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Closet experiences: a queer reading of two plays by Luis Alberto Heiremans

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No. 104 (2021): Noviembre

Abstract

Despite its currency, the dramaturgy of Luis Alberto Heiremans (1928-1964) continues to be read through the lens of Christian existentialism and symbolism, two qualities espoused by Chilean university theatres during their first three decades of existence (1941-1973). Critics have overlooked the homoerotic elements present in Heiremans’ best-known works, effectively ignoring multiple textual markers that suggest homosexual affections. We propose a queer reading of Moscas sobre el mármol (1958) and Arpeggione, the third part of Buenaventura (1962), texts that premiered outside of Chile and that were not included in our programming for decades. Through this lens we explain the ways in which Heiremans’ dramaturgy problematizes the challenge of mentioning affects, then criminalized: in one case through failed literary allusions (Moscas sobre el mármol), in the other through the use of musical references (Arpeggione). These works show how the possibilities of queer life were transformed under a state invested in a sanitized version of modernity. This revision opens new aesthetic possibilities and new understandings of Chilean theatre history.

Keywords:

Chilean theatre, history and criticism, Chilean playwrights, Luis Alberto Heiremans, Queer studies

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How to Cite
Kalawski, A., Party, D., & Opazo, C. (2021). Closet experiences: a queer reading of two plays by Luis Alberto Heiremans. Revista Chilena De Literatura, (104), pp. 643–669. Retrieved from https://revistaliteratura.uchile.cl/index.php/RCL/article/view/65816
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Revista Chilena de Literatura
Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades
Universidad de Chile
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