Inspiration, Creation and Memory in Linda Lê’s Autres jeux avec le feu

Abstract

This article focuses on several short stories in Linda Lê’s collection Autres jeux avec le feu (2002), and analyses identity as it is intertwined with the themes of inspiration and creation. ‘L’Échafaudage’ relates a visionary quest on the part of a protagonist whose name, Gemini, sets up the dynamic for this story and the collection. Fragmented identity is revealed by the name which indicates a twin nature. While he denies them, his quest reveals hidden selves, as demonstrated through readings informed by short story theory and centred on postcolonialism and gender. In the framing stories, ‘La Mouche’ and ‘Voix off’, the poet/muse trope is introduced. These stories present and perform an evolution of inspiration and creative voice as they relate to gender and memory. This evolution operates a reversal of the hierarchy inherent in the divided self as illustrated by Gemini, and opens the way to a feminine creative voice.