The End of the World as We Know It: Queerness and Utopias in Sjón’s Poetry and Prose

In the ill-defined field of Icelandic queer literature, Sjón’s historical novel Mánasteinn: Drengurinn sem aldrei var til (Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was) is an unquestioned landmark. It was an instant hit, received most, if not all, literary awards available in Iceland, and has since then been published in at least 17 countries. In a queer context, this is noteworthy and significant since the novel is very blunt, graphic—and positive—when it comes to same-sex sexuality, and with it, Sjón sought to fill some of the gaps in history where queer lives have been omitted or purposely erased. Although Moonstone may be the most comprehensive exploration of queer lives and desire in Sjón’s oeuvre, it is not the first. This chapter discusses the queer thread in Sjón’s work, from his early poetry to novels such as Stálnótt (Night of Steel) and CoDex 1962. Drawing on Jose Esteban Muñoz’s writing on queer utopia, special emphasis is placed on how Sjón’s texts criticise and deconstruct national narratives and various binarisms, such as human/non-human and homo/hetero, by creating future horizons where heteronormative and anthropocentric scripts have been rewritten and replaced by alternative ideas about gender, bodies and sex.