IN-BETWEENNESS AND HYBRIDITY: IDENTITY AND LINGUISTIC DELECTATION IN SERGI BELBEL’SMEXICATAS

Abstract

Sergi Belbel’s as yet unpublished play, Mexicatas, premiered in late 2018. In the spring of that year a group of eight Mexican actresses, who now live in Catalonia and are members of the theater group Cor de Maguey, approached Belbel and asked him to write a play about their experiences as Mexican immigrants. My essay examines the collaborative process and the ensuing spectacle. It considers questions of personal and social identity, the attitudes of the Mexican immigrants to the Catalan language and customs, and the humor that derives from these, all within an encompassing framework of in-betweenness and hybridity.