Liminality, Migration and Transgression in El Metro by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo
Carles Magrinyà
Chapter from the book: Jonsson, H et al. 2021. Narratives Crossing Borders: The Dynamics of Cultural Interaction.
Part of
Chapter from the book: Jonsson, H et al. 2021. Narratives Crossing Borders: The Dynamics of Cultural Interaction.
My investigation aims to contribute to the understanding of the functionality of the fictitious border zones and how characters relate to spaces that put them in contact with the transitory, that is, liminal characters and spaces. In this sense I will work with the concept of liminality developed by anthropologists Arnold Van Gennep and Victor Turner. The object of study is El metro (2007), by Equatorial Guinean writer Donato Ndongo, and it is an example of the contemporary Equatoguinean novel in Spanish. My contribution focuses on how narrator and characters perceive and relate to liminal spaces (boats, beaches, the subway), and it touches upon the ambivalent relationship between the emigrant from sub-Saharan Africa and Western culture during the years of economic crisis in Spain.
Magrinyà, C. 2021. Liminality, Migration and Transgression in El Metro by Donato Ndongo-Bidyogo. In: Jonsson, H et al (eds.), Narratives Crossing Borders. Stockholm: Stockholm University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16993/bbj.o
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Published on June 15, 2021