Tropics of Desire

Interventions from Queer Latino America

Author: Jose A. Quiroga Series: Sexual Cultures

A study of queer Latino America. Drawing on diverse cultural examples such as bolero, salsa, film, literature and correspondence, it flips the stereotype around, showing how Latin/o American lesbians and gays have consistently eschewed notions of sexual identity for a politics of intervention.

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Summary

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From its sweaty beats to the pulsating music on the streets, Latin/o America is perceived in the United States as the land of heat, the toy store for Western sex. It is the territory of magical fantasy and of revolutionary threat, where topography is the travel guide of desire, directing imperial voyeurs to the exhibition of the flesh.
Jose Quiroga flips the stereotype upside down: he shows how Latin/o American lesbians and gay men have consistently eschewed notions of sexual identity for a politics of intervention. In Tropics of Desire, Quiroga reads hesitant Mexican poets as sex-positive voices, he questions how outing and identity politics can fall prey to the manipulations of the state, and explores how invisibility has been used as a tactical tool in opposition to the universal imperative to come out.
Drawing on diverse cultural examples such as the performance of bolero and salsa, film, literature, and correspondence, and influenced by masters like Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin and a rich tradition of Latin American stylists, Quiroga argues for a politics that denies biological determinism and cannibalizes cultural stereotypes for the sake of political action.

Critic Reviews

“"Pulls together some of the most cutting-edge literature on consumer culture. This comprehensive collection demonstrates the contested and continually constructed meaning of consumer identities. Scanlon provides accessible and useful overviews that make this volume an exceptional resource for the classroom." - Meg Jacobs, M.I.T.”

"A vivid analysis of how many Latin Americans have crafted alternative modes of understanding sexuality." --Hispanic American Historical Review

About the Author

Jose Quiroga is Professor of Spanish at The George Washington University and author of Understanding Octavio Paz.

More on this Book

From its sweaty beats to the pulsating music on the streets, Latin/o America is perceived in the United States as the land of heat, the toy store for Western sex. It is the territory of magical fantasy and of revolutionary threat, where topography is the travel guide of desire, directing imperial voyeurs to the exhibition of the flesh. Jose Quiroga flips the stereotype upside down: he shows how Latin/o American lesbians and gay men have consistently eschewed notions of sexual identity for a politics of intervention. In Tropics of Desire, Quiroga reads hesitant Mexican poets as sex-positive voices, he questions how outing and identity politics can fall prey to the manipulations of the state, and explores how invisibility has been used as a tactical tool in opposition to the universal imperative to come out. Drawing on diverse cultural examples such as the performance of bolero and salsa, film, literature, and correspondence, and influenced by masters like Roland Barthes, Walter Benjamin and a rich tradition of Latin American stylists, Quiroga argues for a politics that denies biological determinism and cannibalizes cultural stereotypes for the sake of political action.