Problems of Positioning. A qualitative study of narratives in a debate

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore how positions of oneself and others are constructed in a debate, how these positions also construct the debate, and how this could have performative effects on the reader. The particular debate analyzed here is one between Sara Edenheim and Nina Lykke, and published in Tidskrift för Genusvetenskap in 2010-2013. Through a combination of close readings, autoethnography, and writing as a method of inquiry I strive to answer questions regarding three main aspects of these articles: 1) temporality 2) affect and 3) in/direct referencing. I use a theoretical apparatus built on diffraction, emotion, and citation politics, and further follow how the process of this analysis affects me, as a reader-student-researcher. Finally, I conclude that feminist historiography is often written through metaphors of time, that the affection visible in these texts are performed through narrative positions but also define these positions, and that citation can be a tool for building alliances which too creates or connotes certain positions. Put together, I try to make visible narrative position making in a debate, and analyze how this could have performative effects.