Arte, afecto y concepto en la teoría travesti-trans latinoamericana de Marlene Wayar

Abstract

In this article, I address Marlene Wayar’s “travesti” theory according to three vectors of thought and experience: concept, art and affect. Although I separate them analytically in order to discuss some topics, I believe that it is at the intersection of these three vectors that the theory acquires epistemological, ethical and political density. Thus, I seek to show that regarding concept, not only does the “travesti” theory destabilize the cis-hetero-patriarchal matrix, but also, by revindicating a pre-Colombian “origin” of “travestidad”, it subjects the coloniality of gender to criticism. Secondly, regarding affect, I am interested in analyzing a repertoire of feelings concerning how its unequal social distribution regulates which bodies may appear in the public space (and how they may do so); but also, how “travesti” theory and praxis develop an affective-and-epistemic response, driven by indignation and anger. Finally, I argue that art, inasmuch as it is a form of critical review of the scripted performances of the hegemonic genders, and as a critical project of bodily self-construction, is the dimension that links and assembles the conceptual, perceptual and affective powers of Latin American “travesti-trans” theory and subjectivity.