In search of itself, inquiry into itself. Representations of vagrant in Fuir (1988) de Linda Lê Cover Image

En quête de soi, enquête sur soi. Représentations du vagabond dans Fuir (1988) de Linda Lê
In search of itself, inquiry into itself. Representations of vagrant in Fuir (1988) de Linda Lê

Author(s): Julie Assier
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Literary Texts, Studies of Literature, Comparative Study of Literature, French Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, Instytut Filologii Romańskiej & Wydawnictwo Werset
Keywords: vagrancy; wandering; disillusion; suicide; writing; exile

Summary/Abstract: In Fuir, Linda Lê features two characters – a vagrant nicknamed “Le Japonais” and the narrator, exiled to an unnamed Asian country – that seem to be re-cognized for what they are : lonely beings in search of an alter ego. Their improbable than astonishing meeting marks the beginning of a wandering both geographical and mental; the reader follows through the streets, alleys, driveways, sidepaths, pedestrian streets of indeterminate city symbolizing the maze of life whose meaning is to be decoded. The figure of the vagabond reflects the obsessions and concerns of the writer on his anguish of living. It also crystallizes its founding and formative reading, including the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran and the Swedish writer Stig Dagerman who greatly influenced in the writing and the construction of her novel. Fuir is both a question about the absurdity of life and a metaphor for the condition of the exiled writer.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 147-155
  • Page Count: 9
  • Language: French