Schedule of Events
CEJ Presents: Research in Service of Communities
Swenson Center for Social and Behavioral Sciences 101
鈥淐oming Out of the Closet: The Politics of Fear and State Violence Against the Gay Community in the Documentary 108 Cuchillo de palo鈥.
This research addresses the political and cultural discourses that were created by the Paraguayan military dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner from the 1950s through the 1980s regarding gay males and their treatment in society. Historically, the essay explores the murders of Bernardo Aranda and Mario Luis Palmieri, two cases that played an important role in helping the government develop a culture of fear against homosexual men. Following Giorgi鈥檚 Figuras fraternas: cuerpo masculine, homosexualidad y naci贸n we analyze how the representations of the masculine body, based on normative patterns of behavior and sexual identity, are connected to an idea of hyper-masculinity embodied by the military forces in power in this country for more than three decades. Then, using Brian O鈥機onnor鈥檚 essay 鈥淎dorno on the Destruction of Memory鈥 and Judith Butler鈥檚 Frames of War, the article examines the excuses used by the government and many of its citizens for endorsing violence and intolerance against the male gay community.
In order to develop our ideas we used Renate Costa鈥檚 2010 documentary 108 Cuchillo de palo as our framework. We believe Costa鈥檚 insightful personal search and filmic techniques provides us with a powerful structure and context for analyzing the treatment of gay citizens in Paraguay during the regime as well as its destructive effects in today鈥檚 society.
Key words: homosexuality, Paraguay, dictatorship, 108 Cuchillo de palo, documentary, and Latin American cinema.
Student Abstracts
The Politics of Fear and State Violence Against the Gay Community in the film 108 Cuchillo de palo
Student(s):
Chloe Holt
Faculty Mentor:
Dr. Rafaela Fiore Urizar