What is Reality and What is Illusion? The Depiction of Africa in Zadie Smith’s "Swing Time"

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1.0, University of Freiburg (Englisches Seminar), language: English, abstract: This essay explores the depiction of Africa in Zadie Smith's "Swing Time" in connection to Foucault’s concept of heterotopias to find out how (differently) Africa is depicted in the novel and which of the different depictions is the illusion and which the reality. Foucault’s concept of heterotopia has almost become ‘trendy’ in recent years and has influenced architects, artists and literary critics alike. Defined as “mythic and real contestation of the space in which we live”, heterotopias can exist “outside of all places, even though it may be possible to indicate their location in reality”. Yet what is reality, and what is the "heterotopia", the illusion?