Abstract
The theme of metamorphosis and the construction of the gendered subject are examined in Marie Darrieussecq's provocative first novel. The literary trope allows the author to expose the violence of sexist language and the brutality of contemporary French culture. However, in this profoundly ironic text corporal changes are disturbingly consistent with the narrator's naïveté and inability to learn from her experiences. Elle est bête in more ways than one. This essay also explores how the naïve stance of the speaking voice constructs the reader as sharing the same truistic beliefs and may account for some of the strong reactions to the novel.
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