Hegemonic Judicial Discourses and Dissident Sexualities: Peruvian Sodomites and the Administration of Justice (16th-17th Centuries)

FERNANDA MOLINA

Miami

Simposio; Simposio "Nefandus: Colonial Sexual Alterity and Histories for the Future"; 2016

Pérez Art Museum Miami (EE. UU.)

Studying the sexual experiences of men and women of the past presents one of the most difficult conceptual and methodological challenges in the field of history. The difficulties derive not just from the scarcity of information but also from the nature of the testimonies that allow us to approach those experiences.In the case of what are called the "colonial sodomites", the documents produced by the administration of justice,especially those involving "criminal" acts, have been one of the most-used sources for research, given that they afford us a window onto a series of behaviors considered transgressive, dark, and unspeakable that would otherwise not have been visible. Still, these documents present a series of problems, stemming from their very context of production; that is, they represent mechanisms of social control aimed at disciplining those sexualities considered dissident. Given that scenario, this presentation proposes not just to reflect on the dilemmas presented by criminal documentation but also to suggest possible ways of approaching the documents that will allow us to utilize this type of source as a window onto the personal, sexual, and affective experiences of the colonial sodomites.