From “a woman without a homeland” to La Polonaise. On a case of rewriting a novelistic character

Abstract

The paper discusses the hypertextual relations between Stanislas Dotremont's La Polonaise and Benjamin Constant's Adolphe, focusing on the rewriting of the main feminine character: Ellénore/Ellen. The adopted perspective is inspired by narratology, gender studies and imagology. It makes it possible to note some changes, the main ones consisting of a transvocalization and transfocalization of the narration and a transvalorization and transmotivation of the character. Rewriting also leads to an accentuation of the axiological, ideological and historical dimensions of the narrative. However, the impact of these modifications is, after all, relatively limited, which is why the Dotremontian rewriting enterprise can be described as neo-classical.