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Queer Love And Urban Intimacies In Martial Law Manila, Robert Diaz

Robert Diaz

This article examines certain representations of Metropolitan Manila and the city’s queer intimacies during Martial Law. In particular, it analyzes Ishmael Bernal’s film Manila By Night (1980) and Jessica Hagedorn’s novel Dogeaters (1990). Released during a time when the Marcoses secured rule through an over-production of their “love team,” and by IMF supported justifications for molding a “beautiful and efficient” Manila, Manila By Night challenges disciplinary plans for the city and its populace through the presence of queer characters that unabashedly love the dirty, dysfunctional and impoverished city. In a similar vein, Dogeaters incorporates characters that practice queer love as …