Labyrinthe obsessif du ludibrique dans Derrière la porte d'Alina Reyes

Abstract

Jean Alter's "ludibric", defined as the mixture of "ludic" and "lubric", does not, in his own words, aim at a total loss of rules. It provides readers of Derriere la porte some tools to adequately interpret the problematic revealed- as does, also, Helene Cixous's concept of bisexuality. In this light, we look at the former rules and the author's subversive rules, of a literary sex game, symbolically set in a circus. The systematic sexual experimentation transgresses taboos, explores the limits of sexuality. The protagonists' adventures are supposed to lure the readers into their own erotic games. Thus, the circus's labyrinthic corridors, with their mysterious doors, lead to extreme experiences of the protagonists' innermost sexual fantasies. Ultimately the question arises whether the game played is one of liberation or alienation. The magical encounter set in the very last page seems to point to a typically postmodern subversion of the happy love story ending, with all the irony of the distance between both, especially as the protagonists must put their act together and literally learn to juggle.