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The Limits Of Writing In Marie Cardinal's Amour... Amours..., Claire Marrone

Languages Faculty Publications

Amour... amours... enters into a body of literature in French, particularly in the postcolonial period, that deals with the bilingual and bicultural aspects of selfhood. In focusing on the France-Algeria connection, the text illustrates the challenges of negotiating between conflicting allegiances. Salient issues in self-definition emerge, including the significance of one's birthplace and the loss of one's homeland. What is interesting in Amour... amours... is the way in which Cardinal conjures up remembrances of Algeria, including stylistic experimentation, intertextual echoes, and the thematization of love evoked in the title. With her protagonist, Lola Lavoie, the author evokes both la …