La salida del mar: sujeto y cuerpo masculino en tres cuentos puertorriqueños

Abstract

This article examines three Puerto Rican short stories in order to trace a chronology of a masculine queer body: “En el fondo del caño hay un negrito” (1954) by José Luis González, “¡Jum!” (1966) by Luis Rafael Sánchez and “En la popa hay un cuerpo reclinado” (1959) by René Marqués. The characters’ lack of language in these narratives contrasts with the way others perceive them and define them. This clash literally pushes them to a water shore (river, lake and sea, respectively). Once there, these marginalized bodies are able to finally express desire, dissatisfaction and doubt. Water, an unstable surface, presents language in these short stories in two ways: verbal language, the one that pushes them deeper into the river, lake or sea; and, written language, the one that rescues them from oblivion.