ABATRACTS

Prof. José Muñoz

Department of Performance Studies

New York University

This mini-seminar will commence with a brief introduction to the mode of analysis that has come to be known in the U.S. as queer theory. To this end we will begin with a genealogical origin of queer theory that considers three sites that contribute to its formation: French Poststructuralist Theory, the writing of Radical Women of Color in the U.S. and Queer Activism. That survey will be followed by consideraton of the jingoistic vicissitudes of North American gender studies and queer critique . We will ask how queer theory can begin to speak to the complexity of our America. Work by authors who have attempted to bring these methodologies to Latin America like Sylvia Molloy, Jose Quiroga, Licia Fiol-Mata, Arnaldo Malave-Cruz and Daniel Balderston will be read closely. Finally, we will look at the ways in which queer theories can illustrate and begin to outline the particularities of Latin American Performance.