Queer Genealogies in Dominican Literature and Culture

Tracing cultural representations of queerness in theDominican Republic from the 1950s to the presentIn this book, MajaHorn examines the evolution of queer Dominican literary and cultural productionfrom the 1950s to the present, challenging simplistic developmental narrativesof LGBTIQ+ progress. Through an analysis of literature, theater, and activism, Horntraces how same-sex desire and gender nonconformity have been negotiated bothtacitly and overtly across the years.Beginning withearly forerunners, Horn looks at literary representations in works by HilmaContreras and Pedro Ren Contn Aybar during the 19301961 dictatorship ofRafael Trujillo. Horn goes on to explore the emergence of queer nightlifespaces during the Balaguer years through novels by Rita Indiana Hernndez andRey Emmanuel Andjar. Horn discusses how the work of playwright Waddys Jquez challengesreductive mainstream representations of trans subjects and HIV/AIDS in the newdemocratic era. The book concludes with a discussion of groundbreaking recenttexts that have expanded portrayals beyond Santo Domingo and introduced newperspectives.Throughout QueerGenealogies in Dominican Literature and Culture, Horn shows how class,race, and gender have shaped access to public space and strategies fornegotiating sexuality. Horn also reveals the coexistence of different ways ofexpressing queer identities. Recognizing the influence of coloniality andnarratives of identity in the global North, Horn celebrates the shiftinggeographies and multiplicities of a uniquely creole Dominican queerness.