SOURCE: Duffy, Pat. “Realigning Cultural Perspectives: Marie Cardinal and Camara Laye.” French Cultural Studies 12, no. 1 (February 2001): 5-21.

In the following essay, Duffy examines the impact of dual cultural heritage on the works of Cardinal and Camara Laye, asserting that many postcolonial writers struggle with issues of self-identity when they attempt to embrace aspects of either culture.

Aujourd'hui je n'ose pas retourner chez moi, en Algérie, parce que c'est devenu l'étranger aussi. C'est l'étranger partout pour moi.¹

With this enigmatic description of her position Marie Cardinal, in Au Pays de mes racines, confronts a sense of alienation arising from experience of a dual cultural heritage. Denied her are the normally comforting associations of the return home, and doubt is thrown not only on the authenticity of the home-coming, but also on her present status which deprives her of any sort of safe cultural reference point. Such...