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Illegitimate
tells the story of 26-year-old Fatima, a Bosnian-born refugee
prostituting in Munich. Life is tough on the snowy streets
of Munich, where the pimps are greedy and the customers have
strange fetishes. On Fatima's long list of clients are some
of the most powerful men in the city, including lawyers and
politicians, all of whom publically denounce prostitution.
Some
of these hypocrites use her physically, while others do it
emotionally, but they never pay the price that she deserves.
One doesn't bother to use any lubrication. Another client
wants her to "Be a refugee for me. Put on shabby clothes,
soil your face, look scared to death, desperate, completely
lost and antisocial," as part of a role play.
At night,
tottering home from a client, with make-up and saliva smeared
all over her face, Fatima fantasizes about becoming the legitimate
child of her new "motherland" and some day even becoming a
journalist.
Fatima
finds compassion in her co-workers Bozena, Hagera, and Mary,
as well as other illegal aliens with similar backgrounds:
"Lots of murder, someone burnt down her house, then rape,
you know, the usual bitter clichés of war. The damn judge
said he'd heard that story before." Adnan Mahmutovic effectively
raises the questions: What does a person need to say to be
heard amid the surge of all the other voices who are crying
for help? And, more importantly, what if that person is at
the bottom of the social hierarchy, the racial hierarchy,
the gender hierarchy, or—such as in Fatima's case—all
of the above?
Some
parts of Illegitimate are violent, others moving, mind-numbing.
Yet, occasionally, there is silence, which is nearly vociferous.
Mahmutovic has written a loud book. The characters are distinct
and the language is witty; the plot twists are many and the
way he portrays the world through the eyes of a female prostitute
is both credible and, at times, romantic—which should
not be attributed to a lack of empathy (as is often the case
when male authors attempt to write from a female point of
view), but rather to the surplus thereof: It seems as if Mahmutovic
felt so strongly for his heroine, he couldn't resist injecting
her with optimism.
Illegitimate
is not only about getting fucked over by The Man, but it is
also about dreams, identity cards, journalism; emancipation,
friendship, opportunism; lubricant, bullshit, and a music
box. This cacophony hits readers in the gut with such power
that it stirs up feelings of disgust along with a sudden urge
to throw these concepts up.
(July,
2009)
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