Paola Arboleda - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Paola Arboleda

Postcolonial Studies, Apr 3, 2014

The theorizing efforts of the group Modernidad-Colonialidad (ModernityColoniality) intend to addr... more The theorizing efforts of the group Modernidad-Colonialidad (ModernityColoniality) intend to address three key issues particularly, although not exclusively, within the Latin American context: the coloniality of power, the coloniality of knowledge, and the coloniality of the self. According to Nelson Maldonado-Torres, the coloniality of the self refers to ‘the violation of the sense of human otherness, to the point where the alter-ego transforms itself into a sub-alter’, and in the words of María Marta Quintana, it ‘must address the experiences of colonized and subaltern subjects’. However, within the theoretical work of the authors associated with this collective, not all the experiences of subaltern subjects have gathered the same amount of critical interest. If the study of women has a somewhat marginal position, even considering the remarkable contributions of authors like María Lugones and Chela Sandoval, the ways in which lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and/or queer subjects confront interlocking systems of oppression have been consistently disregarded. This article will explore the ways in which artists like Mexican performer Astrid Hadad (b. 1957) deal with issues related to coloniality, race, gender oppression, and social inequality. Deconstructing Mexico’s most emblematic musical genre, rancheras, Hadad’s shows challenge the triad of coloniality (power, knowledge, and the self) while, at the same time, demonstrate art’s potential for decolonizing the heteronormative discourses of the ‘foundational fictions’ that built, and still sustain, the imagined structure of most Latin American nations. Through these performances and through the queering of art, gender, and the self, Hadad demands not only the right to exist as a queer artist, but also, most importantly, the right to become a ‘social agent’, something that has been banned historically for sexual and/or gender dissidents. Postcolonial Studies, 2014, Vol. 17, No. 2, 189–206

Postcolonial Studies, 2014

Íconos - Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 2014

Postcolonial Studies, Apr 3, 2014

The theorizing efforts of the group Modernidad-Colonialidad (ModernityColoniality) intend to addr... more The theorizing efforts of the group Modernidad-Colonialidad (ModernityColoniality) intend to address three key issues particularly, although not exclusively, within the Latin American context: the coloniality of power, the coloniality of knowledge, and the coloniality of the self. According to Nelson Maldonado-Torres, the coloniality of the self refers to ‘the violation of the sense of human otherness, to the point where the alter-ego transforms itself into a sub-alter’, and in the words of María Marta Quintana, it ‘must address the experiences of colonized and subaltern subjects’. However, within the theoretical work of the authors associated with this collective, not all the experiences of subaltern subjects have gathered the same amount of critical interest. If the study of women has a somewhat marginal position, even considering the remarkable contributions of authors like María Lugones and Chela Sandoval, the ways in which lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender and/or queer subjects confront interlocking systems of oppression have been consistently disregarded. This article will explore the ways in which artists like Mexican performer Astrid Hadad (b. 1957) deal with issues related to coloniality, race, gender oppression, and social inequality. Deconstructing Mexico’s most emblematic musical genre, rancheras, Hadad’s shows challenge the triad of coloniality (power, knowledge, and the self) while, at the same time, demonstrate art’s potential for decolonizing the heteronormative discourses of the ‘foundational fictions’ that built, and still sustain, the imagined structure of most Latin American nations. Through these performances and through the queering of art, gender, and the self, Hadad demands not only the right to exist as a queer artist, but also, most importantly, the right to become a ‘social agent’, something that has been banned historically for sexual and/or gender dissidents. Postcolonial Studies, 2014, Vol. 17, No. 2, 189–206

Postcolonial Studies, 2014

Íconos - Revista de Ciencias Sociales, 2014