Migration and immigration in Europe and its edges

Abstract

ABSTRACT Literature of the twentieth and twenty-first century is often concerned with migration, immigration, and exile. Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, Michel Houellebecq’s Submission, and Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West, narrate the lives of immigrants and refugees and the negotiations between migrants and host nations. They trace the transformations on the idea of Europe and how it is challenged in the face of socio-historical crises. Kapka Kassabova’s Border belongs to a long tradition of Eastern European writing that engages in a dialogue with the idea of Europe. Viewed from its edges and through narratives of migration, Europe emerges as a geographical, linguistic, and cultural space whose oneness is an impossibility considering the stories of dislocation housed in its cities.