Voices from the periphery: representations of the marginalised female immigrant in the new Spain (2000-2017)

Abstract

In spite of a move to democracy in Spain, immigrant female representation in recent cultural publication is still predominantly that of the exotic, pathetic or visually fetishistic and specters of paternalism remain in the sociological mind-set. My research reflects on Spanish immigration law, postmillennial literature and film, discourse analytics, gender history and women's writing in Spain, with a view to establishing how the liminal immigrant female is imagined and represented in an EU-minded postmodern Spain and whether notable indications of progress are visible. In my thesis I consider: contrasting filmic/ literary representations of female immigrants from China, Latin America and Africa; gender space, identity and social capital; and the limitations of maternity, sexuality and 'otherness.' To set this against the current socio-literary milieu, I explore how key philosophical interpretations may be applied or contradicted in relation to specifically female immigration works.