Writing In Between Worlds: Reflections on Language and Identity from Works by Nancy Huston and Leila Sebbar

This article analyzes the themes of language, cultural heterogeneity, and writing as liminal space in autobiographical nonfiction texts by Canadian-born bilingual author Nancy Huston and Algerian-born French writer Leila Sebbar. In their coauthored correspondence on the theme of exile, Lettres parisiennes: Autopsie de l'exil, Huston and Sebbar describe writing as a land or territory, a place of one's own, and Sebbar defines exile as the very foundation of her being. Each writer explores the meaning of language in her life (English and French for Huston, French and Arabic for Sebbar), particularly as it relates to childhood and loss. Other themes include the construction and performance of self through language and writing; mobility, even instability, as vital constituents of identity; and exile and difference as freedom. While "exile" for these authors is not a question of forced migration, their reflections on living in between and across cultures-in the fault lines-have rich resonance for theorists, writers, travelers, and users of language in a globalized world.