Title
The Belaochaga Case (1907): Police repression and journalistic representation of male homosexuality in Lima
Other title
El Caso Belaochaga (1907) Represión policial y representación periodística de la homosexualidad masculina en Lima
Date Issued
01 December 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Castro M.V.
Publisher(s)
Hamburg University Press
Abstract
This article studies the first modern case of police repression against male homosexuals in the city of Lima. The Belaochaga Case (1907) allows us to understand, on one side, the logic of control and police repression, the legal order and penal laws against sodomy and, on the other side, the representation of this news and its effects on the illustrated magazine Fray K.Bezón, which combined popular humour and innovative forms of mass culture sensationalism. This article presents three approaches. Firstly, it analyzes the decline of the traditional representation of the so-called “fag”, as an afrodescendant subject and social outcast in Lima. Secondly, it describes the narrative and visual construction of a transvestite homosexual collective that exhibited themselves through photographs creating in this way a new social type, object of mockery in the Fray K.Bezón magazine. Thirdly, it highlights the relevance of criminal law discourse and the police repression of urban homosexuals.
Start page
324
End page
351
Volume
57
Language
Spanish
OCDE Knowledge area
Geografía económica y cultural Ética Historia
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85098766437
Source
Jahrbuch fuer Geschichte Lateinamerikas/Anuario de Historia de America Latina
ISSN of the container
14384752
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus