Paper short abstract:

Luis Copperi's "conflicto almado" (Conflicted Soul/Armed Conflict), shows a man on a stage, naked except for a helmet and military epaulettes. It shows the stigmatized vernacular, protected by poetic interpretation, while referencing the many layers of context that I struggle with in my own writing.

Paper long abstract:

Luis Copperi's "conflicto almado" (Conflicted Soul/Armed Conflict), shows a young man on a stage, naked except for a helmet and military epaulettes, decorated with the communist star. His face is masked by a tourist brochure, painted into a clown smile. This painting (mixed media and printers ink on craft paper) is a representation of the stigmatized vernacular, protected by poetic interpretation, while referencing/visualizing the embodiment of politics, sex, tourism, ethics, morality, and survival.

Writing about the doubly stigmatized, requires an exceptional level of access, deep respect, and trust between academics and our collaborators. Inspired by Schuman and Goldstein, I will argue for the role of folkloristics in relation to queer theory so as to understand and explain the lives of Cuban men who engage in sex work, serve their revolutionary function, and hide within exposed bodies. It is the challenge of deep contextualization and cultural translation, but while dealing with topics that challenge broader cultural imaginations of right/wrong, or good/bad.

Through this case study, I refute critiques of queer theory's disconnect with everyday life and diversity, as well as critiques of folkloristics as insufficiently theoretical/analytical, while demonstrating my approach to theorizing with my collaborators. Using conflicto almado, we will see how my collaborators define Cuban masculinities and sexualities in contrast with that of the Global North. I work to better tell their stories of expressive culture, through their own voices, however mediated in relation to larger-than-local perceptions of masculinity, sexuality, and morality.