French Forum

Abstract:

This article explores the possibility of the body as a potential home or space of exile through the theatrical works ofWajdi Mouawad and Marie NDiaye. Distinctions between the "self" and "other" are heavily present in colonial and post-colonial, exilic narrativesand serve to reinforce difference and division between people. Mouawad and NDiaye's inclusion of teratomas, non-corporeal beings, and characters living within the body of other characters invites us to reconsider our autonomy and our perceptions of self-hood in relation to community. Both of these authors use their personal experiences as well as common exile metaphors and imagery to expose the possibility of shared experience and common suffering as a basis for building new, hybrid communities.