Hybridity and Intercultural Exchange in Marco Micone’s Le Figuier enchanté
Cooke, Dervila
(2011)
Hybridity and Intercultural Exchange in Marco Micone’s Le Figuier enchanté.
The French Review, 84
(6).
pp. 1160-1172.
ISSN 0016-111X
This article examines the expression of the immigrant
experience in Le Figuier enchanté (1992), focusing on
the notions of hybridity and intercultural exchange.
The text is shown to constitute a form of intercultural
dialogue, while also demonstrating some barriers to
such dialogue, such as old-stock Québécois “obsession” with protecting French, or an overattachment to ethnicity on the part of immigrants. Micone’s “surconscience linguistique” (Gauvin), is explored both through his use of language and through his consideration of linguistic politics in Quebec. The possibility of an “enchanted” hybridity is mooted, although this is shown to remain
somewhat aspirational.