Georgetown Americas Institute

In March, Alexandra presented an early version of her project at the Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) conference, where scholars from across the United States gathered to discuss current work in literature and the humanities. Her presentation focused on a photographic archive recovered from the closed Foto Ramblas studio, which documented performers from Barcelona’s cabaret circuits between 1956 and 1985, including transgender strippers, drag queens, and migrant vedettes from Latin America, Africa, and Asia.

The NeMLA panel offered a productive space to share preliminary arguments about proto-queer celebrity constructions and to receive feedback. Following the discussion and Q&A, Alexandra revised her paper and expanded during the summer, and it is now under peer review for a Special Issue dedicated to queer visibility during the fascist dictatorship in Spain. 

Additional archival research in Barcelona and Madrid included consultations with private and public archival collections, as well as meetings with photographers and editors who provided access to background and information on published portraits. 

She developed an open-access digital cartography with archival materials using ArcGIS StoryMaps, available here (trigger warning: some archival materials contain explicit sexual imagery, nudity, and references to state violence and medical pathologization). The cartography maps performers, venues, and cultural practices found in queer archives, including cabarets, speakeasies, and clandestine clinics, amongst others. It also situates photographs, letters, press clippings, radio programs, and government notices, offering a spatial reading of queer and trans resistance in Barcelona during the Francoist dictatorship.