ISSN 2011-799X
Artículo recibido: 14/07/2022
Artículo aceptado: 24/11/2022
doi: 10.17533/udea.mut.v16n1a10Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo
gonzalo.iturregui@uab.cat
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3664-0045
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
Abstract
Permafrost (Permagel in Catalan) is a novel by poet and writer Eva Baltasar. Published in 2018, it man-
aged to gain notable popularity both in Catalonia and the rest of Spain. Since its publication, it
has been translated into different languages with great success. Its English translation by American
translator Julia Sanches arrived in the uk in 2020. Baltasar’s story centres on a lesbian woman in her
forties who, as a victim of the hostile environment in which she is obliged to live, fantasises about
suicide and, at the same time, shows a hedonistic urge that leads her to the enjoyment of her human
condition to its maximum, principally through sex. Sexual desire is explored in depth in the novel,
artfully unfurled in the author’s prose poetry. She manages to evoke deeply symbolic imagery and
a strong sense of immediacy using a vast array of word combinations and metaphors. This article
first explores the impact of the novel in both its original territory and among the English-speaking
readership; particularly the topic of sex, which featured heavily in the reviews. Secondly, it aims to
analyse the description of lesbian (queer) desire in the original and its transfer into the English lan-
guage through the lens of queer and feminist translation. By applying a queerfeminist perspective, the
analysis describes the effectiveness of the translation when transporting the contents into another
cultural and linguistic reality.
Keywords: queer translation, feminist translation, lesbian desire, interculturality, literary translation,
Permafrost
Permagel/Permafrost: el deseo lésbico y su traducción
Resumen
Permafrost (Permagel en catalán) es una novela de la poeta y escritora Eva Baltasar. Publicada en
2018, la novela ganó notable popularidad tanto en Cataluña como en el resto de España. Desde
su publicación, ha sido traducida a diferentes idiomas con gran éxito. Su traducción al inglés llegó
al Reino Unido en 2020 de la mano de la traductora estadounidense Julia Sanches. La historia de
Baltasar se centra en una mujer lesbiana en la cuarentena que, víctima del entorno hostil en el que se
ve obligada a vivir, fantasea con el suicidio y, al mismo tiempo, muestra un impulso hedonista que
la lleva a disfrutar al máximo de su condición humana, principalmente a través del sexo. La novela
explora en profundidad el deseo sexual, desplegado de forma muy estética en la poesía en prosa de
Artículo recibido: 14/07/2022
Artículo aceptado: 24/11/2022
doi: 10.17533/udea.mut.v16n1a10Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo
gonzalo.iturregui@uab.cat
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3664-0045
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Spain.
Abstract
Permafrost (Permagel in Catalan) is a novel by poet and writer Eva Baltasar. Published in 2018, it man-
aged to gain notable popularity both in Catalonia and the rest of Spain. Since its publication, it
has been translated into different languages with great success. Its English translation by American
translator Julia Sanches arrived in the uk in 2020. Baltasar’s story centres on a lesbian woman in her
forties who, as a victim of the hostile environment in which she is obliged to live, fantasises about
suicide and, at the same time, shows a hedonistic urge that leads her to the enjoyment of her human
condition to its maximum, principally through sex. Sexual desire is explored in depth in the novel,
artfully unfurled in the author’s prose poetry. She manages to evoke deeply symbolic imagery and
a strong sense of immediacy using a vast array of word combinations and metaphors. This article
first explores the impact of the novel in both its original territory and among the English-speaking
readership; particularly the topic of sex, which featured heavily in the reviews. Secondly, it aims to
analyse the description of lesbian (queer) desire in the original and its transfer into the English lan-
guage through the lens of queer and feminist translation. By applying a queerfeminist perspective, the
analysis describes the effectiveness of the translation when transporting the contents into another
cultural and linguistic reality.
Keywords: queer translation, feminist translation, lesbian desire, interculturality, literary translation,
Permafrost
Permagel/Permafrost: el deseo lésbico y su traducción
Resumen
Permafrost (Permagel en catalán) es una novela de la poeta y escritora Eva Baltasar. Publicada en
2018, la novela ganó notable popularidad tanto en Cataluña como en el resto de España. Desde
su publicación, ha sido traducida a diferentes idiomas con gran éxito. Su traducción al inglés llegó
al Reino Unido en 2020 de la mano de la traductora estadounidense Julia Sanches. La historia de
Baltasar se centra en una mujer lesbiana en la cuarentena que, víctima del entorno hostil en el que se
ve obligada a vivir, fantasea con el suicidio y, al mismo tiempo, muestra un impulso hedonista que
la lleva a disfrutar al máximo de su condición humana, principalmente a través del sexo. La novela
explora en profundidad el deseo sexual, desplegado de forma muy estética en la poesía en prosa de
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation167Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
la autora, que consigue evocar imágenes de fuerte simbolismo e inmediatez en un amplio abanico de
combinaciones de palabras y metáforas. En primer lugar, el presente artículo explora la repercusión
de la novela tanto en su territorio original como entre el público anglosajón, y la fuerte presencia del
tema del sexo, un tema muy citado en las reseñas de la obra. En segundo lugar, analiza la descripción
del deseo lésbico (queer) en el original y su traslado a la lengua inglesa a través de las premisas de la
traducción queer y feminista. Aplicando una perspectiva queerfeminista, el análisis describe la eficacia
de la traducción al trasvasar los contenidos a otra realidad cultural y lingüística.
Palabras clave: traducción queer, traducción feminista, deseo lésbico, interculturalidad, traducción
literaria, Permafrost
Permagel/Permafrost : le désire lesbique et sa traduction
Résumé
Permafrost (ou Permagel, en catalan) est un roman de la poétesse et écrivaine Eva Baltasar. Publié en
2018, il jouit aujourd´hui d´une popularité remarquable, aussi bien en Catalogne que dans le reste de
l’Espagne. Depuis sa publication, sa traduction en plusieurs langues lui a valu un grand succès. Grâce
à la traductrice américaine Julia Sanches, son adaptation en anglais est parvenue au Royaume-Uni
en 2020. Le roman de Baltasar raconte l´histoire d´une femme lesbienne d’une quarantaine d’années
qui, victime de l’environnement hostile dans lequel elle est contrainte à vivre, fantasme sur le suicide
et est prise en même temps d’une pulsion hédoniste qui la conduit à profiter pleinement de sa condi-
tion humaine, principalement à travers le sexe. Déployé de manière très esthétique dans le poème en
prose de l’auteur, ce désir sexuel est exploré en profondeur. En effet, grâce à un large éventail d´as-
sociation de mots et de métaphores, l’auteur parvient à évoquer des images d’un symbolisme fort et
d´une grande évanescence. Cet article commence par mesurer l’impact du roman, à la fois sur son
territoire d’origine et auprès du public anglo-saxon, avant de se pencher sur l´omniprésence du sexe,
sujet particulièrement récurrent dans les critiques de l´œuvre. Ensuite, l’article se fait l´analyse de
la description du désir lesbien (queer) dans la langue source et dans sa version anglaise, à travers les
prémisses de la traduction queer féministe. En adoptant une perspective queer-féministe, cette analyse
décrit l’efficacité de la traduction dans sa capacité à transposer le contenu dans une tout autre réalité
culturelle et linguistique.
Mots-clés : traduction queer, traduction féministe, désir lesbien, interculturalité, traduction littéraire,
Permafrost
Lesbian Desire and its Translation167Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
la autora, que consigue evocar imágenes de fuerte simbolismo e inmediatez en un amplio abanico de
combinaciones de palabras y metáforas. En primer lugar, el presente artículo explora la repercusión
de la novela tanto en su territorio original como entre el público anglosajón, y la fuerte presencia del
tema del sexo, un tema muy citado en las reseñas de la obra. En segundo lugar, analiza la descripción
del deseo lésbico (queer) en el original y su traslado a la lengua inglesa a través de las premisas de la
traducción queer y feminista. Aplicando una perspectiva queerfeminista, el análisis describe la eficacia
de la traducción al trasvasar los contenidos a otra realidad cultural y lingüística.
Palabras clave: traducción queer, traducción feminista, deseo lésbico, interculturalidad, traducción
literaria, Permafrost
Permagel/Permafrost : le désire lesbique et sa traduction
Résumé
Permafrost (ou Permagel, en catalan) est un roman de la poétesse et écrivaine Eva Baltasar. Publié en
2018, il jouit aujourd´hui d´une popularité remarquable, aussi bien en Catalogne que dans le reste de
l’Espagne. Depuis sa publication, sa traduction en plusieurs langues lui a valu un grand succès. Grâce
à la traductrice américaine Julia Sanches, son adaptation en anglais est parvenue au Royaume-Uni
en 2020. Le roman de Baltasar raconte l´histoire d´une femme lesbienne d’une quarantaine d’années
qui, victime de l’environnement hostile dans lequel elle est contrainte à vivre, fantasme sur le suicide
et est prise en même temps d’une pulsion hédoniste qui la conduit à profiter pleinement de sa condi-
tion humaine, principalement à travers le sexe. Déployé de manière très esthétique dans le poème en
prose de l’auteur, ce désir sexuel est exploré en profondeur. En effet, grâce à un large éventail d´as-
sociation de mots et de métaphores, l’auteur parvient à évoquer des images d’un symbolisme fort et
d´une grande évanescence. Cet article commence par mesurer l’impact du roman, à la fois sur son
territoire d’origine et auprès du public anglo-saxon, avant de se pencher sur l´omniprésence du sexe,
sujet particulièrement récurrent dans les critiques de l´œuvre. Ensuite, l’article se fait l´analyse de
la description du désir lesbien (queer) dans la langue source et dans sa version anglaise, à travers les
prémisses de la traduction queer féministe. En adoptant une perspective queer-féministe, cette analyse
décrit l’efficacité de la traduction dans sa capacité à transposer le contenu dans une tout autre réalité
culturelle et linguistique.
Mots-clés : traduction queer, traduction féministe, désir lesbien, interculturalité, traduction littéraire,
Permafrost
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo168Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
Introduction
Eva Baltasar’s Permafrost was published in
2018 by Barcelona-based publisher Club Ed-
itor. The novel gained popularity almost en-
tirely by word of mouth and reached the top
positions in the best-sellers list (Abella, 2018).
That same year, it won the Premi Llibreter for
best book in Catalan literature, awarded by
the trade of Catalan book sellers, for being a
“bold, uninhibited, and risky” novel, for “the
language used, with a clear poetic influence,”
and for “the way the evolution of the narra-
tor is portrayed” (Gremi de llibreters de Cata-
lunya, 2018, my translation). Furthermore, it
was a finalist for the 2020 French award, Prix
Médicis, as the Best Foreign Novel. Just as its
dedication reads – “to poetry, for permitting
it”– Baltasar’s style originates in poetry. She
has published more than ten poetry collections
and won multiple prizes in the genre. She has
remarked that whereas her poetry is intimate
and confessional, through these three novels
she is able to put more distance between her-
self and her writing. It has been translated into
different languages: Spanish, French, Italian,
and English among others. Its English version,
translated by American translator Julia Sanch-
es, was published in 2020.
Permafrost, part one of a three-part series, is
followed by Boulder (published in 2020 and
winner of the Omnium Prize for best novel
in the same year). The series concludes with
the recently published Mammut. The collection
is linked through the nature of their protago-
nists, who happen to be women and lesbians.
Baltasar’s story centres on a lesbian woman in
her forties who, as a victim of the hostile envi-
ronment in which she feels obliged to live, fan-
tasises about suicide while, at the same time,
experiencing a hedonistic urge that leads to the
enjoyment of her human condition to its max-
imum, principally through sex.
Permafrost received generally positive reviews
both in Catalonia and around the globe. Re-
views concur that the tone of the book is
sincere and harsh (Mcnamara, 2021; Kirkus,
2021; Suau, 2019), and they highlight the dou-
ble-faceted essence of the protagonist; she is
willing to commit suicide, fed up with life and
society, while at the same time she manages
to enjoy life’s most essential experiences (Ro-
drigues Fowler, 2021; Kirkus, 2021). The con-
tradictory personality of the narrator brings
to the table a range of topics identified in the
reviews, namely, society’s hostility, medication
used to survive this dangerous environment,
maternity, family, life expectations and frus-
tration, and unfulfilling and imperfect love
among others (Chang, 2021; Abella, 2018;
Haro, 2018, Zanón, 2018; Cardenete, 2018).
