Latin American Fiction and the Narratives of the Perverse : Paper Dolls and Spider Women

Latin American Fiction and the Narratives of the Perverse contains analysis of sexual perversion and narrative creativity in fictions from the Latin American boom and post-boom. O'Connor's main argument is that orthodox criticism of Latin American literature has neglected the eccentric singularities of other fictive trends in the corpus (especially in the second half of the twentieth-century). At the same time, by examining these eccentric singularities in their relationship to mainstream trends in the Latin American corpus, O'Connor forces his readers to view these master narratives and major trends (such as modernismo or magical realism) from surprisingly new angles. Five of the authors discussed (Puig, Lezama, Lima, Cortazar and Sarduy) have an established place in the Latin American literary canon. A fifth one, Rosario Ferre, may have come close to achieving that status with her earlier fictions. Others (Felisberto Hernandez, Alicia Borinsky, Cristina Peri Rossi and Silvia Molloy) are less well known, but they are certainly highly significant authors for scholars and students of contemporary Latin American fiction. Latin American Fiction And The Narratives Of The Perverse Contains Analysis Of Sexual Perversion And Narrative Creativity In Fictions From The Latin American Boom And Post-boom. Latin American Novelists Of The Twentieth Century Tell Stories About Extreme Male Sexualities - Machismo, Homosexuality, Fetishism, Masochism, Transvestism - In Complex Negotiations With The Stories Told By Freud And Other Sexologists, Exemplifying Some And Queering Others. O'connor Undertakes Close Readings Of Puig, Lezama Lima, Cortazar, Fuentes, Donoso, And Sarduy In Search Of A Perverse Literary History Of Latin America.--jacket. Enter The Spider Woman: An Introduction To The Narratives Of The Perverse -- The Impenetrability And The Glory: Ellipsing Lezama Lima -- The Moving Target Of Fixated Desire: Felisberto's Paper Dolls -- Fashionable And Unfashionable Perversions On The Latin American Rive Gauche: Cortazar And Pizarnik Read The Bloody Countess -- (triple) Cross-dressing The Boom: Fuentes, Donoso, Sarduy And The Queer Sixties -- Lip-synching Woman -- Severo Sarduy's Flaming Creatures -- Conclusions: Perverse Narratives On The Border. Patrick O'connor. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [235]-244) And Index. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 8 1 Enter the Spider Woman: An Introduction to the Narratives of the Perverse......Page 16 2 The Impenetrability and the Glory: Ellipsing Lezama Lima......Page 58 3 The Moving Target of Fixated Desire: Felisberto's Paper Dolls......Page 90 4 Fashionable and Unfashionable Perversions on the Latin American Rive Gauche: Cortázar and Pizarnik Read "The Bloody Countess"......Page 136 5 (Triple-) Cross-Dressing the Boom: Fuentes, Donoso, Sarduy, and the Queer Sixties......Page 170 Conclusion/Epilogue: Perverse Narratives on the Border......Page 208 Notes......Page 226 Bibliography......Page 250 C......Page 260 F......Page 261 H......Page 262 M......Page 263 O......Page 264 Q......Page 265 T......Page 266 Z......Page 267 Latin American Fiction and the Narratives of the Perverse contains analysis of sexual perversion and narrative creativity in fictions from the Latin American Boom and post-Boom. Latin American novelists of the twentieth century tell stories about extreme male sexualities--machismo, homosexuality, fetishism, masochism, transvestism-in complex negotiations with the stories told by Freud and other sexologists, exemplifying some and queering others. O'Connor undertakes close readings of Puig, Lezama Lima, Cortázar, Fuentes, Donoso, and Sarduy in search of a perverse literary history of Latin America