British- European Entanglements: M.G. Sanchez' The Escape Artist and the Case of Gibraltar

Is it true that Brexit is the inevitable consequence of the existence of the English Channel, which creates an 'island mentality' that makes the British incapable of being part of a European project? An in-depth study of the impact of space on cultural identity reveals the 'pseudo-logic' of such 'geographical' arguments that is often deployed for political purposes. If geography matters, how, precisely, does it matter? Taking my cue from geocriticism and topopoetics, I will make space central to my analysis of the negotiation of cultural identity, emphasizing points of contact, liminal spaces, crossroads and border zones. One such liminal space where Britain is connected with Continental Europe is Gibraltar, historically significant due to its geopolitical location, still a British colony in the Mediterranean, and truly a hybrid 'space of entanglement'. I will offer a reading of The Escape Artist (2013), a novel by the distinguished Gibraltarian writer M.G. Sanchez, set during the time when the Spanish dictator Franco had closed the border with British Gibraltar. As I will argue, the novel provides us with a fascinating literary exploration of a Gibraltarian predicament newly relevant in the era of Brexit.