Writing from a distance. The past and the present in novels by Central and Eastern European female migrant writers in Italy

Based on a research concerning literary works by authors from East-Central European Countries living in Italy, this article explores the imaginary bonded to a vast geographical area and to a variety of social experiences connected to that area under regime or to the post-migration condition. The interviews conducted with the authors allow to gather elements that show the perception of the place of origin and its connection with neighboring Countries, suggested with different motivations. The literary works cited gives testimony of lives under regimes and describe moments of transition due to political and social change or to the choice to migrate. While revealing sometimes a stereotyped view of an idea of ‘East’ in opposition to ‘West’, these different voices, located at a spatial and temporal distance from the social realities they explore, suggest an important role for literary expression as means for contrasting the oblivion of the past and present injustices.