Diasporic Experience of Maria in Paulo Coelho's Eleven Minutes

Abstract

Paulo Coelho's Eleven Minutes is a tale of a diasporic Brazilian woman in Switzerland, working as a prostitute. She leaves her homeland with the hope of earning more money. Though she earns enough money and gets a lover she does not feel satisfied to stay there. Sense of being dislocated from homeland severely haunts her. Her gullibility is questioned there. These incidents and happenings challenge Maria's self respect, and she moves towards diasporic experiences like sense of loss, alienation, displacement, nostalgia, ambivalence etc. At last, Maria returns Brazil with a good sum of money leaving the luxurious life and even her lover. This act of Maria saves her from losing her identity and it gives her an identity of her own homeland and culture.