Changing Identity in Small or Minority Nations: Three Recent Catalan Films

Abstract

The article places three recent Catalan films in a framework of classificatory discussion of identity, change and small or 'minority' nationhood. It builds on previous work on Welsh and Basque film which proposes a system of classification designed to enhance the conceptualisation of links between film and identity in small or minority national cultures. That system uses three modal concepts: the Preserved, connected with patriarchy, rural landscape, collective rural identity, and stereotypical representations; Reversal, connected with complexities and ambiguities of meaning as produced by representations of landscape or expressions of collective identity; and the postnational, connected to qualities of discordance, placelessness, and scepticism about the relevance or direction of collective history. Los últimos días (David and Álex Pastor, 2013), Segon origen (Carles Porta, 2015) and Estiu 1993 (Carla Simón, 2017) are analysed using the categorisation in order to explore how crises and changes in individuals or communities link to wider processes of transition and regression. It draws on previous schematisations by Williams and Castells and places particular emphasis on nuancing the conceptualisation of the postnational in the small or minority cultural context.

Orphans at play in Cría cuervos (1976) and Estiu 1993 (2017): Reconsidering the playspace

“…Mapped discordantly onto the history of progressive Catalunya within a highly liberalized Spain by the early 1990s is a micro-history of ill-informed and prejudice-ridden social attitudes to HIV and AIDS. 25 Hence Frida's status as an AIDS orphan specifically is of great relevance, and her return to play despite this negative interaction can work as her own form of resistance to the prejudices she faces. The following section will explore the resistance made possible through the identity of transitional female orphanhood.…”

“…71 She harnesses agency by shifting the religious practice towards a more playful means of communication with her mother and also creates 'a safe, and at times a sacred, space for new beginnings and for Frida to come to terms with her grief and loss'. 72 The religious practices of Frida's grandparents, which the audience witnesses in an earlier scene, have a clear influence on Frida's playful actions. Intergenerational tension is once again interrogated here, and the role of Frida's Catholic grandparents, their disagreement with Esteve and Marga on Frida's move, tells a story of a changing Spain.…”

“…9 Dilys Jones and Chris Perriam focus analytically on Estiu 1993 in the context of changing Catalan identity, recognizing Frida's dislocation from the familial structure. 10 Nonetheless, play has not been discussed in detail in the case of either film, which this article shall endeavour to rectify. Furthermore, I consider the orphan child as a recurring figure in narratives of Spanish film.…”