The impetus for this study originates from one
of the few negative reviews which eviscerated
Baltasar’s novel (Duval, 2020). While the ma-
jority of reviewers praise Baltasar’s portrayal
of same-sex desire as instinctive and raw, Du-
val asserts that Permafrost’s treatment of desire
is masculine and conservative, and that the
only thing that really changes is the gender of
the narrator: a woman.
This study aims to analyse the translation of
Permafrost into English observing the texts from
a queer feminist perspective. First, I will deal
with Baltasar’s representation of the lesbian
and same-sex desire. The starting point for the
analysis will be to frame Permafrost as a femi-
nist novel (cf. Gilbert & Gubar, 1979) and as a
queer text based on the ideas of queer lesbian
feminist theorists such as De Lauretis (1991,
2011), Suárez Briones (2014), and Trujillo
(2014, 2022) and authors such as Wittig (1986
[1973]) and Cixous (1983), who stand as key
figures in lesbian feminist waves born in the
70s. Second, the translation will be examined
through the lens of queer and feminist transla-
tion theories and practices, that serve as both
translation and analysis tools. The basis of the
queer translation theory will be inspired by the
works of authors such as Anzaldúa (1987) and
Baer (2018). For the analysis, I will be apply-
ing Démont’s analysis of queer translations
(2018), which delves into different modes to
strengthen, unify, or hide the queerness of a
Introduction
Eva Baltasar’s Permafrost was published in
2018 by Barcelona-based publisher Club Ed-
itor. The novel gained popularity almost en-
tirely by word of mouth and reached the top
positions in the best-sellers list (Abella, 2018).
That same year, it won the Premi Llibreter for
best book in Catalan literature, awarded by
the trade of Catalan book sellers, for being a
“bold, uninhibited, and risky” novel, for “the
language used, with a clear poetic influence,”
and for “the way the evolution of the narra-
tor is portrayed” (Gremi de llibreters de Cata-
lunya, 2018, my translation). Furthermore, it
was a finalist for the 2020 French award, Prix
Médicis, as the Best Foreign Novel. Just as its
dedication reads – “to poetry, for permitting
it”– Baltasar’s style originates in poetry. She
has published more than ten poetry collections
and won multiple prizes in the genre. She has
remarked that whereas her poetry is intimate
and confessional, through these three novels
she is able to put more distance between her-
self and her writing. It has been translated into
different languages: Spanish, French, Italian,
and English among others. Its English version,
translated by American translator Julia Sanch-
es, was published in 2020.
Permafrost, part one of a three-part series, is
followed by Boulder (published in 2020 and
winner of the Omnium Prize for best novel
in the same year). The series concludes with
the recently published Mammut. The collection
is linked through the nature of their protago-
nists, who happen to be women and lesbians.
Baltasar’s story centres on a lesbian woman in
her forties who, as a victim of the hostile envi-
ronment in which she feels obliged to live, fan-
tasises about suicide while, at the same time,
experiencing a hedonistic urge that leads to the
enjoyment of her human condition to its max-
imum, principally through sex.
Permafrost received generally positive reviews
both in Catalonia and around the globe. Re-
views concur that the tone of the book is
sincere and harsh (Mcnamara, 2021; Kirkus,
2021; Suau, 2019), and they highlight the dou-
ble-faceted essence of the protagonist; she is
willing to commit suicide, fed up with life and
society, while at the same time she manages
to enjoy life’s most essential experiences (Ro-
drigues Fowler, 2021; Kirkus, 2021). The con-
tradictory personality of the narrator brings
to the table a range of topics identified in the
reviews, namely, society’s hostility, medication
used to survive this dangerous environment,
maternity, family, life expectations and frus-
tration, and unfulfilling and imperfect love
among others (Chang, 2021; Abella, 2018;
Haro, 2018, Zanón, 2018; Cardenete, 2018).
The impetus for this study originates from one
of the few negative reviews which eviscerated
Baltasar’s novel (Duval, 2020). While the ma-
jority of reviewers praise Baltasar’s portrayal
of same-sex desire as instinctive and raw, Du-
val asserts that Permafrost’s treatment of desire
is masculine and conservative, and that the
only thing that really changes is the gender of
the narrator: a woman.
This study aims to analyse the translation of
Permafrost into English observing the texts from
a queer feminist perspective. First, I will deal
with Baltasar’s representation of the lesbian
and same-sex desire. The starting point for the
analysis will be to frame Permafrost as a femi-
nist novel (cf. Gilbert & Gubar, 1979) and as a
queer text based on the ideas of queer lesbian
feminist theorists such as De Lauretis (1991,
2011), Suárez Briones (2014), and Trujillo
(2014, 2022) and authors such as Wittig (1986
[1973]) and Cixous (1983), who stand as key
figures in lesbian feminist waves born in the
70s. Second, the translation will be examined
through the lens of queer and feminist transla-
tion theories and practices, that serve as both
translation and analysis tools. The basis of the
queer translation theory will be inspired by the
works of authors such as Anzaldúa (1987) and
Baer (2018). For the analysis, I will be apply-
ing Démont’s analysis of queer translations
(2018), which delves into different modes to
strengthen, unify, or hide the queerness of a
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation169Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
text. The feminist translation strategies will be
drawn from those proposed by Castro (2008)
and based on the work of important feminist
translators and scholars (cf. von Flotow, God-
ard, Lotbinière-Hartwood).
The article will ultimately combine these two
approaches in order to create and explore
new avenues to tackle queer texts and trans-
lations. The conclusions will reflect on the
overall translation quality and the importance
of transmitting the queer in a text. It will end
with a note concerning the status of English as
a “global queer” language and how minority
languages open space for new voices and gen-
erate debate and further research.
1. Lesbian (Woman): A Feminist
and Queer Text
According to Baltasar, Permafrost is not deliber-
ately a feminist novel in the sense that she has
not written it for this purpose. I argue that if we
see queer feminism as the natural progression
of feminist theory (Trujillo, 2022), Permafrost is
in fact a queer and feminist novel or, in other
words, a queer text that is necessarily feminist.
It is a feminist text because it immerses itself
in a literary tradition based on the idea of au-
thor anxiety described by Gilbert and Gubar
(1979) in their reading of female authors from
the 19th and 20th centuries. Although their work
has faced considerable criticism –deemed by
some as essentialist (cf. Gezari, 2006)– they
identified some key aspects in the work of fe-
male literary authors. They argued that female
authors have historically tried to defy author
anxiety (created by the dominant patriarchal
gaze in the literary space) by searching for pre-
cursors to resist it, that is, they build upon pre-
vious female authors. Furthermore, Permafrost
fits into the characteristics identified by Gilbert
and Gubar (1979): Female authors have histor-
ically spoken more about their own experienc-
es than male authors.
Additionally, and most importantly, it is a
queer text. It is queer because it defies the
established sexual and social codes based on
historical heteropatriarchy and homogeneity.
Based on De Lauretis (1991), I am not only
referring to having a lesbian as the protago-
nist but an uncomfortable lesbian who follows
queer practices and has queer desires. In this
regard, there is parallelism between Perma-
frost’s imagery and that found in important ex-
isting queer feminist literature precursors (i.e.,
Wittig and Cixous). The book explores sexual
practices and a discourse related to desire that
embraces a perverse and polymorphous sexu-
ality (De Lauretis, 2011, p. 253), personified in
the queer lesbian.
From the early classic imagery of Sapphic re-
lationships on the island of Lesbos, the under-
standing of sexaffectivity between women has
changed throughout history up to more con-
temporary approaches that consider the les-
bian as something different from a woman or
that reframe this type of sexual identity from a
queer perspective. Even if in some cases, lesbi-
an relationships have been considered sodomy,
as happened with relationships between males,
historically, sexual or romantic relationships
between women were considered as non-exis-
tent. This is at least in Western countries since
legal systems did not penalise nor even men-
tion them. Their absence is clearly linked to a
patriarchal society that has repeatedly erased
women. Feminist movements originating at
the end of the nineteenth century were able to
allow women to start obtaining their rights and
visibility. The feminist fight, however, did not
start raising awareness of lesbian women until
the 70s (Suárez Briones, 2013).
In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir (2017
[1949]) describes the lesbian woman from a
somewhat pathological perspective based on
Freudian theories. Even if she does not reject
or condemn lesbian women, she mentions
that the lesbian is a woman who has not ful-
ly attained sexual maturation or that may be
identified as a man. It would not be until some
decades later that more modern conceptions
of the lesbian arose. Such a change appears
Lesbian Desire and its Translation169Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
text. The feminist translation strategies will be
drawn from those proposed by Castro (2008)
and based on the work of important feminist
translators and scholars (cf. von Flotow, God-
ard, Lotbinière-Hartwood).
The article will ultimately combine these two
approaches in order to create and explore
new avenues to tackle queer texts and trans-
lations. The conclusions will reflect on the
overall translation quality and the importance
of transmitting the queer in a text. It will end
with a note concerning the status of English as
a “global queer” language and how minority
languages open space for new voices and gen-
erate debate and further research.
1. Lesbian (Woman): A Feminist
and Queer Text
According to Baltasar, Permafrost is not deliber-
ately a feminist novel in the sense that she has
not written it for this purpose. I argue that if we
see queer feminism as the natural progression
of feminist theory (Trujillo, 2022), Permafrost is
in fact a queer and feminist novel or, in other
words, a queer text that is necessarily feminist.
It is a feminist text because it immerses itself
in a literary tradition based on the idea of au-
thor anxiety described by Gilbert and Gubar
(1979) in their reading of female authors from
the 19th and 20th centuries. Although their work
has faced considerable criticism –deemed by
some as essentialist (cf. Gezari, 2006)– they
identified some key aspects in the work of fe-
male literary authors. They argued that female
authors have historically tried to defy author
anxiety (created by the dominant patriarchal
gaze in the literary space) by searching for pre-
cursors to resist it, that is, they build upon pre-
vious female authors. Furthermore, Permafrost
fits into the characteristics identified by Gilbert
and Gubar (1979): Female authors have histor-
ically spoken more about their own experienc-
es than male authors.
Additionally, and most importantly, it is a
queer text. It is queer because it defies the
established sexual and social codes based on
historical heteropatriarchy and homogeneity.
Based on De Lauretis (1991), I am not only
referring to having a lesbian as the protago-
nist but an uncomfortable lesbian who follows
queer practices and has queer desires. In this
regard, there is parallelism between Perma-
frost’s imagery and that found in important ex-
isting queer feminist literature precursors (i.e.,
Wittig and Cixous). The book explores sexual
practices and a discourse related to desire that
embraces a perverse and polymorphous sexu-
ality (De Lauretis, 2011, p. 253), personified in
the queer lesbian.
From the early classic imagery of Sapphic re-
lationships on the island of Lesbos, the under-
standing of sexaffectivity between women has
changed throughout history up to more con-
temporary approaches that consider the les-
bian as something different from a woman or
that reframe this type of sexual identity from a
queer perspective. Even if in some cases, lesbi-
an relationships have been considered sodomy,
as happened with relationships between males,
historically, sexual or romantic relationships
between women were considered as non-exis-
tent. This is at least in Western countries since
legal systems did not penalise nor even men-
tion them. Their absence is clearly linked to a
patriarchal society that has repeatedly erased
women. Feminist movements originating at
the end of the nineteenth century were able to
allow women to start obtaining their rights and
visibility. The feminist fight, however, did not
start raising awareness of lesbian women until
the 70s (Suárez Briones, 2013).
