Resumen de El significante inexistente: cinco calas en la representación de la homosexualidad en el cine español
This text, focusing on Spanish cinema, deals with the ways representations of homosexuality are shaped by historical context and perspective. Examples are selected from the period ranging from the 1940s to the Spanish Transition. The earlier ones (for instance in the film ¡Harka!) will force contemporary audiences to challenge their notions of “homosexuality”: even male relationships are clearly within the homosocial spectrum, most will hesitate to call them “homosexual”. Still, audiences could feel comradeship went in this case beyond the call of duty. Homosexuality is not explicitly acknoledged in Diferente, either, although it is still clearly articulated in the characterization of the protagonist. A film like No desearás al vecino del quinto does present a popular (homophobic) version of the male homosexual. Two films from the transition,El diputado and La muerte de Mikel problematize the issue and constitute examples for an exploration of the limitations of the concept in terms of representation.
