‘Il faut raconter mon long parcours’

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter explores the presence of Ovid within writing that examines France’s postcolonial legacy, since it analyses the works of the French writer, Marie NDiaye, who writes of the connections between France and Senegal, and those of the French writer of Vietnamese origin, Linda Lê, who came to France at the age of fourteen. Inevitably exile is a dominant theme within these texts, though both writers are also preoccupied by the potential for metamorphosis and the power of language. Nevertheless, the emphasis laid upon homelessness, a lack of belonging, and exile establishes powerful connections to today’s refugee crisis in Europe, so that it is instructive to consider how Marie Cosnay employs Ovid to give voice to the ongoing horrors.