Imagining LatinX Intimacies: Connecting Queer Stories, Spaces and Sexualities

This research project is a book-length study that examines how the visual art and writing of queer Latinx peoples from the 1990s and 2000s portray spatial dynamics in texts and media. The project examines how literary and visual works function as a means of expressing one’s identity in emotional, intellectual, and physical ways within a range of spatial contexts such as the domestic sphere, schools, and online environments. Imagining Latinx Intimacies addresses the ways that artists and writers resist the social forces of colonialism, displacement, and oppression through crafting incisive and inspiring responses to the problems that queer Latinx peoples encounter in both daily lives and representation such as art, film, poetry, popular culture, and stories. Instead of keeping quiet, queer Latinx artists and writers have spoken up as a way of challenging stereotypes, prejudice, and the lived experiences of estrangement and physical violence. Artistic thinkers such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Frances Negrón-Muntaner, and Rane Arroyo have challenged such socio-political problems by imagining intimate social and intellectual spaces that resist the status quo like homophobic norms, laws, and policies that hurt families and communities. Building on the intellectual thought of researchers such as Jorge Duany, Adriana de Souza e Silva, and José Esteban Muñoz, this book explains how the imagined spaces of Latinx LGBTQ peoples are blueprints for addressing our tumultuous present and creating a better future.https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/ias_books/1123/thumbnail.jp