In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir (2017
[1949]) describes the lesbian woman from a
somewhat pathological perspective based on
Freudian theories. Even if she does not reject
or condemn lesbian women, she mentions
that the lesbian is a woman who has not ful-
ly attained sexual maturation or that may be
identified as a man. It would not be until some
decades later that more modern conceptions
of the lesbian arose. Such a change appears
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo170Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
in the so-called second wave of feminism that
broadens the diversity of female identity and
empowered lesbians
whose identity has been constructed in and
from negation (lesbians are not real women)
and from the lack and contempt (lesbians
are pseudo men, pathetic copies that do not
have what they must have): lesbian feminism
not only defends lesbians as women but not
less than the only women outside patriarchal
control. (Suárez Briones, 2013, p. 28, my
translation)
French activist, writer, and philosopher, Mo-
nique Wittig was one of the main voices of les-
bianism within feminist ideology. “It would be
incorrect to say that lesbians associate, make
love, live with women, for ‘woman’ has mean-
ing only in heterosexual systems of thought
and heterosexual economic systems. Lesbians
are not women.” (Wittig, 1992, p. 32). This
marked the beginning of the lesbian no longer
being described in terms of sexual desire but
of political and ideological premises (Bunch,
1975, pp. 29–37). It is undeniable that advanc-
es were made on behalf of lesbians in order to
gain emancipation and visibility as an identity
group that was subject to different treatments
and discriminations from straight women. The
attribution of masculinity to the lesbian is di-
rectly linked to sexual desire and performance,
as suggested by Newton (2000) when she says,
based on Freud, that all desire and active erot-
ic activity are masculine; and therefore, the
woman who desires another woman cannot be
other than masculine. The masculine lesbian
is the new unmistakable obvious figure in her
sexuality, as posed by Daly (1978), “[t]he terms
gay or female homosexual more accurately de-
scribe women who, although they relate gen-
itally to women, give their allegiance to men
and male myths, ideologies, styles, practices,
institutions, and professions” (p. 78).
This understanding of masculinity in lesbians
was put to the test with the emergence of queer
theories that fractured pre-established gender
binarisms and expectations. De Lauretis (1991)
actually coined the term queer theory by defin-
ing its non-definition, its mutable nature. She
first thought of the term “queer theory” to resist
the “cultural and sexual homogenization in ac-
ademic gay and lesbian studies” (De Lauretis,
2011, p. 257). Her understanding of the queer
embraces a space that is “nonhomogeneous,”
“a displacement, a transit, and transforma-
tion” (p. 246), by arguing that Freud’s analy-
sis on sex and gender actually materialised the
forbidden, the perverse, and polymorphous
sexuality, inverting the distinction of what was
normal and abnormal. Queer theory emanates
from sexuality and transcends to the political
by deifying the gender oppressive social struc-
ture embedded in feminist critique.
As put by Trujillo (2014), “queer feminisms
have made possible spaces of existence and
visibility for other bodies, other lives, other
desires, other voices, other political experienc-
es more radical, among them ours, those of
the queer lesbians” (p. 131, my translation).
In Butlerian lines, the queer implies a perfor-
mance, and relates to an action, not to an iden-
tity or a category. Queer is a verb, not a noun;
it turns the normal into weird in order to ex-
plore new possibilities outside patriarchal dis-
courses and practices (Suárez Briones, 2014).
Queer feminism allows for a rethinking of the
old divisions and invites reflection on the way
the lesbian is performed, portrayed, and repre-
sented. It is understood as an advancement in
feminist theory which embraces more diverse
bodies and experiences (Trujillo, 2022).
Under such light, Permafrost is a queer femi-
nist text. Baltasar’s metaphors and narratives
challenge what is established. In this regard, it
is not only the portrayal of the narrator’s expe-
rience, trying to shield herself from society and
the social expectations placed upon her which
challenges and questions binarisms, but also the
sexual and desire elements of the book, depict-
ed by a plethora of metaphors. This is especial-
ly identifiable in passages in which the lesbian
sexual practice is related to the realm of the
masculine. In this new paradigm, previously
in the so-called second wave of feminism that
broadens the diversity of female identity and
empowered lesbians
whose identity has been constructed in and
from negation (lesbians are not real women)
and from the lack and contempt (lesbians
are pseudo men, pathetic copies that do not
have what they must have): lesbian feminism
not only defends lesbians as women but not
less than the only women outside patriarchal
control. (Suárez Briones, 2013, p. 28, my
translation)
French activist, writer, and philosopher, Mo-
nique Wittig was one of the main voices of les-
bianism within feminist ideology. “It would be
incorrect to say that lesbians associate, make
love, live with women, for ‘woman’ has mean-
ing only in heterosexual systems of thought
and heterosexual economic systems. Lesbians
are not women.” (Wittig, 1992, p. 32). This
marked the beginning of the lesbian no longer
being described in terms of sexual desire but
of political and ideological premises (Bunch,
1975, pp. 29–37). It is undeniable that advanc-
es were made on behalf of lesbians in order to
gain emancipation and visibility as an identity
group that was subject to different treatments
and discriminations from straight women. The
attribution of masculinity to the lesbian is di-
rectly linked to sexual desire and performance,
as suggested by Newton (2000) when she says,
based on Freud, that all desire and active erot-
ic activity are masculine; and therefore, the
woman who desires another woman cannot be
other than masculine. The masculine lesbian
is the new unmistakable obvious figure in her
sexuality, as posed by Daly (1978), “[t]he terms
gay or female homosexual more accurately de-
scribe women who, although they relate gen-
itally to women, give their allegiance to men
and male myths, ideologies, styles, practices,
institutions, and professions” (p. 78).
This understanding of masculinity in lesbians
was put to the test with the emergence of queer
theories that fractured pre-established gender
binarisms and expectations. De Lauretis (1991)
actually coined the term queer theory by defin-
ing its non-definition, its mutable nature. She
first thought of the term “queer theory” to resist
the “cultural and sexual homogenization in ac-
ademic gay and lesbian studies” (De Lauretis,
2011, p. 257). Her understanding of the queer
embraces a space that is “nonhomogeneous,”
“a displacement, a transit, and transforma-
tion” (p. 246), by arguing that Freud’s analy-
sis on sex and gender actually materialised the
forbidden, the perverse, and polymorphous
sexuality, inverting the distinction of what was
normal and abnormal. Queer theory emanates
from sexuality and transcends to the political
by deifying the gender oppressive social struc-
ture embedded in feminist critique.
As put by Trujillo (2014), “queer feminisms
have made possible spaces of existence and
visibility for other bodies, other lives, other
desires, other voices, other political experienc-
es more radical, among them ours, those of
the queer lesbians” (p. 131, my translation).
In Butlerian lines, the queer implies a perfor-
mance, and relates to an action, not to an iden-
tity or a category. Queer is a verb, not a noun;
it turns the normal into weird in order to ex-
plore new possibilities outside patriarchal dis-
courses and practices (Suárez Briones, 2014).
Queer feminism allows for a rethinking of the
old divisions and invites reflection on the way
the lesbian is performed, portrayed, and repre-
sented. It is understood as an advancement in
feminist theory which embraces more diverse
bodies and experiences (Trujillo, 2022).
Under such light, Permafrost is a queer femi-
nist text. Baltasar’s metaphors and narratives
challenge what is established. In this regard, it
is not only the portrayal of the narrator’s expe-
rience, trying to shield herself from society and
the social expectations placed upon her which
challenges and questions binarisms, but also the
sexual and desire elements of the book, depict-
ed by a plethora of metaphors. This is especial-
ly identifiable in passages in which the lesbian
sexual practice is related to the realm of the
masculine. In this new paradigm, previously
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation171Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
well-defined roles and identities become more
ambiguous. It is within this framework that
Baltasar’s sexual desire is analysed in this
proposal.
2. The Representation
of Lesbian Sex/Desire
Baltasar depicts sexual relationships in a raw
manner that also involves very suggestive im-
ages, symbolism, and metaphors. Duval’s re-
view (2020) describes some of its passages as
being too “masculine” and mentions that the
way Baltasar has portrayed sexual desire be-
tween women was not convincing enough. It is
then arguable that Baltasar defies what may be
expected from a contemporary lesbian author
by sometimes using analogies that have histor-
ically been related to the masculine; this may
be actually regarded as going against feminist
postulates. However, the hypothesis that I sug-
gest, observing the phenomenon under a queer
light, is that she is able to perform the sexual
on her own terms, trying to find in existing and
understandable (but patriarchal) analogies and
vocabulary a discourse that manages to ex-
press what she has in mind. In this sense, she
may be queering lesbian desire, playing with
the masculine and the feminine and bringing
it to a middle ground or even elevated ground
where such dichotomies are rendered obsolete.
However, despite a queer reading of the de-
piction of lesbian sexual desire, it is probable
that Baltasar’s writing is influence by the his-
torical lack of resources to define the lesbian
body and their sexual sphere due to a general
indifference from the male and straight view
(Cleveland, 2001).
In some cases, Baltasar’s metaphors have resort-
ed to the masculine in order to make reference
to sensations and practices in female same-sex
desire. It could be acknowledged that this as-
sertion is made based on socially established
binaries and that a queer understanding of the
lesbian body and identity would dismantle
such explanations. I argue that the historical
and social connotations of what is related to
the masculine — powerful, active, violent —
are also involved in the terminology employed
by the author to illustrate lesbian sex. In par-
ticular, the narrator of Permafrost describes her
lovers and sexual partners in an objectifying,
very sexualised and somewhat brutal way. She
mentions a “triplicated clitoris” that acts like
“micro penis” (Baltasar, 2018, p. 88) and de-
scribes the sexual act as being so savage that
if the protagonist was a man, she would have
“made her pregnant” (Baltasar, 2018, p. 88).
However, limiting the reading of Permafrost’s
sexual desire depiction to those instances ig-
nores an important part of its metaphorical di-
mension and reduces its queer imagery. Apart
from the two aforementioned examples, the
novel shows a vast array of metaphors that de-
rive from the author’s own voice and create a
language far from what is culturally understood
as masculine. As a matter of fact, Baltasar’s
representation of sexual performance and de-
sire finds some parallelisms with well-known
authors of lesbian feminist texts, Monique Wit-
tig and Hélène Cixous. In their masterpieces,
Le corps lesbien (Wittig, 1986[1973]) and Le livre
de Promethea (Cixous, 1983), respectively, they
use strategies to rethink sex and sexual desire
through lesbian, feminist, and queer lenses.
As put by Cleveland (2001, p. 24), “Wittig ex-
poses and resists through her reworking of the
language” to combat the masculine gaze in
which “the female body bears a long history of
social and medical management”. She choos-
es a vocabulary able to “resist the metaphor,
the anatomical lexicon” (Hernández Piñero,
2013, p. 177, my translation), for instance:
your canines gash m/y flesh where it is most
sensitive, you hold m/e between your paws,
you constrain m/e to lean on m/y elbows, you
make m/e turn m/y back to you, your breasts
press against m/y bare skin, I feel your hairs
touching m/y buttocks at the height of your
clitoris, you climb on m/e, you rip off m/y
skin with the claws of your four paws […]
(p. 22)
Lesbian Desire and its Translation171Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
well-defined roles and identities become more
ambiguous. It is within this framework that
Baltasar’s sexual desire is analysed in this
proposal.
2. The Representation
of Lesbian Sex/Desire
Baltasar depicts sexual relationships in a raw
manner that also involves very suggestive im-
ages, symbolism, and metaphors. Duval’s re-
view (2020) describes some of its passages as
being too “masculine” and mentions that the
way Baltasar has portrayed sexual desire be-
tween women was not convincing enough. It is
then arguable that Baltasar defies what may be
expected from a contemporary lesbian author
by sometimes using analogies that have histor-
ically been related to the masculine; this may
be actually regarded as going against feminist
postulates. However, the hypothesis that I sug-
gest, observing the phenomenon under a queer
light, is that she is able to perform the sexual
on her own terms, trying to find in existing and
understandable (but patriarchal) analogies and
vocabulary a discourse that manages to ex-
press what she has in mind. In this sense, she
may be queering lesbian desire, playing with
the masculine and the feminine and bringing
it to a middle ground or even elevated ground
where such dichotomies are rendered obsolete.
However, despite a queer reading of the de-
piction of lesbian sexual desire, it is probable
that Baltasar’s writing is influence by the his-
torical lack of resources to define the lesbian
body and their sexual sphere due to a general
indifference from the male and straight view
(Cleveland, 2001).
In some cases, Baltasar’s metaphors have resort-
ed to the masculine in order to make reference
to sensations and practices in female same-sex
desire. It could be acknowledged that this as-
sertion is made based on socially established
binaries and that a queer understanding of the
lesbian body and identity would dismantle
such explanations. I argue that the historical
and social connotations of what is related to
the masculine — powerful, active, violent —
are also involved in the terminology employed
by the author to illustrate lesbian sex. In par-
ticular, the narrator of Permafrost describes her
lovers and sexual partners in an objectifying,
very sexualised and somewhat brutal way. She
mentions a “triplicated clitoris” that acts like
“micro penis” (Baltasar, 2018, p. 88) and de-
scribes the sexual act as being so savage that
if the protagonist was a man, she would have
“made her pregnant” (Baltasar, 2018, p. 88).
