Le partage des mots or the quest for identity in the land of exile

Abstract

This article intends to appraise the work Le partage des mots of Claude Esteban, aiming to analyse the consequences of the author's exile due to the Spanish Civil War. Therefore, we will focus on three main areas. First, the linguistic conflict, which involves the author's inability to deal with the arbitrariness of the sign. Second, the impact that this inability had on Esteban's relationship with his father and how it was reflected in his work. Thirdly, the resolution of that conflict through the acceptance of the inherent duality of being human and the birth of a new form of expression in the author: poetry