Blog #12 - My Tender Matador

 My Tender Matador by Pedro Lemebel was quite an interesting read! This short novel takes place in Chile and is based on the attempted assassination of Pinochet in 1986 with a complex, tumultuous love story between the Queen, an older trans woman who is in love with the idea of being in love, and Carlos, a revolutionary with a goal of bringing down the dictatorship. 

The first thing that shocked me right out of the gate was the causal, pretty consistent use of derogatory words used to describe the Queen and the way she conducted herself. I couldn’t quite figure out if this was a way of the Queen reclaiming these transphobic slurs and finding power within embracing the insults in a sense, or if the translation from Spanish to English changes the exact meaning. From speaking with family friends from Colombia and Chile, it seems to be pretty normal to use more derogatory words to describe loved ones, a concept I am still trying to wrap my head around. In reflecting on one of the more recent books we read, Distant Star, the character “Fat Martha” is described with a word that I don’t think anyone in Western Culture would want to be called. Do any of you have any insight to provide on this topic? 

The lack of quotation marks for the dialogue between characters really blurred the lines between fantasy and truth. What words were just thoughts? What words were actually said between the characters. Through reading this novel, I felt as if I was almost inside of the Queen’s mind, working through her thought process with her. From the beginning, it felt as though she just wanted to love someone, and it could have been anyone… “He said his name was Carlos something or other… studying who knows what at some university or other…so captivated was she by the violet hues in his brown eyes” (p.4). One of the things that stood out to me after listening to Jon’s lecture was the concept of playing a part. This focus of the external qualities bringing her in rather than who Carlos is as a person felt as though she was just looking for a physical love. It also reminded me of what Jon said in lecture about play acting… with the focus being on who these people said they were, and who they were under the surface didn’t matter, which was also suggested given the secrets littered throughout the novel. All in all, both characters played their part.

Lastly, it was really nice reading a novel with queer representation. Coincidentally, in my SPAN 202 class we just watched Todo sobre mi madre directed and written by Pedro Almodovar. This is another great movie set in Spain and involves queer characters. 

My question for discussion: When comparing the the novels presented in class written about the Pinochet regime in Chile, do you prefer when the regime is at the center of the novel or more on the periphery? Do you prefer having the contrast of the love story with the chaos existing in the environment, or do you prefer to be deeply in the mystery?