L'envahissement by Metka Zupančič

Abstract

Reviewed by: L'envahissement by Metka Zupančič Cheryl Toman (bio) Zupančič, Metka. L'envahissement. L'Harmattan, 2020. Pp. 150. ISBN: 978-2-432-2115-1. 16€ (paper). An incredibly prolific and highly esteemed literary critic in our field, Metka Zupančič has finally published a work of literature of her own. Although published in 2020, Zupančič had actually started L'envahissement years ago; it includes references to the dramatic events in the Balkans in the 1990s but this récit also remains very timely and pertinent for today's readers. In fact, considering the time that has passed since the events in the former Yugoslavia, Zupančič's work is a most welcome commentary as it brings out fresh perspectives about this particular war and readers can easily draw parallels with other conflicts plaguing today's world. But this is not a literary work about war even though this is what provides a backdrop for the récit. It is also not an autobiography, even if some of the elements of the work clearly are part of Zupančič's past and present (the narrator's Slovenian heritage, her status as a university professor in North America, her profound ties with France on a professional but also a personal level, her advanced training in yoga and its philosophies etc.). The book traces the intellectual and sentimental journey of "vagabonds jetés sur de nouveaux continents" (10) for various reasons, along with the frustrating, if not heartbreaking effects of the past on relationships, specifically romantic ones. It illustrates the impossibility of continuing as before after certain life events. "L'envahissement, c'est une visite, et qui n'a pas duré" (13). Every reader can relate to Zupančič's characters, both female and male, who can never quite perfectly fit into a new society even if appearances give another impression. For this reason, romantic relationships are troubled too. We feel the pain the narrator describes of not being able to break through the numerous layers of walls that her lover has built around him with an aim to protect himself—in doing so, he denies himself happiness in the process: "s'il admettait avoir des besoins emotifs, s'il se permettait de ressentir un besoin de tendresse" (17). L'envahissement is profoundly feminist; the narrator ultimately never betrays that part of herself despite the deep longing for companionship. We feel the narrator's struggle and hurt when even her highly intellectual partner still exhibits misogynist tendencies. She constantly resists the notion presented by her lover that "il n'y a pas de difference entre la vision féminine et la vision masculine" (19). She sees how horribly damaging it would be for her to betray these values and beliefs that have given meaning to her existence and allowed her to be a survivor in hostile and strange worlds. The récit certainly illustrates that "TOUS les problèmes de ce monde étaient causés par les relations déréglées entre femmes et hommes" (123). [End Page 200] Outside of the moving chapters surrounding the narrator's troubled romantic relationship, there are also haunting chapters centered on the theme of exile in its various forms. The narrator mentions, in fact, "[s]a propre culpabilité d'avoir choisi le départ, avant que tout ne s'ébranle là-bas" (95). One especially wellwritten chapter linked to this theme is entitled "Le pays" (51) where Zupančič takes readers back to the Communist era of Central and Eastern Europe while also including references to the horrors of the Nazi period, times where one could potentially become exiled in one's very own country, a period when questions were asked about who was a true friend and who was a false one (54). Despite the similarities in events, the book proves that war is lived differently by everyone. At the end of the work, Zupančič brilliantly intertwines all her themes, exposing in the chapters "De la fraude" (103) and "De la fraude suprême" (109) the unfortunate need to navigate this world by pretending—"conscient, peut-être inconscient, parfois voulu […] tout milieu a son 'ambiance,' ses codes, sa mani...