 1968–1974 JF - Tidskrift för litteraturvetenskap JA - TfL VL - 51 IS - 1-2 SE - Forskningsartikel DO - 10.54797/tfl.v51i1-2.1744 UR - https://publicera.kb.se/tfl/article/view/1744 SP - 139-152 AB - <p><strong>Grotesque bodies in the Swedish folkhem: Improper aesthetic and rhetoric in the magazine <em>PUSS</em> 1968–1974</strong></p><p>&nbsp;In an analysis of the Swedish satirical magazine <em>PUSS</em> (1968–1974) this article explores what is considered as improper rhetoric and aesthetic in the public sphere. It draws on theories of representation and the culture of carnival laughter and the grotesque as well as research on the Swedish folkhem and satire and democracies. I coin the concept <em>demogrotesque-atic</em> in order to capture how PUSS, by using comics, grotesque bodies and carnivalesque, improper rhetoric and aesthetics, makes visible fundamental challenges to democratic societies. I argue that the magazine’s representational practices highlight the function of what is often considered ‘filth’ in the public sphere and the central role the grotesque body plays in upholding – and breaking – boundaries of propriety. I interpret this as important democratic work, and demonstrate that while the satire in <em>PUSS</em> is situated in a specific time and place, it is also part of a longstanding literary and artistic tradition.</p> ER -