Paper short abstract:

By the close reading of a complex novel written in 2011, we discover an African perspective on decolonization and the changes brought about by the forced movement of return in characters marked by displacement and uprooting.

Paper long abstract:

"Return" implies belonging, one returns to one's space. The great truth of this novel is that this space does not exist, the contact of characters in any space of Angola or Portugal is always marked by conflicts. Varying the narrative perspective through a choir of narrators, the author achieves a representation of space that allows us to question the national identity of Angolans and Portuguese both at the time of return (1975) and in a later globalized world. Racism, patriarchy, feminine voice or violence are some of the themes represented in the novel plot and, above all, in space as a narrative category where the symbolic dimension of fiction and the game of realistic referentiality cross and hybridise the gaze.