SAPPHIS (Sapphic Culture in Hispanic Modernity)

Objective

This project aims to analyse the co-construction of Hispanic sapphic culture and modernity between 1923 and 1936, focusing on Spain and extending to Argentina, Cuba and Mexico. By applying the paradigm of sapphic material culture, the study challenges traditional teleological narratives that oppose the repression of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship and the progress of the Second Republic, instead highlighting continuities of modernisation shaped by gender, sexuality and cultural consumption. The research will draw on archival materials, popular literature, cinema, fashion, and feminist associations to identify how new female visibilities, alternative sexualities and consumer practices contributed to a broader cultural transformation known as the ola verde. The project will adopt a comparative and transnational approach, examining flows between Spain and Latin America mediated by diasporic and cultural networks. It will combine archival research, queer and feminist theory, and material culture studies, producing both scholarly outputs and a public-facing database of sapphic cultural objects. The fellowship will be hosted at the University of Leeds under the supervision of Professor Richard Cleminson, a leading expert on Hispanic sexuality and cultural history. Leeds provides an outstanding research environment for the development of interdisciplinary and international skills. By reframing Hispanic modernity through its connection with queer cultures, the project will contribute to inclusive historiography, cultural history, and queer studies. It aligns with the MSCA objectives of fostering research excellence, interdisciplinarity and societal engagement, while ensuring equitable knowledge dissemination within and beyond academia.