Chile’s Travestis: AIDS, Politics, and Post-Dictatorship in Pedro Lemebel’s “Loco afán”
Presentation Type
Event
Start Date
8-3-2026 9:58 PM
Description
This paper situates Pedro Lemebel’s Loco afán within the context of Chile’s civic‑military dictatorship and its aftermath, when dissident sexualities, especially travestis, faced intensified persecution and were associated with political subversion. Travesti film, photography, and literature in the 1980s–90s articulated alternatives to capitalist and patriarchal ideologies through representations of trans bodies and experiences. Loco afán chronicles the lives of travestis living with the possibility of AIDS after dictatorship, weaving together grief for those lost to the epidemic with mourning for victims of state terror. Connected visual works, including Casa particular and media by Yeguas del Apocalipsis, deepen this critique of neoliberalism and normative sexuality. The paper argues that Lemebel’s writing and related visual culture offer powerful political commentary on AIDS, dictatorship, and queer life in Chile.
Riley Klug is a master’s student in Latin American Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Their thesis focuses on post‑dictatorship literature and photography in Latin America’s Southern Cone, examining connections between AIDS and neoliberalism in the work of Pedro Lemebel and Néstor Perlongher. With a background in art history and anthropology from West Virginia University, they previously researched post‑dictatorship photography in Argentina and plan to pursue a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies.
Relational Format
Conference proceeding
Recommended Citation
Klug, Riley, "Chile’s Travestis: AIDS, Politics, and Post-Dictatorship in Pedro Lemebel’s “Loco afán”" (2026). Women of Photography: A 24-Hour Conference-a-thon Celebrating International Women’s Day. 53.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/womenofphotography/2026/schedule/53
Chile’s Travestis: AIDS, Politics, and Post-Dictatorship in Pedro Lemebel’s “Loco afán”
This paper situates Pedro Lemebel’s Loco afán within the context of Chile’s civic‑military dictatorship and its aftermath, when dissident sexualities, especially travestis, faced intensified persecution and were associated with political subversion. Travesti film, photography, and literature in the 1980s–90s articulated alternatives to capitalist and patriarchal ideologies through representations of trans bodies and experiences. Loco afán chronicles the lives of travestis living with the possibility of AIDS after dictatorship, weaving together grief for those lost to the epidemic with mourning for victims of state terror. Connected visual works, including Casa particular and media by Yeguas del Apocalipsis, deepen this critique of neoliberalism and normative sexuality. The paper argues that Lemebel’s writing and related visual culture offer powerful political commentary on AIDS, dictatorship, and queer life in Chile.
Riley Klug is a master’s student in Latin American Studies at the University of California, San Diego. Their thesis focuses on post‑dictatorship literature and photography in Latin America’s Southern Cone, examining connections between AIDS and neoliberalism in the work of Pedro Lemebel and Néstor Perlongher. With a background in art history and anthropology from West Virginia University, they previously researched post‑dictatorship photography in Argentina and plan to pursue a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies.