Michele Shaul – författare

Non-Normative Sexualities in US Latinx and Latin American Literature Through a Capitalist Lens studies how Latin American and Latinx authors represent non-normative sexualities through a capitalist lens. In our society, heterosexuality manifests as privilege and has been normalized to such an extent that any sexuality that is perceived as different from the dominant cis-gendered, heteropatriarchal norm is considered deviant. Non-normative sexualities continue to be viewed by society as detrimental to the health of the nation. Consequently, how one is perceived by the dominant culture continues to limit one’s ability to thrive. Each chapter serves to analyze how one’s perceived gender identity or sexuality can block access to economic opportunity. Queer, trans, spatial and intersectional theories form the base of the literary analyses. One of the contributors’ goals is to present capitalism as it is intersectionally present in life, identity, and society. The authors studied in this collection come from the USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and the Southern Cone of Latin America.

U.S. Latinx Literature in Spanish remains an understudied field despite its large and vibrant corpus. This is partly due to the erroneous impression that this literature is only written in English, and partly due to traditional educational programs focusing on English texts to include non-Spanish speakers and non-Latinx students. This has created a vacuum in research about Latinx literary production in Spanish, leaving the contemporary field wide open for exploration. This volume fills this space by bringing contemporary U.S. Latinx literature in Spanish to the forefront of the field. The essays focus on literary production post-1960 and examine texts by authors from different backgrounds writing from the U.S., providing readers with an opportunity to explore new texts in Spanish within U.S. Latinx literature, and a departure point for starting a meaningful critical discourse about what it means to write and publish in Spanish in the U.S. Through exploring literary production in a language that is both emotionally and politically charged for authors, the academia, and the U.S., this book challenges and enhances our understanding of the term ‘Americas’.