Horacio Quiroga and decadentism: Subversive masculinity in Flor de Imperio

Abstract

Horacio Quiroga established himself as a master of the Latin American short story through his regionalist and horror narratives, yet his early work in El crimen del otro reveals significant fin-de-siècle decadent influences. This article examines Flor de Imperio (1902), an understudied story, analyzing how Quiroga's decadent phase subverts hegemonic masculinity, connecting this transgression to Latin America's sociocultural transformations at the turn of the 20th century. The theoretical framework engages with Silvia Molloy, José Quiroga, Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui, Mario Praz, and Emir Monegal, addressing queer desire and decadent aesthetics. The analysis demonstrates how the protagonist embodies a dissident masculinity that challenges prevailing models of modern subjectivity. Despite the period's conservatism, Quiroga subtly incorporated progressive views on gender and sexuality. These gender performances function as metonymies of national identity, revealing both the mimetic desire for cosmopolitanism and the anxieties produced by such imitation, thereby exposing cracks in the region's modernization project. Through this reading, the study highlights Quiroga's nuanced critique of normative gender roles and their intersection with emerging Latin American modernity.