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Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4499-3487

Date Available

9-18-2026

Year of Publication

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College

Arts and Sciences

Department/School/Program

Hispanic Studies

Faculty

Carmen Moreno-Nuño

Faculty

Alan Brown

Abstract

Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish colony until 1968. Despite this, it has never received much attention from the Iberian Peninsula, so its literature and history remain unknown to much of the Spanish-speaking population. This has been due to historical factors, such as the Franco dictatorship, which classified everything related to the African colony as confidential, but also due to the racial exclusion experienced by the Black population throughout history. Generally, only some Equatorial Guinean male authors have managed to carve out a place for themselves in the cultural canon.

This study analyzes eight books whose plots take place in Equatorial Guinea or whose characters are from Equatorial Guinea. Historia de una maestra (1990) by Josefina Aldecoa, La última cacica (1990) by María Paz Díaz, Palmeras en la nieve (2012) by Luz Gabás, and De Cieza a Fernando Poo (2012) by Amelia Pedreño are four works by Spanish authors that narrate life in Equatorial Guinea during its final years as a Spanish colony. Ekomo (1985) by María Nsue Angüe, La bastarda (2016) by Trifonia Melibea Obono, Las que se atrevieron (2017) by Lucía Asué Mbomío Rubio and Ser mujer negra en España (2018) by Desirée Bela-Lobedde are four works by Equatorial Guinean and/or Spanish authors that explain the situation of Equatorial Guineans from colonial times to the present day, whether in Equatorial Guinea or in Spain.

None of these cultural products have been widely studied due to the historical undervaluation of Africa by the Western culture, the racialization that has excluded Black individuals from certain circles of power, and the heteropatriarchy that has sidelined female individuals. These are all factors that intersect, leaving African women as the last remaining factor. This study gives voice to a segment of the Equatorial Guinean population that has been marginalized and allows them to enter a dialogue with the voices of Spanish women who also wrote about Equatorial Guinea and its people, in order to broaden the multiplicity of existing views on the colony and to reflect on the current situation.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2026.439

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