Searching for Orgasms in the Dictionary: Language, Literature and Emotion in L’últim patriarca by Najat El Hachmi

Abstract

L’últim patriarca by Najat El Hachmi (2008) has been critically acclaimed for its portrayal of the difficulties faced by a young Moroccan girl struggling to reconcile her past and present identities under the authoritarian yet unpredictable control of her father. This article focuses on the triangular relationship between language, literature, and emotion that underpins the protagonist’s quest for independence, self-esteem, and emotional maturity. Drawing on research on bilingualism and emotion, literature and emotion, and emotions and moral judgement, the article examines how these interconnecting themes are explored in the novel and their importance for our understanding of the protagonist’s journey towards personal autonomy. Two classic Catalan novels, Solitud by Victor Català and La plaça del Diamant by Mercè Rodoreda, provide the protagonist both with an insight into her own situation and a way to become the narrator of her own life story, thus (it appears) taking control of her own destiny. The article argues that this is only possible thanks to her ability to express her story in a new language, to rediscover the connection between bodily sensation and emotion, and to forge a new moral identity that is no longer conditioned by that of her hypocritical father.

Resumen

L’últim patriarca de Najat El Hachmi (2008) ha sido aclamado por la crítica por su interpretación de las dificultades a las que se enfrenta una joven marroquí que lucha por reconciliar sus identidades pasadas y presentes bajo el control autoritario y caprichoso de su padre. Este artículo se centra en la relación triangular entre lengua/lenguaje, literatura y emoción que sustenta la búsqueda de la protagonista por la independencia, la autoestima y la madurez emocional. Basándose en la investigación sobre el bilingüismo y la emoción, la literatura y la emoción, las emociones y el juicio moral, el artículo examina cómo se exploran estos temas interconectados en la novela y su importancia para nuestra comprensión del viaje del protagonista hacia la autonomía personal. Dos novelas catalanas clásicas, Solitud de Víctor Català y La plaça del Diamant de Mercè Rodoreda, proporcionan a la protagonista tanto una visión de su propia situación como una forma de convertirse en la narradora de su propia historia de vida, tomando así (según parece) el control de su propio destino. El artículo argumenta que esto sólo es posible gracias a su capacidad para expresar su historia en una lengua nueva, redescubrir la conexión entre la sensación corporal y la emoción, y forjar una nueva identidad moral que ya no está condicionada por la de su hipócrita padre.

Keywords:

• Najat El Hachmi
• bilingualism and emotion
• literature and emotion
• Catalan literature

Palabras Clave:

• Najat El Hachmi
• bilingüismo y emoción
• literatura y emoción
• literatura catalana

Notes

¹ El Hachmi does suggest in Jo també sóc catalana that her relationship with Catalan was a very particular one, influenced in part by her recognition of the link between its situation in Spain and the minority status of her mother tongue, Tamazight (El Hachmi 2004, 52). On the other hand, nothing in L’últim patriarca directly implies that the language that brought the protagonist her intellectual and emotional freedom needed to be Catalan, particularly, rather than just any language that she could make her own.

² In terms of the order in which she learns Spanish and Catalan, it is not clear which came first, but since Spanish is only briefly referred to in the novel I will refer to Catalan throughout as her second language (after Tamazight). This is consistent with the use of the term by linguists who work with bi- and multi-lingual subjects and employ such classifications for convenience without thereby assigning a rigid order of acquisition or importance to each language (Dewaele 2010, 3–5).

³ Tamazight borrows extensively from Arabic, so the Arabic terms can be regarded as part of the protagonist’s L1.

⁴ This is of course not an experience particular to the protagonist, or to new Catalans from North Africa. As Kathryn Woolard’s study makes clear, the feeling of no longer being at home in the place of origin is also common among migrants to Catalonia from other parts of Spain (Woolard 1989, passim but see for example pp. 53–54).

⁵ Epps’ chapter on Solitud and La plaça also highlights the way that their authors ‘grappled with the relations between literature, orality and community, and produced texts that have been read as testimonies to the ‘vitality’ of the language’ (Epps 2002, 21). This statement could also be applied in its entirety to L’últim patriarca.

⁶ Freud defines the super-ego as ‘a special agency in which […] parental influence is prolonged’ (Freud 1974b, 146).