Heart of violence and healing words: Europe, decolonization and mobility

Abstract

Writers with a nomadic biography write from the point of view of a plural cultural heritage. Concomitantly, this ability to speak to/ write for transnational audiences has supported the success of international careers. My argument is that the West is so keen on these authors because of their lucid ability to read beyond Eurocentric misconceptions on colonial historical archives and their effect on contemporary global relations. This paper considers four case studies: a short story by Salman Rushdie, and a short story by Jamal Mahjoud, both in English, and two other texts, in Portuguese: a novella by Luandino Vieira and a novel by Orlando da Costa.