Violating the Annals of the Empire: Archival Subversion in Sarduy's Maitreya

• In Event: New Critical Frameworks for the Queer Caribbean

Abstract

This talk analyzes the new conceptual paradigm Severo Sarduy posits for wresting archival control from imperial power. In his novel Maitreya, the Cuban author traces the wanderings of exiled Cuban sisters from Sagua La Grande to the Middle East, where, as members of a fisting "sect," they raid archives and birth anomalies. Ultimately, I argue, their sexual alterity allows them to subvert traditional critical frameworks.

Author

• Carlos Riobó, City College of New York