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PORTRAYALS OF WOMEN IMMIGRANTS TO SPAIN IN FICTION AND FILM: 1997- 2011 By DONNA GILLESPIE A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2012 1 © 2012 Donna Gillespie 2 To my family 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of the members of my Dissertation Supervisory Committee: Professor Geraldine Nichols, Professor Carina González, Professor Luis Alvarez- Castro, and Professor Sylvie Blum-Reid. I’d like to especially thank Professor Nichols for her constant guidance, support, and encouragement over the past few years. Her invaluable feedback and insight throughout this process was essential in my completing this project. I would also like to thank all of my professors at UF and at the Saint Louis University–Madrid campus for inspiring me to pursue a career in academia. Lastly, I’d like to thank my family; their love, patience, and support made this dissertation possible. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 7 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 10 Arpillera ................................................................................................................... 10 Description of Project .............................................................................................. 11 2 SOCIO-POLITICAL CONTEXT, MEDIA, LITERATURE REVIEW, AND THEORETICAL CONCEPTS .................................................................................. 18 Arpillera ................................................................................................................... 18 Socio-political Context and Media ........................................................................... 19 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 29 Theoretical Concepts .............................................................................................. 32 3 WOMEN IMMIGRANTS AS THE OTHER .............................................................. 41 Arpillera ................................................................................................................... 41 African Women Immigrants ..................................................................................... 46 Latin American Women Immigrants ........................................................................ 57 Under-Represented Groups .................................................................................... 69 4 LANGUAGE, RELATIONSHIPS, AND DIFFERENCES: MANIFESTATION OF RESISTANCE ......................................................................................................... 73 Arpillera ................................................................................................................... 73 Adoption or Rejection of a Different Language ....................................................... 76 Relationships with Native-Born Spaniards .............................................................. 86 Affirming or Rejecting Differences .......................................................................... 97 5 SPACES OCCUPIED, LITERAL AND METAPHORIC, BY IMMIGRANT WOMEN ................................................................................................................ 106 Arpillera ................................................................................................................. 106 Physical Spaces Occupied: from the Periphery to the Center .............................. 109 Metaphoric Spaces: New Sub-Communities are Formed ..................................... 122 6 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 129 5 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 134 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................... 141 6 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 1-1 Aprendemos unas de otras (picture provided by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc) .................................................................................................................... 10 2-1 Viajo en avión (picture provided by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc) .................. 18 3-1 El reflejo de mis manos (picture provided by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc) ... 41 4-1 Nuestra clase de castellano (picture provided by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc) .................................................................................................................... 73 5-1 La plaza roja II (picture provided by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc) ............... 106 7 Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy PORTRAYALS OF WOMEN IMMIGRANTS TO SPAIN IN FICTION AND FILM: 1997- 2011 By Donna Gillespie December 2012 Chair: Geraldine Nichols Major: Romance Languages-Spanish The demographics of the immigrant population arriving to Spain have changed dramatically over the past few decades as a result of globalization. With an increasing diversity of ethnic groups residing together in Spanish society, the issues of difference and integration come into question in a multicultural context. This dissertation analyzes the portrayal of recent immigration to Spain in women’s narratives that feature women immigrants and the particular issues they face. I examine works produced between 1997-2011 to see if there are identifiable changes in the representation of the woman immigrant: her power, autonomy, and voice. I have chosen to concentrate on written and cinematographic texts, in Spanish and Catalan, by the following authors and directors: Dulce Chacón, Najat El Hachmi, Lucía Extebarria, Nieves García Benito, Clara Obligado, Lourdes Ortiz, Juana Salabert, Iciar Bollaín, Irene Cardona, Isabel Coixet, Chus Guitérrez, Ariadna Pujol, Helena Taberna, and Ana Torres. I also include a brief analysis of various images of “arpilleras” (tapestries) gathered in a catalog titled Arpilleras, dones cosint històries published by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc in Barcelona. The inclusion of these tapestries in this study enriches its content by recognizing cultural production in an alternative form as a valuable complement to 8 literature and film produced by women on the topic of the representation of women immigrants in Spain. Drawing from the theories of Edward Said, Homi Bhahba, and Josefina Ludmer in literature, and Bill Nichols, Ella Shohat, and Robert Stam in film, this study focuses on the racial and socio-cultural differences presented within my corpus that not only define these women, but also affect their integration into the hegemonic Spanish culture and society, resulting in the formation of a new sense of identity and community among the immigrants. I will demonstrate this through an analysis of the portrayal of women immigrants as the Other and of the physical and metaphorical spaces they occupy. 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Figure 1-1. Aprendemos unas de otras (picture provided by the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc) (I would like to thank the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc for providing the picture images of all the arpilleras included in this dissertation.) Arpillera The arpillera titled “Aprendemos unas de otras” was crafted by a forty-year old native of Barcelona, Aurora Flores Moreno. In her written description of the tapestry, she emphasizes the collaboration of women, both Moroccan and Gypsy, as they learn to read and write at the Fundació Ateneu Sant Roc. She states, “Estamos aprendiendo 10 todas juntas, las mujeres marroquíes y las mujeres gitanas. Unas aprendemos de las otras, nosotras aprendemos de ellas y ellas de nosotras” (46). The warm colors chosen for the background are inviting to the viewer as are the rainbow of colors that comprise the written portion of the tapestry along with the buttons and ribbons that surround what appears to be either a table or blackboard. This selection of colors and themes reflects the multicultural setting in which these women live. The words “estamos contentas” are woven into the fabric; women from different backgrounds, some immigrant and others not, set their differences aside as they come together to learn and empower themselves at a cultural center in the neighborhood of Sant Roc.1 Description of Project Most of the twentieth century, Spain was a nation of emigrants whose citizens left for other European countries as well as for Latin America and the United States. They did so for political and economic reasons, including the Spanish Civil War and subsequent economic hardship throughout the country.2 This trend changed in the 1970’s as a wave of immigrants, primarily African and Portuguese, came to Spain in search of economic betterment. Irene Andres-Suárez dates the most recent wave of immigration to Spain to 1970, and attributes its subsequent rise to several factors: “La integración a la Unión Europea, las relaciones privilegiadas con América Latina,