PT Journal
AU Balutet, N
TI The repressed desire: expressions of self-homophobia in some Latin American works
SO Romanica Olomucensia
PY 2015
BP 227
EP 242
VL 27
IS 2
DI 10.5507/ro.2015.019
DE homophobia; refoulement; violence; friendship; transvestite; threesome.
AB The causes of homophobia - rejection and hatred of homosexuals by certain individuals - are plural. They seem nevertheless to reflect the hetero-centrism of society, that is to say, the supremacy of the patriarchal heterosexual social model, constantly reinforced by the bodies of power (political parties, trade unions, constituted bodies, churches, etc.) on behalf of demographic issues and the defense of a certain conception of morality, often inherited from religion. This "social homophobia", in the words of Francis Courtray in Normes sociales, droit et homosexualite (1996), not only legitimates collective homophobia but also leads to "self-homophobia", that is to say, refoulement, a form of conduct that is a way of refusing to face a desire that could be expressed freely in a society that considers homosexuality for what it is: a "natural" part of human sexuality.Self-homophobic characters are quite common in Latin American literature and cinema. They are found, for example, in the following works: the movie Fresa y chocolate (1993) by Tomas Gutierrez Alea (Cuba), the novel Grande Sertao: Veredas (1956) by Joao Guimaraes Rosa (Brazil), the short story "La intrusa" (1966) by Jorge Luis Borges (Argentina), and the short novel Conversaciones con Aurelia (2007) by Daniel Torres (Puerto Rico). Using these works, this article intends to present some manifestations of self-homophobia and the strategies implemented by some of the characters, often unconsciously, to satisfy their homosexual desire while also denying it.
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