Fluidity, Opacity, and Anticolonial Resistance in Mayra Santos-Febres's Sirena Selena

Abstract

This paper recontextualizes Mayra Santos-Febres's text, Sirena Selena, applying Glissant's theory of opacity and queer and gender studies' use of fluidity to reposition the character of Sirena as an agent of anticolonial resistance. Drawing from postcolonial, queer, and gender theory, I assess Sirena's varied categorization in these disciplines before attributing her as an immutable and fluid identity, which Santos-Febres utilizes to deconstruct patriarchal colonial structures of gender, sexuality, and nation.