Metaphors of suffering : the representation of the homosexual and the lesbian as social and discursive constructs in Spanish peninsular narrative texts, 1970-2000

Spanish fiction--20th century--History and criticism;Homosexuality in literature;Homosexuality--Social aspects;Gays in literature

Wilyman, Sheila M. ; Dennis, Nigel ; Dennis, Nigel

University:University of St Andrews

Department:Modern Languages (School of)

关键词: Spanish fiction--20th century--History and criticism;    Homosexuality in literature;    Homosexuality--Social aspects;    Gays in literature;   

Others  :  https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/10023/18390/SheilaWilymanPhDThesis.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y

来源: DR-NTU

【 摘 要 】

Studies of the homosexual and lesbian as he/she is represented in Spanish peninsularnarrative texts of the twentieth century have spoken mainly of the silence that surroundstheseparticular identities and space and of their pathologisation by psychiatry andmedicine.Although this thesis engages with both these problematic issues, its mainpurpose is to study the representation of the homosexual and the lesbian as social anddiscursive constructs in a selection of Spanish peninsular narrative texts publishedbetween 1970 and 2000. Relevant to this constructionist scenario are the ways in whichthe various authors represent the determining effect of discursive practices and codes, andparticularly those of religion, medicine and the State, on the subject's self-determinationas homosexual or lesbian. Equally significant is the representation of homosexual andlesbian identities ascontingent upon the social, political, and historical moment in whichthe male/female isplaced.The selected texts include Eduardo Mendicutti's ‘Elpalomo cojo’, Ana MaríaMoix's ‘Julia’, Jesús Alviz's ‘Calle Urano’, Miguel Espinosa's ‘La tríbada falsaria’ andCarme Riera's "Tedejo, amor, en prenda el mar" and Eduardo Mendicutti's "El milagro".In these texts characters arerepresented taking up either a homosexual or lesbian identityas the result of the discursivepractices and codes of the surrounding social/sexual scene.Also represented are the suffering, pain and alienation that accrue to those categorised assexually perverse, as well as the silence that surrounds closeted positionalities and space.In consonance with the liberal mood ofSpain's "destape", the various texts alsodemonstrate thepossibility of characters answering back and challenging the credibilityof the statusquo that labelled him/her as homosexual/lesbian in the first place.Theanalysis of the selected texts is based on a variety of theoretical andphilosophical observations relating to sexuality, language, identity, gender and desire.Particularly useful have been Michel Foucault's ‘History of Sexuality’ Vol. 1, J. L. Austin's‘How to Do Things with Words’ and Judith Butler's ‘Gender Trouble’. Raymond Williams'svignette entitled "Dominant, Residual, and Emergent" in ‘Marxism and Literature’ has alsoproved illuminating and pertinent.