'History and Narrative : A Conversation with the World. Salman Rushdie and Julian Barnes' is intended a critical analysis of major literary writings, which define the evolution of contemporary literature as an assertion of the essential role of the creative consciousness in challenging previous forms of representation and in assuming a reflexive perspective on historicity. By exploring the inexhaustible resources of tradition and historicity, the fictional writings of Salman Rushdie and Julian Barnes state the premises for a re-contextualised discourse, reflecting the stringent realities of the contemporary age. The present approach attempts to establish an intrinsic interrelatedness between the evolution of the fictional discourse and the theoretical constructs that systematise the narrative. Under the form of an integrative critical response, each section (Introduction, Argument, 'Flaubert s Parrot', 'A History of the World in 10 Chapters', 'Fury', 'The Moor s Last Sigh', 'East, West', Conclusions, Bibliography) refers to relevant aspects which concern the thematic content, the narrative strategies and the intertextual references pertaining to the respective literary writings.