THE IMAGE OF LONDON AS CULTURAL MOSAIC IN NOVELS WRITTEN BY SALMAN RUSHDIE, HANIF KUREISHI, MONICA ALI AND ZADIE SMITH.

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize that nowadays, perhaps more than ever before, Europe can be perceived as a rich mosaic of cultures. Given the large diversity of people living in contemporary Europe, the success of the EU depends, among others, on its efforts to become as inclusive as possible, encouraging cooperation across states while preserving and respecting individual rights and freedoms, collective identities and cultures. During the last decades, many large cities and metropolises of the “Old Continent” have turned into rich cultural mosaics, where people belonging to different nations, regions and cultures encounter and interact; the European urban space may be considered a mirror, reflecting processes that are currently at work in the entire European Union. This paper makes reference to the way several novelists, writing in English during the last decades, perceive London and the problems it confronts, arguing in favor of tolerance that, in their opinion, might be the best, if not the only solution to peaceful co-habitation in present-day Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]