“...Tão somente amigas”?: pensando o queer em "Todos nós adorávamos caubóis", de Carol Bensimon

Abstract

This paper aims to offer a theoretical investigation of the interactions between queer theory and the discussions on identity by analysing the Brazilian novel Todos nos adoravamos caubois by Carol Bensimon, published originally in 2013. Departing from a discussion on heteronormativity (MISKOLCI, 2006), critical commentary on queer theory and its post-identity politics is provided with an eye to highlighting not only the metaphor of the voyage in the chosen narrative, but also the fragmentation and the shifting of Cora and Julia’s identities, the protagonists, while on their road trip throughout the countryside of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Analysing bridges and gaps between/in queer theory and gay and lesbian studies, it is highlighted that Bensimon’s novel is representative of the indefinability of queer theory as a way to investigate the contemporary literary scene. Some theoretical contributions considered in this paper were developed by Carla Rodrigues (2009), Linda Hutcheon (2003), Steve Seidman (2004), Diane Richardson (2006) and  Guacira Lopes Louro (2016).