ABSTRACT

Situating the band in the context of Swedish queer-feminist politics, this chapter analyses The Knife's problematizations of identities, as well as their critique of power relations connected to these identities. The chapter aims to analyze how The Knife use queer-feminist theoretical perspectives as a vital resource for their music-making and analyze examples of the aesthetic effects of the interaction between music and theory. Drawing on different types of material, both musical, visual, and textual, the chapter is guided by the question: how can The Knife's extensive use of masks whenever they enter mainstream media be understood as a part of their queer-feminist politics? The chapter discusses the tradition of feminist political engagement in Sweden, from the suffrage movement at the beginning of the 1900s, the women's movements during the 1970–1980s, the establishment of state-endorsed gender-equality politics and increasingly growing interest in feminist issues in public debate.