Meet Our Scholars
Javier Franco
University of Houston
Spanish Literature
He/Him
BIPOC
Born in Mexico and raised in Southern California, Javier Franco is currently a doctorate student in Spanish literature at the University of Houston. He is a research fellow at the University of Houston's Center for Mexican American and Latino/a Studies and an assistant at the Cougar Rainbow History Project, where he is helping archive queer Latinx history of Texas.
His previous research has helped him recognize socio-political issues affecting the LGBTQ community as they exist in contention with the Mexican culture. He will investigate trauma as part of a dissertation project focusing on drag queen representation in Mexican and Mexican-American literature and the construct within a culture that invalidates queer lived experiences and engages in intersectional marginalization. He will incorporate Elaine Scarry's analysis on trauma and Judith Butler's philosophy on gender to investigate how drag culture battles the disdain for femininity in heteronormative structures and provides a positive alternative through representation in late 20th and early 21st century Mexican and Mexican-American literature.
His previous research has helped him recognize socio-political issues affecting the LGBTQ community as they exist in contention with the Mexican culture. He will investigate trauma as part of a dissertation project focusing on drag queen representation in Mexican and Mexican-American literature and the construct within a culture that invalidates queer lived experiences and engages in intersectional marginalization. He will incorporate Elaine Scarry's analysis on trauma and Judith Butler's philosophy on gender to investigate how drag culture battles the disdain for femininity in heteronormative structures and provides a positive alternative through representation in late 20th and early 21st century Mexican and Mexican-American literature.