Being in Motion as Transcultural Poetics

David Szalay: Turbulence

Abstract

One of the key topoi of transcultural literature, broadly defined as works that cross the confines of a single culture to explore the interstitial transcultural space, is „being in motion”. Characters in these narratives are often on the move, embodying roles such as tourists, migrants, outcasts, vagabonds, and nomads. However, “travel issues” typically emerge merely as motifs. The present paper attempts to interpret the work Turbulence by David Szalay, an English writer with a multicultural background. The initial theoretical section discusses insights from scholars including Rosi Braidotti, Zygmunt Bauman, and Ariana Dagnino, while the subsequent part offers a textual analysis to argue that the concept of motion transcends thematic representation to become the poetics of the narrative itself. Additionally, the paper’s final segment names other transcultural works that similarly incorporate the poetics of travel, akin to Szalay’s approach.