Abstract

SERRANO, CRISTINA ASENCIO. Literature and Lesbianism in Cuba: Niñas en la Casa Vieja by Dazra Novak, a "bollocracy" in Havana's Vedado. perifrasis. rev.lit.teor.crit. [online]. 2025, vol.16, n.36, pp.85-99.  Epub Sep 04, 2025. ISSN 2145-8987.  https://doi.org/10.25025/perifrasis202516.36.05.

In the Vedado mansion where Niñas en la casa vieja (2019, Letras Cubanas) by Cuban novelist Dazra Novak (1978) takes place, only "women divorced out of rebellion" from their families and the hegemonic concept of Cuban citizenship live. The women in this work establish a "bollocracy" within the shared household, where motherhood, love, and care take divergent paths from the national narrative. Through the practice of community-based lesbofeminism and the collective will for shared motherhood, Novak constructs new meanings of Cuban identity in opposition to the heteronormative and patriarchal narrative characteristic of the revolutionary discourse. Thus, this paper presents a brief context regarding lesbian women in Cuba, their presence in novels written by women, and a detailed reading of Novak's chosen novel.

Keywords : cuban literature; Dazra Novak; lesbianism; Niñas en la casa vieja; bollocracy; house; affective community; shared motherhood.

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