However, limiting the reading of Permafrost’s
sexual desire depiction to those instances ig-
nores an important part of its metaphorical di-
mension and reduces its queer imagery. Apart
from the two aforementioned examples, the
novel shows a vast array of metaphors that de-
rive from the author’s own voice and create a
language far from what is culturally understood
as masculine. As a matter of fact, Baltasar’s
representation of sexual performance and de-
sire finds some parallelisms with well-known
authors of lesbian feminist texts, Monique Wit-
tig and Hélène Cixous. In their masterpieces,
Le corps lesbien (Wittig, 1986[1973]) and Le livre
de Promethea (Cixous, 1983), respectively, they
use strategies to rethink sex and sexual desire
through lesbian, feminist, and queer lenses.
As put by Cleveland (2001, p. 24), “Wittig ex-
poses and resists through her reworking of the
language” to combat the masculine gaze in
which “the female body bears a long history of
social and medical management”. She choos-
es a vocabulary able to “resist the metaphor,
the anatomical lexicon” (Hernández Piñero,
2013, p. 177, my translation), for instance:
your canines gash m/y flesh where it is most
sensitive, you hold m/e between your paws,
you constrain m/e to lean on m/y elbows, you
make m/e turn m/y back to you, your breasts
press against m/y bare skin, I feel your hairs
touching m/y buttocks at the height of your
clitoris, you climb on m/e, you rip off m/y
skin with the claws of your four paws […]
(p. 22)
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo172Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
And she describes her lovers with passages
such as the following:
The gleam of your teeth your joy your so-
rrow the hidden life of your viscera your
blood your arteries your veins your hollow
habitations your organs your nerves their
rupture their spurting forth death slow de-
composition stench being devoured by worms
your open skull, all will be equally unbeara-
ble to her. (p. 15)
“However, this gesture of refusing the metaphor
is twofold, since it is a gesture that implies at
the same time the creation of new metaphors,
of a new metaphorical sphere” (Hernández
Piñero, 2013, p. 177, my translation). Cixous,
in turn, configures “a desire between women
as an excess or exaggeration. […] Cixous has
to destroy the distance between writing and
life. According to the author, this means writ-
ing closer or before the metaphor” (Hernández
Piñero, 2013, p. 177, my translation), as seen
here: “And I? I drink, I burn, I gather dreams.
And sometimes I tell a story. Because Promet-
hea asks me for a bowl of words before she
goes to sleep” (p. 44). Examples of Cixous’
metaphorical dimension when she describes
the desired body can be found in the following
excerpts:
You make me thirsty, Promethea, my river,
you make me eternally thirsty, my water. As
if I had spent my life in an old house of dried
mud, so dry myself that I could not even
thirst, until yesterday. (p. 43)
This is how I want you: larger and smaller
stronger and weaker taller and trembling
more, more out of breath that I more burn-
ing more penetrating bolder bossier more
yielding more frightened narrower and more
relentless than you are more than I. (1983,
p. 72)
Or when she expresses the sensations and feel-
ings of the narrator:
“It is because I am a deep, cool pyramid. Go
through me. Pass through all my rooms and
know my subterfuge. But you are passing
right by the little room that I want to keep
closed, and you don’t see it.” (1983, p. 126)
It is in the framework of this task where Cix-
ous and Wittig enquire into the sense, the
limits, and the possibilities of the metaphor
with the purpose of creating images of lesbi-
an desire. Baltasar outlines a vision of lesbian
desire where anatomy and excess are solidly
present. Her narrator seeks refuge in a brutal
and objectifying approach to her lovers, to the
point where some metaphors use masculinity to
portray intensity, exaggeration, climax, and vio-
lence and creates a personal gaze. Such a gaze,
from a queer perspective, defies the aforemen-
tioned masculine view by refuting the definition
of what is masculine and feminine, or better
put, by challenging what is really masculine
and feminine. This does not, by any means,
dismiss the influence of the patriarchal asso-
ciation of the masculine with certain sexual
practices and notions. Nevertheless, through a
queer understanding, it would not be deliberately
masculine. The reading of Baltasar’s Permafrost
as merely masculine could dangerously reduce
its plurality to a simplistic understanding of the
author’s imagery in a way that, in Démont’s
(2018) taxonomy of representing the queer in
translation, would tend to simplify the queer
content of a text to suit the political and social
expectations.
Such an understanding and portrayal of lesbi-
an sexual desire, which is profoundly attached
to the author’s style and based on complex
metaphors and imagery, needs to be tackled
intimately in the transfer to another language
and culture. The way queer messages circulate
can help diversify the queer experience by fa-
cilitating the target culture’s comprehension
of the text and guaranteeing their engagement
and enjoyment.
3. Translating the Queer
From the so-called cultural and power turn
in translation (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990;
And she describes her lovers with passages
such as the following:
The gleam of your teeth your joy your so-
rrow the hidden life of your viscera your
blood your arteries your veins your hollow
habitations your organs your nerves their
rupture their spurting forth death slow de-
composition stench being devoured by worms
your open skull, all will be equally unbeara-
ble to her. (p. 15)
“However, this gesture of refusing the metaphor
is twofold, since it is a gesture that implies at
the same time the creation of new metaphors,
of a new metaphorical sphere” (Hernández
Piñero, 2013, p. 177, my translation). Cixous,
in turn, configures “a desire between women
as an excess or exaggeration. […] Cixous has
to destroy the distance between writing and
life. According to the author, this means writ-
ing closer or before the metaphor” (Hernández
Piñero, 2013, p. 177, my translation), as seen
here: “And I? I drink, I burn, I gather dreams.
And sometimes I tell a story. Because Promet-
hea asks me for a bowl of words before she
goes to sleep” (p. 44). Examples of Cixous’
metaphorical dimension when she describes
the desired body can be found in the following
excerpts:
You make me thirsty, Promethea, my river,
you make me eternally thirsty, my water. As
if I had spent my life in an old house of dried
mud, so dry myself that I could not even
thirst, until yesterday. (p. 43)
This is how I want you: larger and smaller
stronger and weaker taller and trembling
more, more out of breath that I more burn-
ing more penetrating bolder bossier more
yielding more frightened narrower and more
relentless than you are more than I. (1983,
p. 72)
Or when she expresses the sensations and feel-
ings of the narrator:
“It is because I am a deep, cool pyramid. Go
through me. Pass through all my rooms and
know my subterfuge. But you are passing
right by the little room that I want to keep
closed, and you don’t see it.” (1983, p. 126)
It is in the framework of this task where Cix-
ous and Wittig enquire into the sense, the
limits, and the possibilities of the metaphor
with the purpose of creating images of lesbi-
an desire. Baltasar outlines a vision of lesbian
desire where anatomy and excess are solidly
present. Her narrator seeks refuge in a brutal
and objectifying approach to her lovers, to the
point where some metaphors use masculinity to
portray intensity, exaggeration, climax, and vio-
lence and creates a personal gaze. Such a gaze,
from a queer perspective, defies the aforemen-
tioned masculine view by refuting the definition
of what is masculine and feminine, or better
put, by challenging what is really masculine
and feminine. This does not, by any means,
dismiss the influence of the patriarchal asso-
ciation of the masculine with certain sexual
practices and notions. Nevertheless, through a
queer understanding, it would not be deliberately
masculine. The reading of Baltasar’s Permafrost
as merely masculine could dangerously reduce
its plurality to a simplistic understanding of the
author’s imagery in a way that, in Démont’s
(2018) taxonomy of representing the queer in
translation, would tend to simplify the queer
content of a text to suit the political and social
expectations.
Such an understanding and portrayal of lesbi-
an sexual desire, which is profoundly attached
to the author’s style and based on complex
metaphors and imagery, needs to be tackled
intimately in the transfer to another language
and culture. The way queer messages circulate
can help diversify the queer experience by fa-
cilitating the target culture’s comprehension
of the text and guaranteeing their engagement
and enjoyment.
3. Translating the Queer
From the so-called cultural and power turn
in translation (Bassnett & Lefevere, 1990;
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation173Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
Tymoczko, 2000), there was a shift in the
perspective of translation studies. Martínez
Pleguezuelos (2018) notes that there is a par-
allelism in the development of gay and lesbi-
an studies and translation studies during that
time. With the overcoming of prescriptivist
postulates towards more descriptive approach-
es, he states, translation becomes the ideal space
to identify the discursive power dynamics that
contribute to the formation of minority sexuali-
ties. If feminist translation tries “to actively vali-
date the different types of feminisms (in plural)
and ultimately eradicate (the also plural) gen-
der discrimination” (Castro, 2008, p. 286, my
translation), queer translation aims to bring to
the surface sexual and gender diversity to un-
mask essentialist ideas to use the potential in-
herent in the fluid concepts of translation and
sexuality and understand the practices and dis-
courses involved in negotiating identities (Baer
& Kaindl, 2018).
Kedem (2019, p. 159) approaches queer trans-
lation as “an object of immanent critique that
challenges pre-established notions of both
the concept of the queer and that of transla-
tion”. For queer theories to be effective critical
modes of thinking, though they must culti-
vate a self-critical dimension that will secure
its elasticity as a political practice, guarantee
its dynamic and plural form and can thus also
provide the means to counter its critics (Butler,
1993). In this sense, I view translation as a bor-
der, as presented in Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La
frontera (1987) and analysed in Baer (2020) as
a key concept in queer translation. This bor-
der works as a margin that is not only a meet-
ing point between two languages but that also
exposes a view from the “position of the he-
gemon” (Baer, 2020, p. 32), hiding and open-
ing what is found beyond, thus resisting mere
equivalence and symmetrical monolingualism.
The “queer turn” in translation, as described by
Santaemilia (2018), provides new possibilities
for research in the field. Recent publications are
proof of new applications and discussions, such
as the volumes by Baer and Kaindl (2018), Baer
(2020), and Epstein and Gillett (2017), who
deal with the diversity of identities of the
lgbtq + community; Rose (2021), who focus-
es particularly on trans and intersex texts and
their translation; or Martínez Pleguezuelos
(2018) and Villanueva and Chaume (2021),
who focus on the field of audiovisual transla-
tion and queer identities.
Villanueva and Chaume (2021) have applied a
systematic review of the epistemological and
methodological value of publications in the
field of audiovisual translation and lgtbiq +
representation for the last two decades. Their
study serves to conceptualise this very unsta-
ble field which departs from the conceptuali-
sation of the label itself: queer. They mention
that most of the studies conducted up to date
are case studies with a single product (they
focus on audiovisual content) and are qualita-
tive studies. Their criticisms focus on the vari-
ability of the term “translation,” and they put
emphasis on the logocentrism of the analyses.
The differences in the understanding of the
practice itself call for different methodologies
of analysis and yield different results.
From my understanding, most of these qualita-
tive analyses reviewed in Villanueva and Chau-
me (2021) lack a categorisation or taxonomy of
strategies used for the translation and study of
queer texts. It is here where I call for the mod-
elling of feminist translation strategies in queer
translation based on the fact that both feminist
and queer translation share the same main ob-
jective. Feminist translation scholars and profes-
sionals have proposed different strategies that
can bring feminist issues in a text that may be
hidden, censored, or shifted in translation to the
fore. Such strategies are summarised in the study
of Castro (2008), expanded in the following sec-
tion, who bases her work on previous scholars
considered classics in this line of research such
as the works of Godard (1990), Lotbinière-Har-
wood (1991), Simon (1995, 1996), and Von Flo-
tow (1991, 1995, 1997).
Lesbian Desire and its Translation173Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
Tymoczko, 2000), there was a shift in the
perspective of translation studies. Martínez
Pleguezuelos (2018) notes that there is a par-
allelism in the development of gay and lesbi-
an studies and translation studies during that
time. With the overcoming of prescriptivist
postulates towards more descriptive approach-
es, he states, translation becomes the ideal space
to identify the discursive power dynamics that
contribute to the formation of minority sexuali-
ties. If feminist translation tries “to actively vali-
date the different types of feminisms (in plural)
and ultimately eradicate (the also plural) gen-
der discrimination” (Castro, 2008, p. 286, my
translation), queer translation aims to bring to
the surface sexual and gender diversity to un-
mask essentialist ideas to use the potential in-
herent in the fluid concepts of translation and
sexuality and understand the practices and dis-
courses involved in negotiating identities (Baer
& Kaindl, 2018).
