The Genealogy of LGBTQA+ Suspicion in the Spanish Vaudeville: Strategies, Spaces, Practices and Narratives

Abstract

The rise of variety and drag shows in Spain in the first third of the twentieth century brought the visibility of gender diversity to the Spanish stage. However, after the arrival of Franco's regime, many of the artists were forced to abandon their work, go into exile or simply disappear. This article analyses, through the application of the musicology of suspicion, five case studies of artists who transcended heteronormativity during this period, but whose sexual orientation or identity cannot be confirmed. A genealogy of suspicion based in the biographies written by Álvaro Retana is proposed as a hermeneutic tool for their valorisation as identity references for the LGTBIQA+ community of the time, despite the difficulties in recovering their biographies due to the Franco regime and censorship. This joint study of the biographies compiled by Retana, the spaces where they performed, their costumes and repertoires, allows us to highlight their practices of being, loving and desiring throughout the 20th century, establishing a common thread with later practices, aesthetics and styles such as the drag shows or the resignifications in the copla of Franco's regime.