«La bachata del gay volador»: challenging (homo)sexuality and Dominican identity in Andy Peña’s music and Pedro Antonio Valdez’s «Bachata del ángel caído»

Abstract

This article examines the multiple ways in which sexualized and gendered natio- nal discourses are alternately reproduced and challenged in Pedro Antonio Valdez’s novel, Bacha- ta del ángel caído (1999) and in Andy Peña’s bachata Quiero volar (2008). This article argues that the social meanings ascribed to bachata are challenged to varying degrees in Valdez’s novel and on Peña’s music. While Bachata del ángel caído emphasizes the «machista» and heteronormati- ve undertones of bachata, Peña’s work manages to pave the way for the incursion of an otherwise unlikely subject in bachata: the queer Dominican male.

Keywords

• bachata
• sexualidad
• nacionalismo
• performance
• violencia