ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ambivalence of Spain's relationship to its Islamic past through the analysis of Antonio Gala's La pasion turca, which participates in a prevalent fetishizing discourse with respect to that element of Spain's history. It shows that the narrative constitutes an example of the way in which Orientalist fantasies about Turkey, standing in for the Moorish elements in Spain's history, are deployed to express anxiety about Spain's present. The chapter examines how the story of her sexual enslavement can also be viewed as a cultural fantasy deployed as a response to contemporary events. Debate centres on what modern Spain might owe to the Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus and what that heritage might mean in a Spain whose identity and sights have long been firmly fixed on a full participation in the European Union. Represented within the text by Eastern/North African countries, Spain's Moorish heritage is posited, at least initially, both for Desideria and the nation.
