Crossing the Strai(gh)t of Contradiction: Iberian Dreams and Queer Awakenings

Spain has a long and rich tradition of operating as a mediator between the peoples of the “north” and the “south.” Indeed, the Strait of Gibraltar functions in a number of literary and cultural texts as a kind of silent personnage, and not only makes the very act of “passage” possible, but also poeticizes the traveler’s voyage with its powerful images and mysticism. Yet when viewed from the perspective of queer studies, such cross-pollination of these varied cultures often underscores an undercurrent of homoerotic desire that is synonymous with “migratory” gay sexual tourism. I study the thematic of migration in  Tahar Ben Jelloun’s Partir (2006) as it relates to the Moroccan’s quest to “re-imagine” himself in Spain—a locus that, although quite literally visible from Tangiers, represents a vastly different and foreign territory of otherness. In considering such discourses of desire that characterize the queer-bent of the text, my reading focuses on the problematics of identity and sexual tourism as they relate to the traveler’s quest for freedom. I consider a set of narrative traits particular to economies of desire within gay viatic literature, and from there I examine the implication(s) of migration, as they relate to encounters at the frontline of the Spanish/Moroccan intersection. It could be said that the fantasy of immigration is in itself a contradiction in that “leaving” connotes multiple forms of resignation. Furthermore, Partir is an especially pertinent text to read in the context of transnational engagement and the future of Spain as a continued site of international literary contact.