Kedem (2019, p. 159) approaches queer trans-
lation as “an object of immanent critique that
challenges pre-established notions of both
the concept of the queer and that of transla-
tion”. For queer theories to be effective critical
modes of thinking, though they must culti-
vate a self-critical dimension that will secure
its elasticity as a political practice, guarantee
its dynamic and plural form and can thus also
provide the means to counter its critics (Butler,
1993). In this sense, I view translation as a bor-
der, as presented in Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La
frontera (1987) and analysed in Baer (2020) as
a key concept in queer translation. This bor-
der works as a margin that is not only a meet-
ing point between two languages but that also
exposes a view from the “position of the he-
gemon” (Baer, 2020, p. 32), hiding and open-
ing what is found beyond, thus resisting mere
equivalence and symmetrical monolingualism.
The “queer turn” in translation, as described by
Santaemilia (2018), provides new possibilities
for research in the field. Recent publications are
proof of new applications and discussions, such
as the volumes by Baer and Kaindl (2018), Baer
(2020), and Epstein and Gillett (2017), who
deal with the diversity of identities of the
lgbtq + community; Rose (2021), who focus-
es particularly on trans and intersex texts and
their translation; or Martínez Pleguezuelos
(2018) and Villanueva and Chaume (2021),
who focus on the field of audiovisual transla-
tion and queer identities.
Villanueva and Chaume (2021) have applied a
systematic review of the epistemological and
methodological value of publications in the
field of audiovisual translation and lgtbiq +
representation for the last two decades. Their
study serves to conceptualise this very unsta-
ble field which departs from the conceptuali-
sation of the label itself: queer. They mention
that most of the studies conducted up to date
are case studies with a single product (they
focus on audiovisual content) and are qualita-
tive studies. Their criticisms focus on the vari-
ability of the term “translation,” and they put
emphasis on the logocentrism of the analyses.
The differences in the understanding of the
practice itself call for different methodologies
of analysis and yield different results.
From my understanding, most of these qualita-
tive analyses reviewed in Villanueva and Chau-
me (2021) lack a categorisation or taxonomy of
strategies used for the translation and study of
queer texts. It is here where I call for the mod-
elling of feminist translation strategies in queer
translation based on the fact that both feminist
and queer translation share the same main ob-
jective. Feminist translation scholars and profes-
sionals have proposed different strategies that
can bring feminist issues in a text that may be
hidden, censored, or shifted in translation to the
fore. Such strategies are summarised in the study
of Castro (2008), expanded in the following sec-
tion, who bases her work on previous scholars
considered classics in this line of research such
as the works of Godard (1990), Lotbinière-Har-
wood (1991), Simon (1995, 1996), and Von Flo-
tow (1991, 1995, 1997).
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo174Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
I argue here, based on previous experiences
(Iturregui-Gallardo, 2021), that feminist trans-
lation strategies constitute an adaptable ref-
erential framework for both the analysis and
production of queer translations. The queer
turn takes gender-conscious translation fur-
ther in what Giustini (2015) names the second
paradigm in translation. As put by Von Flotow
(2007, p. 92, quoted in Giustini, 2015), “queer,
as well as gay and lesbian studies concerned
with other gender identities and in particular
with individual choice in these matters, have
taken debates to other, though not necessarily
new, areas” (p. 2). Both approaches to transla-
tion share the emphasis on historically hidden
discourses and narratives belonging to social
minorities which evolved in the margins of
power such as women and lgbtq + identities.
The proposed combination or application of
feminist strategies to the queer text offer multi-
ple advantages.
4. Methodology: Queerfeminist Strategies
Permafrost was published in Barcelona in 2018;
and its English translation, penned by Ameri-
can translator Julia Sanches, arrived in 2020.
The totality of excerpts in which (lesbian)
sexuality and desire were featured, identified,
and gathered on a table opposite their En-
glish translation. With both texts in parallel,
the analysis took place. The translations were
located in one of the three modes described
by Démont (2018), and the translation strate-
gies proposed for feminist translation (Castro,
2008) were used as analysis tools. Both ap-
proaches aimed to show the gender-conscious
intention of the translation that successfully
maintains its queer component.
This article proposes a queer reading in which
the practices represented in Permafrost can be
considered undecidable, in the words of Rose
(2021). Therefore, both the text and the trans-
lation would benefit from an analysis from this
angle. My hypothesis is that Baltasar uses a
vast array of images for her sexual metaphors
by drawing from the feminine and masculine
and distilling both definitions into her own
narrative. Consequently, Duval’s claims (2020)
should be put to the test. It is true that the in-
stances analysed in her review are blatantly
masculine in the sense that Baltasar resorts to
a series of male images to describe the power
and brutality of lesbian sex. However, these do
not account, by any means, for the totality of
the images, since the novel presents many oth-
er passages in which lesbian desire is depicted
in different forms; from the enumeration of fe-
male anatomy or their analogies with food, to
the juxtaposition of sex and eating to describe
excess which resonate with the aforementioned
lesbian feminist texts by Wittig (1986[1973])
and Cixous (1983).
I depart from the categorization presented by
Démont (2018) in which he proposes three
different modes of translating literary queer
texts. In this case, he is not proposing specific
strategies on feminist translation, as provided
by Castro (2008), but a collection of three pos-
sible outcomes in the treatment of the queer
component of a text. He proposes two modes
that hide or simplify the queer (misrecognizing
the queer and minoritizing the queer) and a third
mode that manages to transfer the queer in a
text into the translated text, which I will name
preserving the queer for the purposes of this
study.
In the first mode, the one in which the queer is
misrecognised, the translation is “subject to the
normalizing and ‘straightening’ power of trans-
lators” and “by being connected to a whole new
set of semantic associations, the potentially
subversive content is turned into a conservative
strategy to hide a queer sexuality” (Démont,
2018, pp. 158–159). The second mode, which
is when the queer contents of a text are minor-
itized, reduces the text’s queerness “to the
terms of the contemporary identity politics”
supressing “the potential discontinuities, asso-
ciations, and uncouplings around which the
original text, and its own sexual rhetoric, are
organized.” (Démont, 2018, p. 162). Finally,
preserving the queer encompasses the correct
I argue here, based on previous experiences
(Iturregui-Gallardo, 2021), that feminist trans-
lation strategies constitute an adaptable ref-
erential framework for both the analysis and
production of queer translations. The queer
turn takes gender-conscious translation fur-
ther in what Giustini (2015) names the second
paradigm in translation. As put by Von Flotow
(2007, p. 92, quoted in Giustini, 2015), “queer,
as well as gay and lesbian studies concerned
with other gender identities and in particular
with individual choice in these matters, have
taken debates to other, though not necessarily
new, areas” (p. 2). Both approaches to transla-
tion share the emphasis on historically hidden
discourses and narratives belonging to social
minorities which evolved in the margins of
power such as women and lgbtq + identities.
The proposed combination or application of
feminist strategies to the queer text offer multi-
ple advantages.
4. Methodology: Queerfeminist Strategies
Permafrost was published in Barcelona in 2018;
and its English translation, penned by Ameri-
can translator Julia Sanches, arrived in 2020.
The totality of excerpts in which (lesbian)
sexuality and desire were featured, identified,
and gathered on a table opposite their En-
glish translation. With both texts in parallel,
the analysis took place. The translations were
located in one of the three modes described
by Démont (2018), and the translation strate-
gies proposed for feminist translation (Castro,
2008) were used as analysis tools. Both ap-
proaches aimed to show the gender-conscious
intention of the translation that successfully
maintains its queer component.
This article proposes a queer reading in which
the practices represented in Permafrost can be
considered undecidable, in the words of Rose
(2021). Therefore, both the text and the trans-
lation would benefit from an analysis from this
angle. My hypothesis is that Baltasar uses a
vast array of images for her sexual metaphors
by drawing from the feminine and masculine
and distilling both definitions into her own
narrative. Consequently, Duval’s claims (2020)
should be put to the test. It is true that the in-
stances analysed in her review are blatantly
masculine in the sense that Baltasar resorts to
a series of male images to describe the power
and brutality of lesbian sex. However, these do
not account, by any means, for the totality of
the images, since the novel presents many oth-
er passages in which lesbian desire is depicted
in different forms; from the enumeration of fe-
male anatomy or their analogies with food, to
the juxtaposition of sex and eating to describe
excess which resonate with the aforementioned
lesbian feminist texts by Wittig (1986[1973])
and Cixous (1983).
I depart from the categorization presented by
Démont (2018) in which he proposes three
different modes of translating literary queer
texts. In this case, he is not proposing specific
strategies on feminist translation, as provided
by Castro (2008), but a collection of three pos-
sible outcomes in the treatment of the queer
component of a text. He proposes two modes
that hide or simplify the queer (misrecognizing
the queer and minoritizing the queer) and a third
mode that manages to transfer the queer in a
text into the translated text, which I will name
preserving the queer for the purposes of this
study.
In the first mode, the one in which the queer is
misrecognised, the translation is “subject to the
normalizing and ‘straightening’ power of trans-
lators” and “by being connected to a whole new
set of semantic associations, the potentially
subversive content is turned into a conservative
strategy to hide a queer sexuality” (Démont,
2018, pp. 158–159). The second mode, which
is when the queer contents of a text are minor-
itized, reduces the text’s queerness “to the
terms of the contemporary identity politics”
supressing “the potential discontinuities, asso-
ciations, and uncouplings around which the
original text, and its own sexual rhetoric, are
organized.” (Démont, 2018, p. 162). Finally,
preserving the queer encompasses the correct
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation175Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
recognition and transference of all the nuances
that characterised the queer essence in a text.
For the successful identification and preserva-
tion of the queer, the present study puts for-
ward feminist strategies not only as tools for
translating queer texts but also as a framework
of analysis. Feminist translation strategies
(Castro, 2008) are primarily used to highlight
and bring the feminist component of texts to
the fore, to the point that they propose mod-
ification as a way of transcreation to subvert
their patriarchal component. As suggested in
the previous section, such strategies are uti-
lised to transfer what may be hidden beyond
the frontier of translation, as theorised by Anz-
aldúa (1987).
These strategies are compensation, where the
translator directly intervenes and counter-
acts the differences between the source and
the target in terms of connotations, gendered
wording, etc.; metatextuality, a strategy that as-
sembles paratexts such as forewords, or trans-
lator’s notes, among others, to allude directly
to the political intent of the translation, justi-
fy their interventions, and explain underlying
meanings that could be lost in translation; ab-
junction, where the translator reclaims a text
without feminist intent by introducing neolo-
gisms, changes or parodies in the plot, inclu-
sive grammatical forms (such as sticking to a
generalised grammatical female distinction),
etc.; and close collaboration with the author, re-
sulting in a process of co-authorship.
In the following section the analysis and dis-
cussion of the results are presented. The ob-
jective is to confirm that the translation of the
novel into English was conducted by adopting
a gender-conscious approach, paying special
attention to the queer in the text and its trans-
fer. Subsequently, the present work springs
from the hypothesis that this translation is in
fact a queer translation able to correctly pre-
serve the queer. Ultimately, this study aims to
confirm that a translation of a queer text with a
queer feminist-conscious approach is possible.
Many studies are usually focused on examin-
ing previous (old) translations that have failed
to recognise or have completely eliminated
the queer and proposing new translations to
address these issues (cf. Baer & Kaindl, 2018;
Rose, 2021). Even though these contemporary
studies align with the historical patriarchal per-
spective in the study of cultural phenomena,
which are truly fundamental, working with
contemporary authors and translations will
provide an understanding of how such content
travels and is expressed in current different lin-
guistic spaces.
5. Results and Discussion
By looking at the passages described by Du-
val in her review (2020) and putting them in
the context of the whole novel, it is clear that
resorting to masculine aspects for metaphors
when describing lesbian desire only happens
twice throughout the novel (Examples 1 and
2). As a matter of fact, many other images are
used to describe sex and desire (Example 8).
Subsequently, the author writes with creative
flair –showing her poetic background– and
employs an array of intimate imagery in the
novel. It could be stated, then, that the contents
p. 88: Hem follat tota la
tarda com animals al
límit de l’extinció, si fos
un mascle segur que
l’hauria prenyada.
p. 59: We’ve fucked
all afternoon like
animals on the verge of
extinction. If I were male,
I definitely would have
gotten her pregnant.
