Abstract
These texts combine a deconstruction of patriarchal figures with a dismounting of simplistic notions of multicultural hybridity. Uxbal in Biutiful navigates Barcelona’s interwoven border crossroads of social class, cultural origin, and economic exchange—attempting to assert patriarchal control and manage the wellbeing of his family and the immigrants he employs. The Amazigh-Catalan protagonist of L’últim patriarca navigates her internal migrant crossroads. Patriarchy in both texts is embodied by specific father figures but also defined more broadly as a cultural authority that divides bodies and minds into static binary identities . El Hachmi’s novel also highlights Catalan language and literary references as significant affective elements not congealed into a new hybrid identity but rather interwoven into the protagonist’s developing knowledge and experience of the world.
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Barker, J. (2017). Unraveling Cultures: Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Biutiful and Najat El Hachmi’s L’ultim patriarca (The Last Patriarch). In: Affect and Belonging in Contemporary Spanish Fiction and Film. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58969-5_5
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