Superimposed Geographies in Nadia Ghalem's "L'inconnue," La villa désir, and L'amour aux temps des mimosas

Abstract

In Algerian-Québécoise author Nadia Ghalem's fiction, her approach to describing geography is remarkable. This article analyzes how geographical superimpositions function in three of her texts: "L'inconnue" (1992), La villa désir (1988) and L'amour aux temps des mimosas (2010). Ghalem's geographies are evocative of Michel de Certeau's distinction between "lieu" and "espace." If, as de Certeau argues, "l'espace est un lieu pratiqué," Ghalem's works practice imaginative landscapes through layers of place memories whose reconstructed geographies result in a sense of home. Ghalem's fictional landscapes are spaces of remaking, belonging, and connection.