(Re)Mapping Europe from a Black Diasporic Perspective: The Case of Bernardine Evaristo's Soul Tourists

Abstract

Inscribed in Homi Bhabha's project of "re-inventing Britain" and Stuart Hall's representation of cultural diversity, the present study explores the way in which the tropes of magical realism have been implemented to remap the new frontiers of the European construct in Bernardine Evaristo's Soul Tourists. In order to achieve this aim, a close reading technique has been relied on to deconstruct the text into basic dichotomies that trace the European centre and its margin. Furthermore, the British magical realism model of Anne Hegerfeldt is employed to highlight how the writer successfully reversed the realistic paradigm of the centre as she focalised the narration from an "ex-centric" point of view. In doing so, Europe became a warm home for the diasporic subject.