We are pleased to invite you to a lecture by Professor Richard Reitsma titled
Queering the National Romance: LatinX Narratives of Belonging
Thursday, May 9, 2024
4:45 PM
You can get 3 OZN points for participating in this event.
Where?
Dobra 55, room 2.118
(the building features some mobility accommodations: ramp and lift)
Who?
Richard Reitsma, PhD,Associate Dean of Inclusion and Engagement, and Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Canisius College, Buffalo, NY, received his M.A. from Purdue University, and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. His doctoral research focused on issues of gender, sexuality, and race in plantation literature of the American South, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. At Canisius, Richard teaches Spanish, Latin American Studies, and Honors courses. A longtime judge for the Lambda Literary Awards, his current research concentrates on immigration, and gender and minority representation in literature and film of the American South, U.S. Latinos, and Latin America. Past research and publications include an examination of messages of diversity and tolerance in children’s animated movies, an exploration of the tensions between sexuality and ethnic identity in Latino film “Lethal Latin Lovers: Sex and Death in Latin American Cinema,” and “Sexuality, Masculinity, and the State in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.” Current research revolves around three areas: Interviews with immigrants deported from the United States to Mexico and their struggles to adapt; an historical look at how Buffalo manufacturing profited from slavery in the Caribbean; and an exploration of the LGBTQ movement in Santa Clara, Cuba as a model for intersectionality in the face of crisis. Dr. Reitsma is also the founder and director of the Borders & Migrations Initiative an interdisciplinary series of films, art work, speakers, workshops, research, teaching materials, and community outreach.
What?
This paper is a preliminary exploration of LatinX literary, cinematic, and television narratives which attempt to situate LatinX persons in the national discourse of “America” through romance tropes. These narratives, often veering towards fantasias, use love between opposing forces (class, race/ethnicity, nations, etc) as an allegory for a better nation. They imagine a utopian vision of America that heals the oft-ignored rifts tearing at the fabric of the nation. I will first explore the somewhat fraught terminology of LatinX
and related nomenclature. Then, inspired by the earlier work of Doris Sommer in “Foundational Fictions: The National Romances of Latin America” and the work of Alexandra Barron on British film “Fantasies of Union: The Queer National Romance in My Beautiful Laundrette,” I will give a brief overview of queer national romances for context. Following that, I will trace a brief history of LatinX romance narratives of belonging, and I will conclude with a deeper exploration of contemporary narratives featuring queer (primarily gay or bi male) characters. Despite these contemporary works being viewed as simply fluffy storylines focused on “inclusion” (a hot button term in the US right now), these narratives can be read as much more political than the romance or rom-com/romantic comedy genres may initially indicate, requiring the viewer to grapple with a reconsideration of immigration, the rapidly evolving demographics of the US, and the inevitable social transformation against which current political and legal forces are currently arrayed.