Example 1
Example 2
p. 88: Els dits, els llavis i les
mans, i el nas i la llengua
i els peus, i les dents i els
cabells i el meu clítoris,
increïblement triplicat
de mida, com un
micropenis altiu… totes
les meves extensions
forçades dins seu fins a
l’extrem pel poltre d’un
desig il·limitat.
p. 59: Lips, hands and
fingers, nose, tongue
and feet, teeth, hair
– and my clitoris,
shockingly tripled
in size, an insolent
micropenis… my every
extremity driven inside
her, to the very edge
of her, on the rack of
unlimited desire.
Lesbian Desire and its Translation175Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
recognition and transference of all the nuances
that characterised the queer essence in a text.
For the successful identification and preserva-
tion of the queer, the present study puts for-
ward feminist strategies not only as tools for
translating queer texts but also as a framework
of analysis. Feminist translation strategies
(Castro, 2008) are primarily used to highlight
and bring the feminist component of texts to
the fore, to the point that they propose mod-
ification as a way of transcreation to subvert
their patriarchal component. As suggested in
the previous section, such strategies are uti-
lised to transfer what may be hidden beyond
the frontier of translation, as theorised by Anz-
aldúa (1987).
These strategies are compensation, where the
translator directly intervenes and counter-
acts the differences between the source and
the target in terms of connotations, gendered
wording, etc.; metatextuality, a strategy that as-
sembles paratexts such as forewords, or trans-
lator’s notes, among others, to allude directly
to the political intent of the translation, justi-
fy their interventions, and explain underlying
meanings that could be lost in translation; ab-
junction, where the translator reclaims a text
without feminist intent by introducing neolo-
gisms, changes or parodies in the plot, inclu-
sive grammatical forms (such as sticking to a
generalised grammatical female distinction),
etc.; and close collaboration with the author, re-
sulting in a process of co-authorship.
In the following section the analysis and dis-
cussion of the results are presented. The ob-
jective is to confirm that the translation of the
novel into English was conducted by adopting
a gender-conscious approach, paying special
attention to the queer in the text and its trans-
fer. Subsequently, the present work springs
from the hypothesis that this translation is in
fact a queer translation able to correctly pre-
serve the queer. Ultimately, this study aims to
confirm that a translation of a queer text with a
queer feminist-conscious approach is possible.
Many studies are usually focused on examin-
ing previous (old) translations that have failed
to recognise or have completely eliminated
the queer and proposing new translations to
address these issues (cf. Baer & Kaindl, 2018;
Rose, 2021). Even though these contemporary
studies align with the historical patriarchal per-
spective in the study of cultural phenomena,
which are truly fundamental, working with
contemporary authors and translations will
provide an understanding of how such content
travels and is expressed in current different lin-
guistic spaces.
5. Results and Discussion
By looking at the passages described by Du-
val in her review (2020) and putting them in
the context of the whole novel, it is clear that
resorting to masculine aspects for metaphors
when describing lesbian desire only happens
twice throughout the novel (Examples 1 and
2). As a matter of fact, many other images are
used to describe sex and desire (Example 8).
Subsequently, the author writes with creative
flair –showing her poetic background– and
employs an array of intimate imagery in the
novel. It could be stated, then, that the contents
p. 88: Hem follat tota la
tarda com animals al
límit de l’extinció, si fos
un mascle segur que
l’hauria prenyada.
p. 59: We’ve fucked
all afternoon like
animals on the verge of
extinction. If I were male,
I definitely would have
gotten her pregnant.
Example 1
Example 2
p. 88: Els dits, els llavis i les
mans, i el nas i la llengua
i els peus, i les dents i els
cabells i el meu clítoris,
increïblement triplicat
de mida, com un
micropenis altiu… totes
les meves extensions
forçades dins seu fins a
l’extrem pel poltre d’un
desig il·limitat.
p. 59: Lips, hands and
fingers, nose, tongue
and feet, teeth, hair
– and my clitoris,
shockingly tripled
in size, an insolent
micropenis… my every
extremity driven inside
her, to the very edge
of her, on the rack of
unlimited desire.
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo176Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
of Duval’s review (2020) may have deliberate-
ly simplified the author’s vision by failing to
identify other narratives, thus avoiding a queer
reading of the text (cf. Démont, 2018).
Secondly, the translation shows a clear inten-
tion to preserve the author’s understanding of
sex and desire. Sanches’ intention is noticeable
in her lexical selection when describing certain
practices and parts of the body (particularly,
female genitalia). She uses literal translations
that may sound unfamiliar or out of context
in English but whose meaning is very connot-
ed in the Catalan version. This is the case of
the words used to name the vagina or vulva.
In Examples 3, 4, and 5, I show how the au-
thor uses the Catalan word cony [cunt] to talk
about the narrator’s genitalia and that of her
lovers. This word has particular connotations
in Catalan, normally related to a colloquial or
vulgar register. The word is also used as an in-
terjection similar to the English fuck. However,
Example 3
p. 73: Adoro, adoro
les mans de dona.
[…] Ungles curtes
com a mi m’agraden,
ungles curtes com a mi
m’agraden. En realitat,
qui ho repetia era el
meu cony, pensador
impenitent.
p. 49: I fucking love
women’s hands. […]
Short, the way I like
them. Short, the way
I like them. The one
repeating this was
actually my cunt,
unrepentant thinker.
Example 4
p. 130: Encara que tot,
en ella, proclamava
feminitat: el cap rapat
i ros com un cony fort
acabat de rasurar, els
ulls de glaç trencat, els
pits llargs i constants
com llengües, reposant
al damunt de la seva
escala de costelles, els
mugrons arremangats,
les cames i els peus
suavíssims i monocroms
com extremitats d’un
Kamasutra clàssic.
p. 84: Even though
everything about her
screamed femininity:
head blonde and shorn
like a solid and recently
shaven cunt, cracked-
ice eyes, breasts long
and continuous like
tongues resting over a
flight of ribs, crimped
nipples, legs and feet
soft and monochrome
like the drawings in the
classical Kama Sutra.
Example 5
p. 130: Animal a mig
domesticar, però
cabut i feréstec quan
s’endinsava en el meu
cony. Primer no volia.
“M’encanta quan te’m
menges”, […] Els nostres
conys es van convertir
en la nostra porcellana
preferida.
p. 84: […] a partially
domesticated animal,
dogged and feral when
entering my cunt. She
hadn’t wanted to at
first. “I love it when you
eat me out,” […] Our
cunts were our favorite
set of fine china.
by no means does it have those connotations
in English; in fact, it is used as an insult, and
quite a strong one in certain territories1.
Contrarily, in Example 6, Baltasar makes use
of the Catalan term figa, a fig in English, that
is used for the fruit and also to refer to the va-
gina or vulva in its figurative sense. In Cata-
lan, figa sounds less direct and violent; it also
carries connotations of innocence. Indeed, this
term is used when the protagonist is describ-
ing herself masturbating or her sexual arousal
experiences when she was a young girl. The
1 In the Cambridge dictionary, an offensive word
for a very unpleasant or stupid person.
Example 6
p. 104: […] vaig pensar
com seria sucar els dits
a la figa de la Laura i
quin gust tindrien en
llepar-los. […] Pensava
en la figa sucosa de la
Laura i m’escorria de
seguida. […] Fent-me
petons a la ratlla que
formaven els dits índex
i polze, imaginant-me
que eren els seus llavis,
fent-hi lliscar la llengua
entremig i preguntant-
me si algun dia, quan
fóssim més grans, la
Laura em deixaria fer
el mateix amb la seva
figa.
p. 68: […] Then I
wondered what it would
feel like to dunk my
fingers into Laura’s fig,
what she would taste
like. […] The thought
of Laura’s syrupy fig
immediately made me
come. […] I kissed the
line between my index
finger and thumb. I
pictured them as her
lips, slipped my tongue
between them, and
wondered whether one
day, maybe when we
were older, Laura would
let me do the same to
her fig.
of Duval’s review (2020) may have deliberate-
ly simplified the author’s vision by failing to
identify other narratives, thus avoiding a queer
reading of the text (cf. Démont, 2018).
Secondly, the translation shows a clear inten-
tion to preserve the author’s understanding of
sex and desire. Sanches’ intention is noticeable
in her lexical selection when describing certain
practices and parts of the body (particularly,
female genitalia). She uses literal translations
that may sound unfamiliar or out of context
in English but whose meaning is very connot-
ed in the Catalan version. This is the case of
the words used to name the vagina or vulva.
In Examples 3, 4, and 5, I show how the au-
thor uses the Catalan word cony [cunt] to talk
about the narrator’s genitalia and that of her
lovers. This word has particular connotations
in Catalan, normally related to a colloquial or
vulgar register. The word is also used as an in-
terjection similar to the English fuck. However,
Example 3
p. 73: Adoro, adoro
les mans de dona.
[…] Ungles curtes
com a mi m’agraden,
ungles curtes com a mi
m’agraden. En realitat,
qui ho repetia era el
meu cony, pensador
impenitent.
p. 49: I fucking love
women’s hands. […]
Short, the way I like
them. Short, the way
I like them. The one
repeating this was
actually my cunt,
unrepentant thinker.
Example 4
p. 130: Encara que tot,
en ella, proclamava
feminitat: el cap rapat
i ros com un cony fort
acabat de rasurar, els
ulls de glaç trencat, els
pits llargs i constants
com llengües, reposant
al damunt de la seva
escala de costelles, els
mugrons arremangats,
les cames i els peus
suavíssims i monocroms
com extremitats d’un
Kamasutra clàssic.
p. 84: Even though
everything about her
screamed femininity:
head blonde and shorn
like a solid and recently
shaven cunt, cracked-
ice eyes, breasts long
and continuous like
tongues resting over a
flight of ribs, crimped
nipples, legs and feet
soft and monochrome
like the drawings in the
classical Kama Sutra.
Example 5
p. 130: Animal a mig
domesticar, però
cabut i feréstec quan
s’endinsava en el meu
cony. Primer no volia.
“M’encanta quan te’m
menges”, […] Els nostres
conys es van convertir
en la nostra porcellana
preferida.
p. 84: […] a partially
domesticated animal,
dogged and feral when
entering my cunt. She
hadn’t wanted to at
first. “I love it when you
eat me out,” […] Our
cunts were our favorite
set of fine china.
by no means does it have those connotations
in English; in fact, it is used as an insult, and
quite a strong one in certain territories1.
Contrarily, in Example 6, Baltasar makes use
of the Catalan term figa, a fig in English, that
is used for the fruit and also to refer to the va-
gina or vulva in its figurative sense. In Cata-
lan, figa sounds less direct and violent; it also
carries connotations of innocence. Indeed, this
term is used when the protagonist is describ-
ing herself masturbating or her sexual arousal
experiences when she was a young girl. The
1 In the Cambridge dictionary, an offensive word
for a very unpleasant or stupid person.
Example 6
p. 104: […] vaig pensar
com seria sucar els dits
a la figa de la Laura i
quin gust tindrien en
llepar-los. […] Pensava
en la figa sucosa de la
Laura i m’escorria de
seguida. […] Fent-me
petons a la ratlla que
formaven els dits índex
i polze, imaginant-me
que eren els seus llavis,
fent-hi lliscar la llengua
entremig i preguntant-
me si algun dia, quan
fóssim més grans, la
Laura em deixaria fer
el mateix amb la seva
figa.
p. 68: […] Then I
wondered what it would
feel like to dunk my
fingers into Laura’s fig,
what she would taste
like. […] The thought
of Laura’s syrupy fig
immediately made me
come. […] I kissed the
line between my index
finger and thumb. I
pictured them as her
lips, slipped my tongue
between them, and
wondered whether one
day, maybe when we
were older, Laura would
let me do the same to
her fig.
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation177Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
English term “fig” does not carry this mean-
ing, but the translator has decided to maintain
a literal translation that is easy to follow due
to the context and revolves around the other
food imagery presented in the passage (the
girl is comparing the “fig” to a sort of heart-
shaped candy). These translations (Examples
3 to 6) align with the feminist translation strat-
egy of compensation or abjunction based on the
fact that the target readership might be gaining
more information about the source or find the
selection of words odd. The translation is then
rendered queer by resisting equivalents and
offers the target audience a window into the
source text, thus unveiling what is behind the
translated word (cf. Anzaldúa, 1987).
