La casa dispersa: camp criollo, migración y representación en Cheila, una casa pa´maita

Resumen

The Venezuelan film Cheila, una casa pa' maíta (Eduardo Barberena, 2009) narrates the story of Cheila, a Venezuelan immigrant who confronts her cultural identity and her most cherished affections when she returnes for a vacation, as well as to seek support from her family for a sex change.This article focuses on typical camp performances (costumes, transvestites, media culture codes such as those of Miss Venezuela and soap operas) displayed in the film. Revising Susan Sontag´s camp theory, we infer that camp appears in this film as an aesthetic manifestation characterized by visual-performative theatrical extravagance and sexual ambiguity. While the camp Sontag describes is linked to individualism and certain refinements of Anglo-Saxon culture, criollo camp is rooted in colllective sentimental codes, gestures and extravagant carnivalesque features including among others boleros, rancheras, telenovelas, and the Miss Venezuela pageant .