UC Irvine

While reading a series interviews with Michel Foucault conducted between 1982 and 1984, several statements in the text provoked questions that would become the basis of this dissertation. His objective is to move homosexuality away from questions of identity and desire and toward an ethic of pleasure. In the process, he affirms the transformative potential of pleasure. In this work, I analyze how various gay Latin American authors utilize this aspect of pleasure to critique and undermine the heteronormative cultures in which they live as well as offer the vision of a more inclusive society. I found in Pájaros de la playa (1993) by Severo Sarduy and Salón de belleza (1999) by Mario Bellatin, that the authors denounce their respective country’s responses to the AIDS crisis by creating textual spaces in which the reader as well as the fictional literary characters find pleasure. Reinaldo Arenas in Antes que anochezca (1992) and Boris Izaguirre in Azul petróleo (1998) rely on graphic portrayals of non-normative sex to expose governmental hypocrisy. Finally, in Sangre como la mía (2006) by Jorge Marchant Lazcano and Mundo cruel (2010) by Luis Negrón the authors demonstrate the capability of gay relationships based on pleasure, rather than identity, to effect change and create a more equitable and inclusive society.