Goa through the lens of Europeans: A revisiting

Abstract

Situated at the crossroads of world spaces, Goa has long been a traveller's delight. Their well-documented accounts and pictures render a bird's eye view, often missing the essence of the place and its people. Goa is still at the crossroads of space and time, where Western itinerants flock for a glimpse into the past, a look into the future, or to try feel the pulse of present events. They now carry more sophisticated equipment, and hope to succeed where others before them stumbled. We focus on three such rewritings of Goa by contemporary Europeans - Les Instantanes du Monde, Goa is not India, Contacto Goa - and examine articles, podcasts and film documentaries in the light of past travel writing and current reality. We revisit Goa from the Western standpoint and hope to find answers to challenges thrown up by cross-cultural contact.