Erotic Literary Fictions of Trans Memory in “La sonrisa vertical”

Abstract

The objective of this article is to take a tour of the representations of trans characters in the erotic collection “La sonrisa vertical”, created in 1977 and which since 1980 began to incorporate fictions that housed in their plots characters with heterodox sexualities that until then they had been ignored. Precisely, it is Leopoldo Azancot who initiated this inclusion with a trans character in Los amores prohibidos (1980); this work, more than with literary references, connects with two feature films that portrayed trans reality at the time of the Spanish Transition: Cambio de sexo, by Vicente Aranda and El transexual, by José Jara, both from 1977. Following this journey, At the end of the 80s we find two works that manage to create a very vivid depiction of the sexual minorities of the time: Siete contra Georgia (1987), by Eduardo Mendicutti, and Las edades de Lulú (1989), by Almudena Grandes. Finally, in the 1990s, the narratives of Irene González Frei, Tu nombre escrito en el agua (1995), and Abel Pohulanik, La cinta de Escher (1997), present a different perspective on gender transition by including more contemporary topics, such as AIDS and the influence of psychology and upbringing on gender identity.