Crossing Through Chueca : Lesbian Literary Culture in Queer Madrid

In the past two decades the city of Madrid has been marked by pride, feminism, and globalization—but also by the vestiges of the machismo nurtured during the long years of the Franco dictatorship. Crossing through Chueca examines how lesbian literary culture fares in this mix from the end of the countercultural movement la movida madrileña in 1988 until the gay marriage march in 2005. Jill Robbins traverses the various literary spaces of the city associated with queer culture, in particular the gay barrio of Chueca, revealing how it is a product of interrelations—a site crisscrossed by a multiplicity of subjects who constitute it as a queer space through the negotiation of their sexual, racial, gender, and class identities. Robbins recognizes Chueca as a political space as well, a refuge from homophobia. She also shows how the spatial and literary practices of Chueca relate to economic issues. In examining how women’s sexual identities have become visible in and through the Chueca phenomenon, this work is a revealing example of transnational queer studies within the broader Western discussion on gender and sexuality. 'In the past two decades the city of Madrid has been marked by pride, feminism, and globalizationùbut also by the vestiges of the machismo nurtured during the long years of the Franco dictatorship. Crossing through Chueca examines how lesbian literary culture fares in this mix from the end of the countercultural movement la movida madrile?a in 1988 until the gay marriage march in 2005. Jill Robbins traverses the various literary spaces of the city associated with queer culture, in particular the gay barrio of Chueca, revealing how it is a product of interrelationsùa site crisscrossed by a multiplicity of subjects who constitute it as a queer space through the negotiation of their sexual, racial, gender, and class identities. Robbins recognizes Chueca as a political space as well, a refuge from homophobia. She also shows how the spatial and literary practices of Chueca relate to economic issues. In examining how womenÆs sexual identities have become visible in and through the Chueca phenomenon, this work is a revealing example of transnational queer studies within the broader Western discussion on gender and sexuality.' The Chueca neighborhood of Madrid, site of Spanish Pride's celebration of gay marriage in 2005, emerged as Spain's center of tolerance following Franco's death in 1975. Reading transitional novels, lesbian-themed best sellers, and popular lesbian fiction, Robbins (Spanish literature and culture, U. of Texas, Austin) analyzes the ways in which the country's lesbian literary culture reflects the political and economic forces behind the movida (social transition) movement--despite lingering machismo. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Cover Contents Preface: Marching toward Marriage 1. A Brief History of Chueca and Madrid’s Queer Space 2. Lesbian Literary Identities in the Madrid Book Business 3. The New Safita: Andalusia and the Phallic Woman in Plumas de España 4. Lesbian-Themed Best Sellers and the Politics of Acceptance 5. Dislocations: Identity and Communication in Cenicienta en Chueca 6. Popular Lesbian Fiction: Romance, Literature, and Legislation Conclusion: Toward Lesbian Visibility Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z An exploration of queer Madrid's physical and symbolic literary culture.