Spectacular Dominican Masculinities: Postcolonial Dialectics of Performance

• In Event: Drag Kings: An Archeology of Spectacular Masculinities in Latino America (II)

Abstract

This presentation offers a speculative archaeology of 20th and 21st century hegemonic Dominican masculinity. I highlight the spectacular masculinities of some of the most renown 20th and 21st century figures—the dictator Rafael L. Trujillo, the Dominican playboy Porfirio Rubirosa, the figure
of the ‘tíguere,’ Junot Díaz’s male protagonists, Rita Indiana Hernández’s “Papi,” among others—and their excessive performances of masculinity. I suggest how these performances of masculinity
initially perceived to be in excess of “proper” norms of masculinity became naturalized and normative forms of Dominican masculinity. This dialectics of excessive performance and naturalization speaks to critical debates about gender and performativity (Judith Butler) as well as to how excess has been theorized (José E. Muñoz). My presentation suggests how these debates need to be resituated and rethought in a postcolonial and imperial context in which multiple and overlapping normative structures assert themselves. I argue ultimately that spectacular masculinities in Latino America demand a rethinking of theories of performativity, the role of performative excess, and processes of naturalization.

Author

• Maja Horn, Barnard College