As it should be: colonial experiences in A. Lobo Antunes and V. S. Naipaul

Abstract

The fall of the last colonial empires in the late twentieth century, namely the Portuguese colonies in Africa, is frequently considered a normal process of change – historical reason ‘as it should be ’. Fictional narratives provide an insider’s view of History, perceived through the eyes of individual characters. V.S. Naipaul and A. Lobo Antunes provide impressive accounts of Luso-Africans trying to make sense of their experiences or dealing with traumatic memories. This study analyses the power with which both authors’ novels convey subjective images of the (de)colonising process, and how they share insights of a changing world.