Representation, Visibility, and Resistance in the "Other" Victims of the Armed Conflict in Colombia

Abstract

This article addresses a series of literary and audiovisual representations of dissident subjectivities of gender and sexuality in the context of the armed conflict in Colombia. My intention is to explore the ways in which some of the voices of those victims perceived as “abnormal” (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people) become visible, as subjects who are outside the social norm of gender and sexuality. The article revolves around the novels Lady Massacre (2013) by Mario Mendoza, Un mundo huérfano (2016) by Giuseppe Caputo, and, in the audiovisual field, the documentary Señorita María, la fala de la montaña (2017), directed by Rubén Mendoza and produced by Amanda Sarmiento and Mendoza himself. These samples record attempts at resistance to heteronormativity and introduce a possible historical relevance in future post-conflict settings. The interpretative framework that guides this study revolves around some of the postulates of queer theorists and thinkers such as Judith Butler, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Salvador Ortiz, Amelia Viteri, among others, as well as the narrative contributions of Severo Sarduy regarding the use of Neo-Baroque language in the novel.