Cartas a la sombra de tu piel

RAMSAY, PAULETTE A.

Paulette Angela Ramsay

Caribbean Quarterly

2005

2

51

Attitudes ; Audience ; Audiences ; Cultural identity ; Eroticism ; Flores Pedro ; Gays & lesbians ; Literature ; Poetry ; Poets ; Self concept ; Sexuality ; Spanish language

100–105

("Angela's Café" 21) The persona rejects critical and condemnatory attitudes to love which may not meet traditional expectations or definition of what is normal or acceptable. nos palpamos las manos debajo de la mesa revelando el secreto descubriendo la mentir porque los hombres no se han de amar asi con el descaro que nos amamos ("Angela's Café" 21) In the poems in "Corporeos" contact with the body and the touch or feel of the skin are important for understanding and deciphering love . The poems in "Homoreos", establish firmly that the poet aims to communicate with a specific target audience which shares his acceptance of homosexuality and is able to identify with his resistance to attitudes informed by homophobia as well as societal definitions and stipulations about sexuality. The poem "Tabu" dismisses all notions of what is acceptable love and sexual behaviour and contests the view that sexual identities are fixed. [...]the poems bring into focus the debate concerning whether ot not sexuality is biologically or socially determined: Carias a la sombra de tu piel is an intriguing addition to Spanish Caribbean poetry in general and specifically to the area of queer theory, a contemporary approach to literature and culture which developed out of gay and lesbian criticism, and regards sexual identities as fluid.

University of the West Indies, School of Continuing Studies