From Ashes to Text - Andean Literature of Sexual Dissidence in the 20th Century

The Spanish Conquest in the sixteenth century led to the burning of sex-dissident people at the stake, leaving a trauma that would mark the future literatures of the Andean region. This book reconsiders the value of the ash, a metaphor for sexual dissidences in the Andean region in the twentieth century, beyond multiculturalism and the Global LGBTI movement. It aims to understand the value of complex texts that challenge the abyss of past destruction and reflect on the contribution of the Global South to the understanding of the body and its intersections.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 280 pages
Publication date: 16 September 2022
Publisher: Polity Press

In the sixteenth century, the Spanish Conquest brought about a violent arrival to the Andes, leading to the persecution of sex-dissident individuals who did not conform to the dominant European cisheteropatriarchal model. This act not only burned the flesh but also devastated practices, ways of life, and textualities, leaving a profound void and trauma that would shape the future literatures of the Andean region. This book cannot undo the damage caused by those pre-sodomite texts and bodies. Instead, it aims to reevaluate the significance of ash, a metaphor that enables a critical and nuanced interpretation of sexual dissidences in the Andean region during the twentieth century. By conducting a comparative analysis and drawing on theoretical frameworks such as anticoloniality, feminism, and cuir (rather than queer) theories, the book seeks to understand the value of a series of complex texts that showcase dissident subjectivities, practices, and desires.

This book received widespread acclaim and was honored with the prestigious Casa de las Américas prize. The jury praised it for its paradoxical and thought-provoking approach, which challenges the depths of past destruction while also reflecting on the contributions of the Global South to the often uniformist thinking surrounding the body and its intersections.

Weight: 364g
Dimension: 138 x 217 x 22 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781509550166