Vol. 18 No. 2 (2013): Representations

Representations, such as texts and images, not only reflect an existing reality but are processes generating meaning in themselves. They convey knowledge and further the formulation of identities, in particular for minorities. Literature and other cultural representations are a valuable source of information for many LGBTQ persons, and the broader public’s understanding of what it’s like being lesbian, gay or transgender has for instance been influenced and shaped by novels, movies and TV series. This issue of lambda nordica contains two articles and one essay discussing contramporary and historic representations of non-normative sexuality. The texts demonstrate how lesbian relationships, as well as the silence surrounding them, are depicted in the neo-Victorian novel The Sealed Letter; how male asexuality is explained in “threads” in an online forum; what significance sexuality may have on citizenship; and how male same-sex desire was described in pictorial artwork in the renaissance.