Forms of Otherness and Female Sexuality in Le pays des autres by Leïla Slimani

Abstract

Leïla Slimani is a prolific Franco-Moroccan writer who, in her most recent novel project, the self-referentially inspired trilogy entitled Le pays des autres (2020; 2022), addresses the story of the Belhaj family starting with the union of Mathilde, a woman from Alsace, with Amine, a Moroccan soldier, and later continuing with the story of their children Aïcha and Selim. In this work, the encounter with the Other generates tensions and changes that will be reflected in the sexuality of the characters. This encounter with the Other, which from a Bakhtinian perspective is constructive, occurs in the bond that unites the subjects. Starting from the premise that sexuality can serve as such a link, in this article we will first study the polysemy of the “country of others” as a metaphor, present from the title of the novel itself, in order to address the different forms that otherness takes in this narrative and its relationship with female sexuality, especially in its discursive construction, and then analyze the effects of this relationship on the sexuality of the three main female characters: Mathilde, Aïcha and Selma, Amine’s sister. Through its portrait of female sexuality, with its difficulties and pleasures, this novel by Slimani calls for an approach to otherness from a place of empathy and curiosity, embracing the transformative nature of this encounter.