All changed, changed utterly: endangered identities in Autumn by Ali Smith.

Abstract

The essay intends to look at the well-known book,Autumn, by Ali Smith, shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and analyse the ways in which the debates leading to as well as the events following the 2016 Brexit referendum contribute to the writing of a desfunctional narration in which borders, domestic spaces and identities are questioned on a daily basis. The essay argues that there is strong link between the making of the story and the deconstruction of a national identity: the fragile exploration of anxieties of belonging and nationhood opens up a space for thought through words, inviting the reader to think about the relationship between language, space and time and affirming the importance of literature in contemporary times.