North-South - East-West

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This book examines contemporary French and German texts within the context of the post-imperial order that emerged after the Berlin Wall's fall in 1989. It highlights the new East-West frontiers that have surfaced following the breakup of the Soviet "empire," which have been superimposed onto the North-South frontiers shaping the postcolonial world after the decline of European empires in the mid-twentieth century. The end of the Cold War's divide led to a re-inscription of colonial and neo-colonial borders along Europe’s southern edges, displacing the old East-West border to the Russian, Balkan, and Near-Eastern regions. The book focuses on these new North-South and East-West borders, featuring analyses of works by authors such as Tahar Ben Jelloun, Marica Bodrožic, Maryse Condé, and others. These writers explore the dynamics of exclusion and limited permeability before and after 1989. The selected texts, many emerging from outside metropolitan culture or straddling its borders, align with the cultural interaction axes and post-colonial paradigms of critique. Ultimately, the book aims to map the cultural manifestations of the complex and rapidly evolving new world order we inhabit.