It's a tragedy that this novel, written by Chilean artist, queer icon and activist Pedro Lemebel, is only famous in Latin America, not in Europe (yet!It's a tragedy that this novel, written by Chilean artist, queer icon and activist Pedro Lemebel, is only famous in Latin America, not in Europe (yet!). Lemebel, a courageous, captivating character, started his career as an author by writing crónicas - hybrid, socially conscious texts -, e.g. about poverty, social stigma, and AIDS. While "Tengo miedo, torero" is mostly referred to as a novel, Lemebel said that he did not know whether it wasn't actually a crónica as well. Revolving around the (real) asassination attempt on dictator Pinochet in 1986, the text tells the story of an aging travesti who falls in love with a young student who is a part of the Marxist-Leninist guerrilla who were responsible for the ambush (a travesti is assigned male at birth, but develops a female gender identity without perceiving themselves as a woman).
The travesti, only refered to as "la loca del frente", lives in a poor neighborhood, she helps her love interest Carlos (his assumed name) hide material for their fight against Pinochet. Lemebel does a great job evoking the atmosphere of revolution in the streets, the unrest, the danger, especially from the perspective of the stigmatized travesti and her friends who live at the fringes of society, but persevere. The travesti dreams of love with Carlos, likes to switch her beloved radio from the dire news of chaos to sentimental songs (like the title-giving "Tengo miedo, torero" by Sara Montiel, which takes on different meanings throughout the story), seeks beauty in her attire and fights off the hate and her advancing age. The dignity this strong, but suffering character maintains and displays is a testament to the resilience of the queer community that Lemebel so fearlessly fought for, the scenes between the travesti and Carlos during the picknick, at Carlo's birthday and on the beach are moving, empathic, and complex renderings of queer love.
My Spanish is not good enough to read the original, especially as the text contains many slang terms that might offend those parts of contemporary audiences who are unable to read a text in its historical perspective: There are many, many expressions in here that we would consider offensive to the queer community nowadays, but one shouldn't underestimate how Lemebel, a queer man, appropriates those terms to incorporate them into a sexually explicit, proud text and thus ostentatiously dismisses the sensibilities of the reactionaries who wanted to oppress his community.
And not only the language, which combines street lingo and high poetry, is complex and over-the-top, no: The narrative voice is a weird third person that often speaks right out of the travesti, and there is a montage that juxtaposes the story between Carlos and the travesti and what happens between Pinochet and his wife - while the latter are shown as decadent brutes, the student and the poor, marginalized travesti are shown as seekers, longing for freedom and love in an environment that aims to destroy them.
There is so much in this text, on the plot and on the aesthetic level, and while I feel that the translations struggle to convey what the original must be, reading Lemebel should become an international trend.
Originally written around 1984, this novel was first published 2016, 13 years after Bolaño's death - and now there's also an English translation. The Originally written around 1984, this novel was first published 2016, 13 years after Bolaño's death - and now there's also an English translation. The book tells the story of two young writers trying to make it in Mexico City: Remo is an extrovert, mingling with the literary crowd and hunting for opportunities, while Jan is more introverted and spends his time in their small room on a roof top reading and writing letters to famous science fiction authors like Ursula K. Le Guin, James Tiptree Jr. et al. (Jan is an alter ego of Bolaño himself). The story is told in numerous, uneven vignettes that read like explorations that play with the creation of different, settings, atmospheres and encounters, and while the whole thing does not quite come together (and maybe wasn't intended to), it becomes apparent where the author can go from here.
What unsettles me a little is that my research tells me that it's unclear whether Bolaño ever wanted this text to be published in the first place. It think it is important to honor the wishes of an author when it comes to his legacy, so I hope the publication of this book didn't happen against his will. For Bolaño aficionados, especially fans of The Savage Detectives, "The Spirit of Science Fiction" seems to offer many interesting passages, and also for those new to the author (like me), it gives a glimpse into his unique style. ...more
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