Crossing the Green Line: World Literature and Intercultural Understanding

Europe has radically changed since the 1980s due to the fall of the Berlin Wall and to the inclusion of several Eastern European countries in the EU. Given this situation, it comes as no surprise that the identity of our continent is increasingly questioned and that scholars have coined espressions such as 'post-Western Europe'. To come to terms with contemporary geopolitical problems we need appropriate cultural tools. Life narratives - including both novels and memoirs - can play a major role in this process. Many contemporary life narratives explore issues such as the coexistence of cultures, post-conflict reconciliation and the political meaning of the imagination. As cultural representations of experience which are endowed with power to generate empathy and change our worldviews, narratives are a precious instrument to overcome negative emotions such as fear and suspicion in order to promote the idea of a world civilisation. Thus establishing a critical dialogue with contemporary life narratives is not only a cultural but also a political gesture