In Example 7, two different terms are used
to describe vaginal discharge when the young
protagonist fantasises about one of her girl-
friends. First, the original uses substància vis-
cosa which has been translated literally as
“viscous substance”. Later, the author refers to
the same fluid as suc [juice], which has been
used in this context to refer again to the food
imagery recurrent in Baltasar’s novel. The lit-
eral English translation “juice” might have
different connotations, but it is able to con-
vey the author’s vision. Again, the translator
resists equivalents to bring the authors’ queer
message to the fore with a translation based on
compensation or abjection.
Another treat of the queer nature of the novel
is found in the form of the text: Baltasar’s sig-
nature use of prose poetry. In fact, the author
has pointed out in several interviews that the
writing of her novels is performed in two steps:
A first one in which the text, the plot, the sto-
ry is built and a second one that has the sole
aim of making the text aesthetically beautiful
(Díez, 2019). Sanches’ translation has sought
to maintain the rhythm of the original text
while always staying close to Baltasar’s met-
aphorical dimensions. The sexual and desire
dimensions of the book are demonstrated in
Example 8. This example, which evokes imag-
ery based on food again, is also proof of the
author’s resourceful use of metaphors to deal
with sexual desire. Here queer escapes what
relates to the merely “gay and lesbian”, as sug-
gested in De Lauretis (1991). In this sense, it
refers to a sexuality which resists homogeneity
and rejects the reproductive objective to em-
body the perverse and antisocial that is found
in sexuality (Edelman, 2004, in De Lauretis,
2011).Example 7
p. 104: Vaig notar com
aquests pensaments
feien que el meu cos
produís més substància
viscosa. Em va
emplenar els dits i se’m
va escampar per tota
l’obertura, fins més
amunt del clítoris. Feia
unes setmanes que
sabia que allò que em
tocava per damunt
de les calces quan em
masturbava es deia
clítoris, però ara me’l
tocava directament,
amb els dits recoberts
del meu suc, les
sensacions agradables
es multiplicaven per mil.
p. 68: These thoughts
made my body
produce more of that
viscous substance.
It soaked my fingers
and spilled from the
opening, all the way up
and over my clitoris. I’d
known for some weeks
that the thing I fondled
through my panties
when masturbating
was called clitoris, but
now that I was touching
it directly with fingers
smeared in juice, the
pleasure I felt was a
thousand times more
intense.
Example 8
p. 88: Tot el meu
cos donant-se com
xiclet calent i dens,
emmotllant-se a
cadascuna de les
seves cavitats, cercant
el punt on l’exterior
fineix i s’obre a la polpa
íntima i nua de l’interior.
Sentia la necessitat de
trobar-me amb la seva
essència, d’integrar-
m’hi. Hi havia un amor
tan immens que excloïa
de si mateix la paraula
amor.
p. 59: My entire body
is a stick of hot, dense
chewing gum tailored
to her every cavity,
searching for the point
where the outside gives
way to the naked and
intimate inner pulp. I
yearn for her essence,
to meld with it. There
is love so enormous it
precludes the word
love.
Lesbian Desire and its Translation177Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
English term “fig” does not carry this mean-
ing, but the translator has decided to maintain
a literal translation that is easy to follow due
to the context and revolves around the other
food imagery presented in the passage (the
girl is comparing the “fig” to a sort of heart-
shaped candy). These translations (Examples
3 to 6) align with the feminist translation strat-
egy of compensation or abjunction based on the
fact that the target readership might be gaining
more information about the source or find the
selection of words odd. The translation is then
rendered queer by resisting equivalents and
offers the target audience a window into the
source text, thus unveiling what is behind the
translated word (cf. Anzaldúa, 1987).
In Example 7, two different terms are used
to describe vaginal discharge when the young
protagonist fantasises about one of her girl-
friends. First, the original uses substància vis-
cosa which has been translated literally as
“viscous substance”. Later, the author refers to
the same fluid as suc [juice], which has been
used in this context to refer again to the food
imagery recurrent in Baltasar’s novel. The lit-
eral English translation “juice” might have
different connotations, but it is able to con-
vey the author’s vision. Again, the translator
resists equivalents to bring the authors’ queer
message to the fore with a translation based on
compensation or abjection.
Another treat of the queer nature of the novel
is found in the form of the text: Baltasar’s sig-
nature use of prose poetry. In fact, the author
has pointed out in several interviews that the
writing of her novels is performed in two steps:
A first one in which the text, the plot, the sto-
ry is built and a second one that has the sole
aim of making the text aesthetically beautiful
(Díez, 2019). Sanches’ translation has sought
to maintain the rhythm of the original text
while always staying close to Baltasar’s met-
aphorical dimensions. The sexual and desire
dimensions of the book are demonstrated in
Example 8. This example, which evokes imag-
ery based on food again, is also proof of the
author’s resourceful use of metaphors to deal
with sexual desire. Here queer escapes what
relates to the merely “gay and lesbian”, as sug-
gested in De Lauretis (1991). In this sense, it
refers to a sexuality which resists homogeneity
and rejects the reproductive objective to em-
body the perverse and antisocial that is found
in sexuality (Edelman, 2004, in De Lauretis,
2011).Example 7
p. 104: Vaig notar com
aquests pensaments
feien que el meu cos
produís més substància
viscosa. Em va
emplenar els dits i se’m
va escampar per tota
l’obertura, fins més
amunt del clítoris. Feia
unes setmanes que
sabia que allò que em
tocava per damunt
de les calces quan em
masturbava es deia
clítoris, però ara me’l
tocava directament,
amb els dits recoberts
del meu suc, les
sensacions agradables
es multiplicaven per mil.
p. 68: These thoughts
made my body
produce more of that
viscous substance.
It soaked my fingers
and spilled from the
opening, all the way up
and over my clitoris. I’d
known for some weeks
that the thing I fondled
through my panties
when masturbating
was called clitoris, but
now that I was touching
it directly with fingers
smeared in juice, the
pleasure I felt was a
thousand times more
intense.
Example 8
p. 88: Tot el meu
cos donant-se com
xiclet calent i dens,
emmotllant-se a
cadascuna de les
seves cavitats, cercant
el punt on l’exterior
fineix i s’obre a la polpa
íntima i nua de l’interior.
Sentia la necessitat de
trobar-me amb la seva
essència, d’integrar-
m’hi. Hi havia un amor
tan immens que excloïa
de si mateix la paraula
amor.
p. 59: My entire body
is a stick of hot, dense
chewing gum tailored
to her every cavity,
searching for the point
where the outside gives
way to the naked and
intimate inner pulp. I
yearn for her essence,
to meld with it. There
is love so enormous it
precludes the word
love.
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo178Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
6. Conclusions
It has been suggested that Permafrost is a femi-
nist and queer novel, even if the author insists on
the fact that she has never had any active inten-
tion to make it so. She has mentioned in more
than one interview that she writes about women
who happen to be lesbians simply because she is
a woman who happens to be lesbian (Instituto
Cervantes Leeds, 2021). The author does not
show a clear activist or political agenda in her
work concerning feminist or queer ideologies.
However, the novel is built on a history of wom-
en’s literature in the sense that it can be linked
to the traces of female precursors vital to the
development of queer feminism, and it is based
on personal experience (cf. Gilbert & Gubar,
1979). Further, and most importantly, Perma-
frost is a queer text; based on the metaphorical
language Baltasar employs to create images
that resist homogeneity and defy normativ-
ity. She does not automatically use masculine
referents to talk about sex; she is using images
that originate from the centuries-old patriarchal
model but that are part of the general imagery
in which the masculine is linked to brutality and
power. Why is this so? Do we really have a code
to describe lesbian sex and desire?
It has been argued that the social understand-
ing of certain sexual practices is linked to the
male. It is clear that, unfortunately, historical
androcentrism and patriarchy have had an im-
pact on the referents, codes, and models we
use today. Such an understanding of sex has
impacted language as seen in Baltasar’s work,
who describes and expresses a series of prac-
tices and sensations with existing mainstream
codes without showing a political and activ-
ist purpose. She uses a variety of images that
define her voice as an author. By observing
her texts from a queer approach, the imagery
echoes previous canonical lesbian texts such
as The Lesbian Body by Wittig or The Book of
Prométhea by Cixous, which use a variety of
metaphorical figures able to resist the male
gaze or to portray lesbian desire based on
excess. Baltasar’s metaphors, which include
food, the female anatomy, and which make
reference to the male body to represent excess
create a queer representation of lesbian sex
that may be deemed, first of all, uncomfort-
able (cf. Trujillo, 2022) and undecidable, that
is, between or beyond feminine or masculine,
in some passages (cf. Rose, 2021).
Sanches’ translation shows a clear intention
to preserve the original’s queerness, following
Démont’s categorisation (2018). As shown in
Examples 1 to 8, she has carefully selected
the terminology to mirror the queer imagery
of the original Catalan text. This can be seen
in the words chosen to refer to female genitalia
(cony and figa in Catalan; and cunt and fig in
English) and to refer to vaginal discharge (sub-
stància viscosa and suc, in Catalan; and viscous
substance and juice, in English) for which the
translator opts for a literal translation that
stays very close to the original text and con-
forms to a transparent translation that lets the
original text be seen; thus moving beyond the
frontier marked by translation (cf. Anzaldúa,
1987). She also manages to reproduce the au-
thor’s prose poetry rhythm while meticulously
transferring the nuances of the imagery in the
original text.
The translator worked in collaboration with
the author and wrote a prologue in which she
reflects on her experience while translating Per-
mafrost and her intentions as a translator. The
use of metatexts is one of the strategies em-
ployed by feminist translators when faced with
texts with certain contents that must be brought
to the fore (Castro, 2008). Furthermore, the
translation reproduces certain selections of im-
ages and metaphors that echoes feminist strate-
gies such as compensation or abjunction, which
are able to capture the original queerness. The
translation solutions provide extra information
about the original Catalan by opting for trans-
lations closer to the source text to frame the
original analogies and metaphors that sound
odd (queer) to the English-speaking readership.
6. Conclusions
It has been suggested that Permafrost is a femi-
nist and queer novel, even if the author insists on
the fact that she has never had any active inten-
tion to make it so. She has mentioned in more
than one interview that she writes about women
who happen to be lesbians simply because she is
a woman who happens to be lesbian (Instituto
Cervantes Leeds, 2021). The author does not
show a clear activist or political agenda in her
work concerning feminist or queer ideologies.
However, the novel is built on a history of wom-
en’s literature in the sense that it can be linked
to the traces of female precursors vital to the
development of queer feminism, and it is based
on personal experience (cf. Gilbert & Gubar,
1979). Further, and most importantly, Perma-
frost is a queer text; based on the metaphorical
language Baltasar employs to create images
that resist homogeneity and defy normativ-
ity. She does not automatically use masculine
referents to talk about sex; she is using images
that originate from the centuries-old patriarchal
model but that are part of the general imagery
in which the masculine is linked to brutality and
power. Why is this so? Do we really have a code
to describe lesbian sex and desire?
It has been argued that the social understand-
ing of certain sexual practices is linked to the
male. It is clear that, unfortunately, historical
androcentrism and patriarchy have had an im-
pact on the referents, codes, and models we
use today. Such an understanding of sex has
impacted language as seen in Baltasar’s work,
who describes and expresses a series of prac-
tices and sensations with existing mainstream
codes without showing a political and activ-
ist purpose. She uses a variety of images that
define her voice as an author. By observing
her texts from a queer approach, the imagery
echoes previous canonical lesbian texts such
as The Lesbian Body by Wittig or The Book of
Prométhea by Cixous, which use a variety of
metaphorical figures able to resist the male
gaze or to portray lesbian desire based on
excess. Baltasar’s metaphors, which include
food, the female anatomy, and which make
reference to the male body to represent excess
create a queer representation of lesbian sex
that may be deemed, first of all, uncomfort-
able (cf. Trujillo, 2022) and undecidable, that
is, between or beyond feminine or masculine,
in some passages (cf. Rose, 2021).
Sanches’ translation shows a clear intention
to preserve the original’s queerness, following
Démont’s categorisation (2018). As shown in
Examples 1 to 8, she has carefully selected
the terminology to mirror the queer imagery
of the original Catalan text. This can be seen
in the words chosen to refer to female genitalia
(cony and figa in Catalan; and cunt and fig in
English) and to refer to vaginal discharge (sub-
stància viscosa and suc, in Catalan; and viscous
substance and juice, in English) for which the
translator opts for a literal translation that
stays very close to the original text and con-
forms to a transparent translation that lets the
original text be seen; thus moving beyond the
frontier marked by translation (cf. Anzaldúa,
1987). She also manages to reproduce the au-
thor’s prose poetry rhythm while meticulously
transferring the nuances of the imagery in the
original text.
