Homoeroticism, orientalism and misogyny in Harka! (1941): A filmic analysis from a camp point of view

Abstract

This article will analyse from a camp perspective the film Harka! (1941) by Carlos Arévalo, starring Alfredo Mayo and Luís Peña, who play Captain Santiago Balcázar and Lieutenant Carlos Herrera. Firstly, the homoeroticism implicit in the orientalist framework of this filmic manifestation of Franco's crusade will be explored. Secondly, it will delve into the melodramatic camaraderie of Balcázar and Herrera constructed under the pretext of fighting for the fatherland and their common love or devotion to Africa. Thirdly, the misogyny of Harka! will be addressed, as it does not have a female presence until halfway through the film, with the appearance of the character of Amparo, played by Luchy Soto, who ends up constituting an antagonistic figure against the Harkeños by interposing herself in the mission that unites the protagonists. A whole series of aesthetic elements such as the djellaba, the fez, the bonfire, tobacco, the harka, the harkeños, the night, alcohol, the wardrobe and the uniform, the palm trees, the lattice, the taste for Arab culture, the use of polysemous words, the soundtrack or the melodramatic character that make up the film, make up a camp language that testifies that homosexual desire is latent in Harka! beyond the official discourse that responded to the propagandistic interests of the Franco dictatorship.