Tortilleras: Hispanic and U.S. Latina Lesbian Expression [Paperback]

Inmaculada Perpetusa-Seva (Author), Lourdes Torres (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003

The first anthology to focus exclusively on queer readings of Spanish, Latin American, and US Latina lesbian literature and culture, "Tortilleras" interrogates issues of gender, national identity, race, ethnicity, and class to show the impossibility of projecting a singular Hispanic or Latina Lesbian. Examining carefully the works of a range of lesbian writers and performance artists, including Carmelita Tropicana and Christina Peri Rossi, among others, the contributors create a picture of the complicated and multi-textured contributions of Latina and Hispanic lesbians to literature and culture.More than simply describing this sphere of creativity, the contributors also recover from history the long, veiled existence of this world, exposing its roots, its impact on lesbian culture, and, making the power of lesbian performance and literature visible. Lourdes Torres is Associate Professor of Latin American/Latino studies at De Paul University. Inmaculada Perpetusa-Seva is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Kentucky.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[The book] is an important and innovative addition to this corpus; it will no doubt provoke new conversations and new research in a number of fields." Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies "Finalmente, the hole in the canon has been filled by Tortilleras, a book as fierce as the women it chronicles from the 17th century Catalina Erauso who passes as a man in Peru to the 21st century writer extraordinaire and political activist in the U.S. Cherrie Moraga. Exelente!" --Carmelita Tropicana is an Obie award winning Performance Artist and writer of I, Carmelita Tropicana - Performing Between Cultures "Tortilleras is a landmark collection. It fosters a necessary and meaningful dialogue between feminist scholars in U.S. Latina and Latin American studies grappling with questions of lesbian representation in literary and visual culture. Torres and Pertusa have compiled a timely volume that richly complicates previous debates and energetically maps new directions for the future. This most vital book shows how studies in gender and sexuality must lie at the heart of our work." --Tiffany Ana Lopez, University of California, Riverside "This anthology pushes us to think beyond the margins of repression in fiction and nonfiction queer literature and culture and art and film. Once you look through Tortilleras, you'll be compelled to look for the work these scholars are reviewing and see if your examination compares...[it] is the first anthology of its kind to open a vein and say, 'Here,' to our LGBT community, scholars, and students." --Lambda Book Report "...groundbreaking...pioneering in many ways...challenges patterns of marginalization, offering a fascinating, critical approach to the obscured and vital reality of Latina lesbian identity, agency, difference and otherness." --Multicultural Review "The most striking feature of this anthology is the vast terrain it traverses; 'Tortilleras' establishes valuable new frames for study in this field." symploke "An interesting collection...highlighting the diversity of Hispanic and Latina lesbians." The British Bulletin of Publications on Latin America, the Caribbean, Portugal and Spain

From the Publisher

Latina and Latin American lesbian culture made visible

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 279 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592130070
• ISBN-13: 978-1592130078
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #920,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)