Towards a Conceptualization of La Cuerpa: Decolonial Feminism, and Travesti/Trans- Counterculture

Abstract

This study explores the conceptualization of la cuerpa, a concept that, since the post-war era, has evolved in academia and artistic expressions. Although still in theoretical development, la cuerpa acquires relevance through its political use in the transfeminist alliance that unites Spanish-speaking feminism and travesti/trans- countercultural activism. By tracing its emergence through the feminization of the Spanish language, this paper connects its political-symbolic dimension with the proposals of communitarian feminism, positioning it as a decolonial territory and biopolitical dispositif. The study finds parallels in the practices of artists and theorists of the Southern Cone, identifying la cuerpa as an apparatus used by those who enunciate themselves through travestismo. Through the analysis of the performance Tiananmen (1989) by the Chilean collective Las Yeguas del Apocalipsis (1988-1997), it is argued that la cuerpa not only reflects its historical context as an element produced by its time, but also acts as an apparatus that shapes the era in which it is inscribed, producing an epoch.