SEXTANT: masculinities, sexualities & decolonialities

ABSTRACT

This article examines Dolores Medio’s 1953 novel Nosotros, los Rivero, which narrates the coming of age of an unruly protagonist, Lena Rivero, a young girl who rejects romantic and domestic norms and frequently escapes to the forbidden streets. Using Jack Halberstam’s (2011) theorisation of queer failure, I argue that, enabled by her otherness, Lena is empowered to transgress otherwise more stringent physical and social boundaries. Lena’s somewhat successful attempt to distance herself from the prototypical image of a Spanish woman, effectively ‘failing’ to meet her family and society’s expectations, enables her to travel relatively undetected and enter traditionally restricted spheres. Throughout the novel, Lena’s unconventional actions are portrayed in a positive and productive light and result not only in her successful maneuvering of marginal and otherwise inaccessible spaces but also in tangible rewards, reinforcing the notion that her queerness is constructive rather than detrimental.

KEY WOrDS

queer studies, literary studies, queer failure, marginalised identities, Spanish literature

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