Crossing through Chueca: Lesbian Literary Culture in Queer Madrid

192 Pages·2011·0.909 MB·English

by  Jill Robbins

CROSSING THROUGH CHUECA
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Crossing through Chueca
. . . .
Lesbian Literary Culture
in Queer Madrid
Jill Robbins
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
The University of Minnesota Press gratefully acknowledges financial assistance provided
for the publication of this book from the Program for Cultural Cooperation between
Spain’s Ministry of Culture and United States Universities.
Material in this book previously appeared in “The (In)visible Lesbian: The Contradictory
Representations of Female Homoeroticism in Contemporary Spain,” Journal of Lesbian
Studies 7.3 (2003). Portions of chapter 3 were first published in “Andalucía, el travestimo y
la mujer fálica: Plumas de España de Ana Rossetti,” Lectora. Revista de dones i textualitat 15
(2009). Parts of chapter 5 were first published in “Cybersex and the Cyberdildo: Dislocations
inCenicienta en Chueca,”Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-first Century Literature (2006).
Copyright 2011 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Robbins, Jill.
Crossing through Chueca : lesbian literary culture in queer Madrid / Jill Robbins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8166-6989-9 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8166-6990-5 (pb : alk.
paper)
1. Spanish fiction—20th century—History and criticism. 2. Spanish fiction—
21st century—History and criticism. 3. Lesbianism in literature. 4. Lesbian
culture—Spain. 5. Homosexuality and literature—Spain. 6. Publishers and
publishing—Spain—Madrid—History. 7. Books and reading—Spain—Madrid—
History—20th century. 8. Books and reading—Spain—Madrid—History—21st
century. 9. Geographical perception—Spain—Madrid. I. Title.
PQ6140.L47R63 2011
863'.7093526643—dc22
2010032603
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and employer.
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Para mi amor lindo
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Contents
Preface: Marching toward Marriage ix
1. A Brief History of Chueca and Madrid’s Queer Space 1
2. Lesbian Literary Identities in the Madrid Book Business 15
3. The New Safita: Andalusia and the Phallic Woman
inPlumas de España 33
4. Lesbian-Themed Best Sellers and the Politics of Acceptance 57
5. Dislocations: Identity and Communication
inCenicienta en Chueca 81
6. Popular Lesbian Fiction: Romance, Literature, and Legislation 101
Conclusion: Toward Lesbian Visibility 117
Acknowledgments 125
Notes 127
Bibliography 153
Index 167
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· PREFACE ·
Marching toward Marriage
I
t was July 2005 and gay marriage had just been approved by the
Spanish government. On the afternoon of my sixth Spanish Pride,
I met my Guatemalan partner, Arturo Arias, and a group of our lesbian
and bisexual friends for lunch in the pricey Madrid neighborhood of
Salamanca, a conservative bastion on that year’s parade route. The parade
organizers wanted to celebrate the legitimacy the marriage legislation
conferred on gay and lesbian unions by marching through the neighbor-
hood most associated with the conservative politics of the Popular Party
(PP). For the first and only time, the parade’s concluding speeches would
be held in the symbolic Plaza de Colón—Columbus Square—Madrid’s
biggest public square, adorned with an obelisk in tribute to the discov-
erer of the Americas. Our group included a rich but closeted real estate ty-
coon from Cáceres and her Filipina partner, originally from Los Angeles,
dressed in identical fashion; a young aeronautical engineer who worked
for the Spanish Ministry of Defense and spent most of her time chat-
ting happily about the festivities on the phone with her father or waxing
nostalgic about her pilot training at the Palmerola Air Force Base in the
summer of 1992; a blond international banker who adhered to the politics
of the PP; an Argentine woman who had just moved out of her family’s
chalet on the outskirts of Madrid and into an apartment with her part-
ner, a Galician schoolteacher; and Sofía Ruiz, a U.S. academic colleague
originally from Madrid whose book of short stories, Sexutopías, had just
been accepted for publication by the gay/lesbian press Egales. In our long,
animated lunch, boundless joy for this political triumph flowed as freely
as the wine. After the meal, our spirits flying, Arturo, Sofía, and I headed
to the Puerta de Alcalá, a commemorative arch in the middle of the city
and the starting point of the demonstration. In front of Correos, the cen-
tral post office building, we met up with two other formidable personali-
ties, the Argentine poets Mario Merlino and Noni Benegas. Mario (who
would soon marry his Brazilian partner, then divorce him shortly before
· ix ·