Resisting Invisibility: Lesbianizing the Public Space in Isabel Franc’s Emma García Stories

Abstract

With Spain’s financial downturn beginning in 2007–2008, crime fiction authors have responded by focusing on how the crisis has affected certain marginalized groups. In “El enigma de su voz” and “Sin tratamiento de cortesía,” Isabel Franc reacts not only to the economic crisis in Spain, but also to a social crisis that could threaten the union of same-sex couples. This article studies how Emma García, now a private detective in Barcelona, must double as a bodyguard, a protector of the lesbian couples that are now her clients, to defend them against a return to invisibility. The lesbian utopia of the Lola Van Guardia trilogy and the later No me llames cariño is now in danger as lo masculino invades to disrupt the space for lesbian love and marriage in these two short stories.