Although they were born half a continent apart, the Mozambican Mia Couto and the Angolan José Eduardo Agualusa are good friends as well as being two of the most respected figures of African literature. They are united by a linguistic homeland—Portuguese—and a similar conception of literature with many thematic and stylistic connections. We will have them together for the first time in Kosmopolis to speak of their highly distinctive literature. Novels like Trilogía de Mozambique (the three books of the Mozambican Trilogy – Alfaguara) and Terra somnàmbula (Sleepwalking Land, Periscopi / Alfaguara) in Couto’s case, and books like Teoria general de l’oblit (A General Theory of Oblivion – Periscopi / Edhasa) and La societat dels somiadors involuntaris (The Society of Reluctant Dreamers – Periscopi / Edhasa) in the case of Agualusa, turn to magic realism to shift the focus and find a new way of explaining the present conflicts in the continent. The two writers will speak with the journalist Tania Adam, founder of RadioAfrica Magazine, about the power of fantasy and satire, and also about the future and prospects of the continent. And we shall not forget the pandemic, as both have described voluntary or involuntary confinements in some of their most acclaimed novels.
This session will also be streamed through the CCCB website.
