Trans Modernismo · Birth of the Marimacho: Modernismo’s Trans* Cultural Productions in Latin America

Birth of the Marimacho: Modernismo’s Trans* Cultural Productions in Latin America

PROJECT DESCRIPTION The project Birth of the Marimacho: Modernismo’s Trans* Cultural Productions in Latin America analyzes the emergence of a radical gender expression in early-twentieth-century Latin American and European literature, medical science, and visual culture: the ‹‹marimacho››. In the Hispanic tradition, marimacho is the umbrella notion that may refer to a sexist slur as much as a modern form of non-binary gender, a transmasculine identification, or a lesbian identity. This investigation examines the aesthetic construction of this hybrid, counter- cultural, and gender- dissident figure in an extensive cultural repertoire that includes novels, plays, films, leaflets, medical studies, prison and mental hospital records, poems, newspaper, and tabloid articles. The research draws upon multiple theoretical schools and philosophical resources from gender and sexuality studies, especially queer theory. Queer scholarship addresses not only the political self-representation of LGBTQ populations. Queer studies also examine major problems in minority discourse: the medical stigmas around homosexuality and transness, the non-normative/non-reproductive uses of erotic pleasures, and the broad implications of ‘gender dysphoria’ for orthodox notions of citizenship. In this sense, I examine the specificity of practices carried out by a rich plethora of fin-de-siècle Latin American female and trans*masculine subcultures as well as some figures of male queerness: uranistas and maricas (homosexuals) soldaderas (women soldiers), llaneras and linyeras (rural and transient women), cuchilleras (knife fighters), arrabaleras (tango singers), bolleras (tomboys), safistas and invertidas (lesbian & trans* masculine identities), vampiresas (criollo vernacular for hysterics), and other gender-dissident figures of the turn of the century. My analysis of the chosen corpus will demonstrate how queer men, but especially gender-non conforming women, lesbians and trans*men contested misogynist and sexual slurs by showing how gender and sexual orientation, far from being natural, are both historically constructed through performance and the adoption of diverse prosthetic artifacts, from hair and clothing to makeup and other cosmetic technologies. The project seeks to increase the understanding of the region’s politics of gender and sexuality during the modernizing era (1880s-1930s), that is, before the solidification of LGBTQ activism, pride literature, and minority social movements of the global 1960s. A central claim of this inquiry is that in response to the new gender dynamics led by fin-de-siècle cosmopolitan networks of first-wave feminism and secret homosexual fraternities, the keepers of gender normativity created the marimacho as a monstrous version of conventional masculinity. The main objective of this research is to investigate why a broad range of cultural materials named queer men and women, non-binary individuals, and trans* populations as marimachos, as gender hackers that put at stake the futures of heteronormativity, reproduction, and family life in Latin America and beyond. HOW DIVERSITY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION ARE CONNECTED TO GLOBAL SOCIAL JUSTICE This project is committed to a transformative scholarly framework that validates the cultural memory of stigmatized Latin American and European gender and sexual minorities, especially European queer migrants to South America. It seeks to recognize and give visibility to the epistemic, cultural, and institutional violence historically endured by the LGBTQ community. This scheme addresses the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century legacies of homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny recorded in the literary and scientific archives of the region, with a global perspective. In my combination of literary criticism, historical work, archival research, and the critique of past sexual and medical taxonomies, I read against the grain of the original violence that represented LGBTQ peoples as abject subjects unworthy of full citizenship in the cultural production of the period 1880-1930. My research will be an opportunity to challenge past official narratives about gender and sexual minorities. A principal goal of my research is to expand the cultural history of queer Latino and European collectives. The attention to queer cultural memory will acknowledge the historical stigmatization of LGBTQ peoples persecuted by state power and endured confinement in prisons and mental hospitals in the early twentieth century. Ultimately, this is a research project that seeks historical restitution for past Latin American and European LGBTQ collectives. PROJECT PATHWAY TO IMPACT In addressing critical deficits in the historical and cultural knowledge of global gender and sex minorities, this project includes key pathways to impact. Thanks to the support provided by the European Commission, this project collected very rare materials findable in Latin American and European library collections. For example, the Bibliothèque nationale de France, The Ibero-American Institute of Berlin, The Schwules Museum Library of Berlin, and the Centrum Schwule Geschichte of Cologne are some of the institutes consulted. In many instances, the material collected has not been studied or sufficiently assessed by critics and historians of LGBTQ world populations from 1880 to 1930. Novels, plays, films, medical studies, and other cultural texts recreate narratives around the figure of the marimacho, underlining their leading role in questioning and redefining gender protocols. This methodology not only reveals the stigmatization endured by queer populations but also praises their resilience and contribution to global turn-of-the-century culture. The anticipated impacts of this project are both germane and far-reaching in their implications. Beyond intellectual contributions to academic thinking, the research seeks to bring social awareness by telling the often-overlooked story of attempts at breaking with the conventional system of sexual and gender differentiation in the so-called fin de siècle. This was a time of multiple anxieties about the role of men and women in the public arena. Empire, globalization, war, feminism, suffragism, and colonialism were social organizers deeply shaped by heteronormative imperatives to guarantee the continuation of the gendered status quo. In addressing these historical legacies of homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny, the project will contribute to ongoing efforts toward social justice and equality for LGBTQ communities by including a historical dimension. The recognition of historical injustices aims at providing platforms for forgotten voices and narratives concerning those who were deemed enemies of the heterosexual family and the nation. Ultimately, the findings of this project may inform present debates and policies related to gender and sexual diversity, providing historical context that highlights the long-standing nature of these challenges and the need for inclusive and equitable strategies. Note: For a complete and thorough report of the implementation plan see Halaburda, C. G., University of Cologne, & Schulze, P. W. (2024). Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan by Carlos G Halaburda, PhD (Horizon Europe 2022, MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, Grant Number 101103095). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.12174403 For a complete list of the materials examined for this project see Halaburda, C. G., Schulze, P. W., & University of Cologne. (2024). Birth of the Marimacho: Modernismo's Trans* Cultural Productions in Latin America [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.11384482

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