Reimagining early modern gender and sexual transgression: cross-dressing in Thomas de Quincey and Ricardo Palma
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17561/grove.v33.10362Keywords:
Cross-dressing, gender/sexual transgression, postcolonial critique, Catalina/Antonio de Erauso, Thomas de Quincey, Ricardo PalmaAbstract
Born in San Sebastián in 1592, Catalina/Antonio de Erauso emerged as a transgressive figure by abandoning conventual life to adopt a masculine identity, through which they forged a military trajectory within the Spanish American colonial sphere. Although widely known in the 17th century, their story receded into obscurity before being revived in the 19th century in texts such as The Spanish Military Nun by Thomas De Quincey and “¡A iglesia me llamo!” (1872) by Ricardo Palma.
Read through postcolonial and queer historiographical frameworks, these narratives illuminate how De Quincey’s account reflects a broader European tendency to exoticize the Americas in ways that implicitly legitimize imperial expansion. In contrast, Palma’s version participates in the Creole nation-building project after Latin American independences from the Spanish Crown, simultaneously asserting cultural autonomy and reproducing European-derived hierarchies. Within these reconfigurations, Erauso’s gender nonconformity emerges as a polyvalent site through which imperial fantasy and Creole nationalist discourse are articulated.
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