Of Heraclitus, Mitteleuropa and Afghanistan

Sa？etak This article intends to make a comparison of the defining factors of identity as defined in two exceptional narratives, “The Places in Between” by Rory Stewart and “Danube” by Claudio Magris. In their respective works, both authors examine the complex notion of identity as defined by ethnicity, religion/ culture, politics/ideology and socioeconomics, albeit in very different surroundings. Stewart’s narrative describes his trek across the harsh Afghan landscape in the middle of Winter, scant weeks after the overthrow of the Taliban, while Magris follows a group of four Italian friends (the author being one of them), who set out to trace the Danube from its source to the mouth in mid 1980s. Both authors’ accounts confirm the transience of identity, which largely depends on the broader environment, the specific point in time in which the examination occurs, and the perspective of the examiner. In both cases, the authors’ analyses provide profound insights into the regions through which they travel