The translator worked in collaboration with
the author and wrote a prologue in which she
reflects on her experience while translating Per-
mafrost and her intentions as a translator. The
use of metatexts is one of the strategies em-
ployed by feminist translators when faced with
texts with certain contents that must be brought
to the fore (Castro, 2008). Furthermore, the
translation reproduces certain selections of im-
ages and metaphors that echoes feminist strate-
gies such as compensation or abjunction, which
are able to capture the original queerness. The
translation solutions provide extra information
about the original Catalan by opting for trans-
lations closer to the source text to frame the
original analogies and metaphors that sound
odd (queer) to the English-speaking readership.
Permagel/Permafrost:
Lesbian Desire and its Translation179Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
Finally, and subsequently, queer feminist ap-
proaches to translation are essential to tackle
the study of minorities in place of the patriar-
chal heteronormative canon that has long exert-
ed its power over marginalised experiences. This
study has shown how in the field of translation,
common feminist strategies could also bene-
fit both the analysis and production of queer
translations. Furthermore, the transfer from
Catalan into English (that is, from a minority
language to a language of power) is particular-
ly important; making new queer texts available
promotes other images and narratives and thus
reinforces the idea of the queer as translational
(Baer, 2018).
6.1. Future Lines of Research
This study opens new avenues for future re-
search. Considering the incipient renown of
Baltasar as a novelist, attention will likely turn
to her numerous poetry collections. In her po-
etry she explores same-sex love and desire; the
exploration of their translation could provide
new insights into her metaphorical and con-
ceptual universe and how this is transported
into other languages.
In the same vein, more research is required
on the connection point of queer archaeology
and queer creation in translation. Most of the
studies on the queer have been based on previ-
ous translations and, in some cases, previous
translations that one assumes should be repur-
posed. Even if these studies are of great value,
more work is required to navigate translating
the queer anew in the same way that feminist
translators proposed their strategies.
Finally, research on minority languages is need-
ed to obtain a clearer understanding of human
diversity. The queer should also be unrooted
from the English-speaking sphere. In the case
of Catalan, queer and feminist experiences are
flourishing in contemporary literature (and
other forms of cultural expression); these texts
are based on classic works that built the pillars
and canon of dissident narratives, particularly
during the Spanish dictatorship. The study of
the translation from minority languages into
English (or other widely spoken and powerful
languages) is key to the transfer of knowledge
across territories and communities.
References
Abella, A. (2018). El deshielo de “Perma-
gel”. El Periódico. https://www.elperio-
dico.com/es/ocio-y-cultura/20180612/
entrevista-eva-baltasar-permagel-6870120
Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands/ La frontera. Bor-
derlands. La frontera. The new mestiza. Aunt Lute
Books.
Baer, B. J., & Kaindl, K. (Eds.) (2018). Queering
translation, translating the queer: Theory, practice,
activism. Routledge.
Baltasar, E. (2018). Permagel. Club Editor.
Baltasar, E. (2020). Permafrost (J. Sanches, Trans.).
And Other Stories.
Bassnett, S., & Lefevere, A. (1990). Translation, his-
tory and culture. Printer Publishers.
Baer, B. J. (2020). Queer theory and translation studies;
language, politics, desire. Routledge.
Bunch, C. (1975). Lesbians in revolt. In N. Myron
& C. Bunch (Eds.), Lesbianism and the women’s
movement. Diana Press.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive
limits of sex. Routledge.
Cardenete, P. (2018). Eva Baltasar publica “Perma-
frost”: “No es una novela que haya razonado”.
La Vanguardia. https://www.lavanguardia.
com/vida/20181113/452904531786/eva-bal-
tasar-publica-permafrost-no-es-una-nove-
la-que-haya-razonado.html
Castro, O. (2008). Género y traducción: elementos
discursivos para una reescritura feminista. Lec-
tora, 14, 285–301.
Chang, A. (2021). From Spain to Sydney to Sma-
ll-Town New Mexico, 3 debuts Anchored by a
strong sense of place. The New York Times. ht-
tps://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/
review/kirstin-valdez-quade-the-five-wounds-
Lesbian Desire and its Translation179Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
Finally, and subsequently, queer feminist ap-
proaches to translation are essential to tackle
the study of minorities in place of the patriar-
chal heteronormative canon that has long exert-
ed its power over marginalised experiences. This
study has shown how in the field of translation,
common feminist strategies could also bene-
fit both the analysis and production of queer
translations. Furthermore, the transfer from
Catalan into English (that is, from a minority
language to a language of power) is particular-
ly important; making new queer texts available
promotes other images and narratives and thus
reinforces the idea of the queer as translational
(Baer, 2018).
6.1. Future Lines of Research
This study opens new avenues for future re-
search. Considering the incipient renown of
Baltasar as a novelist, attention will likely turn
to her numerous poetry collections. In her po-
etry she explores same-sex love and desire; the
exploration of their translation could provide
new insights into her metaphorical and con-
ceptual universe and how this is transported
into other languages.
In the same vein, more research is required
on the connection point of queer archaeology
and queer creation in translation. Most of the
studies on the queer have been based on previ-
ous translations and, in some cases, previous
translations that one assumes should be repur-
posed. Even if these studies are of great value,
more work is required to navigate translating
the queer anew in the same way that feminist
translators proposed their strategies.
Finally, research on minority languages is need-
ed to obtain a clearer understanding of human
diversity. The queer should also be unrooted
from the English-speaking sphere. In the case
of Catalan, queer and feminist experiences are
flourishing in contemporary literature (and
other forms of cultural expression); these texts
are based on classic works that built the pillars
and canon of dissident narratives, particularly
during the Spanish dictatorship. The study of
the translation from minority languages into
English (or other widely spoken and powerful
languages) is key to the transfer of knowledge
across territories and communities.
References
Abella, A. (2018). El deshielo de “Perma-
gel”. El Periódico. https://www.elperio-
dico.com/es/ocio-y-cultura/20180612/
entrevista-eva-baltasar-permagel-6870120
Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands/ La frontera. Bor-
derlands. La frontera. The new mestiza. Aunt Lute
Books.
Baer, B. J., & Kaindl, K. (Eds.) (2018). Queering
translation, translating the queer: Theory, practice,
activism. Routledge.
Baltasar, E. (2018). Permagel. Club Editor.
Baltasar, E. (2020). Permafrost (J. Sanches, Trans.).
And Other Stories.
Bassnett, S., & Lefevere, A. (1990). Translation, his-
tory and culture. Printer Publishers.
Baer, B. J. (2020). Queer theory and translation studies;
language, politics, desire. Routledge.
Bunch, C. (1975). Lesbians in revolt. In N. Myron
& C. Bunch (Eds.), Lesbianism and the women’s
movement. Diana Press.
Butler, J. (1993). Bodies that matter: On the discursive
limits of sex. Routledge.
Cardenete, P. (2018). Eva Baltasar publica “Perma-
frost”: “No es una novela que haya razonado”.
La Vanguardia. https://www.lavanguardia.
com/vida/20181113/452904531786/eva-bal-
tasar-publica-permafrost-no-es-una-nove-
la-que-haya-razonado.html
Castro, O. (2008). Género y traducción: elementos
discursivos para una reescritura feminista. Lec-
tora, 14, 285–301.
Chang, A. (2021). From Spain to Sydney to Sma-
ll-Town New Mexico, 3 debuts Anchored by a
strong sense of place. The New York Times. ht-
tps://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/04/books/
review/kirstin-valdez-quade-the-five-wounds-
Gonzalo Iturregui-Gallardo180Re-sentir lo queer/cuir en la traducción iberoamericana
permafrost-eva-baltasar-kavita-bedford-
friends-and-dark-shapes.html
Cixous, H. (1983). The book of Prométhea. Universi-
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Cleveland, J. (2001). The power of the word: The
(unnameable) lesbian body. Thirdspace: A Jour-
nal of Feminist Theory and Culture, 1(1), 21–38.
Daly, M. (1978). Gyn/ecology: The metaethics of radi-
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De Beauvoir, Simone (2017 [1949]). El segundo sexo.
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Démont, M. (2018). On three modes of translating
queer literary texts. In B. J. Baer & K. Kaindl
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“Hemos construido una sociedad en que mu-
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bbc Mundo. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/
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Hernández Piñero, A. (2013). Escrituras del deseo
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(pp. 149–184). Icaria.
Instituto Cervantes Leeds (2021). Launching of Per-
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https://doi.org/10.7202/037094ar
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How to cite this article: Iturregui-Gallardo, G. (2023). Permagel/Permafrost: Lesbian desire and
its translation. Mutatis Mutandis, Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción, 16(1), 166–181. https://
doi.org/10.17533/udea.mut.v16n1a10
Lesbian Desire and its Translation181Mutatis Mutandis. Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción Vol. 16, N.°1, 2023, enero-junio,pp.166-181
Newton, E. (2000). Margaret Mead made me gay: Per-
sonal essays. Duke University Press.
Rodrigues Fowler, Y. (2021). Permafrost by Eva
Baltasar review – A wolf howl against drud-
gery and bad sex. The Guardian. https://www.
theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/30/per-
mafrost-by-eva-baltasar-review-a-wolf-howl-
against-drudgery-and-bad-sex
Rose, E. (2021). Translating trans identity (re)writing
undecidable texts and bodies. Routledge.
Santaemilia, J. (2018). Sexuality and translation
as intimate partners? Toward a queer turn in
rewriting identities and desires. In J. Baer and
K. Kaindl (Eds.), Queering translation, transla-
ting the queer (pp. 11–25). Routledge.
Simon, S. (1995). Culture in transit: Translating the
literature of Quebec. Véhicule Press.
Simon, S. (1996). Gender in translation: Cultural iden-
tity and the politics of transmission. Routledge.
Suárez Briones, B. (Ed.) (2013). Las lesbianas (no)
somos mujeres. En torno a Monique Wittig. Icaria.
Suárez Briones, B. (Ed.) (2014). Feminismos lesbia-
nos y queer representación, visibilidad y políticas.
Plaza y Valdés.
Suau, N. (2019). Permafrost. El Cultural. https://
www.elespanol.com/el-cultural/letras/no-
vela/20190111/permafrost/367714718_0.
html
Sy-Quia, S. (2021). Aggressive like mothers. Time
Literary Supplement. https://www.the-tls.
co.uk/articles/permafrost-eva-baltasar-re-
view-stephanie-sy-quia/
Trujillo, G. (2014). Escritas en el cuerpo: genealogías
políticas, afectivas y teóricas. In B. Suárez Briones
(Ed.), Feminismos lesbianos y queer. Representación,
visibilidad y políticas (pp. 123–133). Plaza y Valdés.
Trujillo, G. (2022). El feminismo queer es para todo el
mundo. Catarata.
Tymoczko, M. (2000). Translation and political en-
gagement The Translator, 6(1), 23–47. https://
doi.org/10.1080/13556509.2000.10799054
Villanueva Jordán, I., & Chaume, F. (2021). A
systematic literature review on audiovisual
translation studies and lgbtq+ studies (2000-
2020): Epistemological and methodological
dimensions. Hikma, 20(2), 95–126. https://
doi.org/10.21071/hikma.v20i2.13301
Von Flotow, L. (1991). Feminist translation: Con-
texts, practices and theories. ttr, 4(2), 69–84.
https://doi.org/10.7202/037094ar
Von Flotow, L. (1995). Beginnings of a Euro-
pean project: Feminisms and translation
studies, ttr, 8(1), 271–277. https://doi.
org/10.7202/037205ar
Von Flotow, L. (1997). Translation and gender. Trans-
lation in the era of feminism. St. Jerome Publi-
shing / University of Ottawa Press.
Wittig, M. (1986 [1973]). The lesbian body. Beacon
Press.
Wittig, M. (1992). The straight mind and other essays.
Beacon Press.
Zanón, C. (2018). Bajo el hielo. El País Babelia. ht-
tps://elpais.com/cultura/2018/12/26/babe-
lia/1545847513_685474.html
How to cite this article: Iturregui-Gallardo, G. (2023). Permagel/Permafrost: Lesbian desire and
its translation. Mutatis Mutandis, Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción, 16(1), 166–181. https://
doi.org/10.17533/udea.mut.v16n1a10