There Is No Heaven Under the Pyrenees: “undocumented” Africans and Workplace in Spain in Construcción, ¿trabajo o esclavitud? and Dormir al raso.

Abstract

The present paper utilizes creative writings, to present and theorize the multiple faces of contemporary undocumented African immigrants and hostile work environments in Construcción, ¿trabajo o esclavitud? (2011) by Jordao Manuel Quizembe and El Gheryb, en Dormir al raso (1994). Even though, the mistreatment of Africans in the workplace, as portrayed in novels and films, goes from mild to harsh. I argue that this abuse depends on many factors, among which, the legal status of the worker (documented versus undocumented), the level of education (educated versus non-educated), and above all the country of origin (Maghreb versus Sub-Saharan Africa). I contend that the discrimination of sub-Saharan Africans in the work place is mostly due to the legacy of racism associated with blackness. However, this form of racism is subtle, moving from a “traditional” biological racism to a cultural one. The rejection of North Africans and Moroccans, in particular, is mostly related to the fact that they are historically implicated in the question of Spanish identity. The Moroccan identity becomes symbolically synonymous to the concept of the enemy: The “Moors”