Rewriting the Writing Mother in Marie Darrieussecq\u27s Le Bébé

This article studies the innovative maternal portrait in Marie Darrieussecq\u27s Le Bébé (2002), the autobiographical story of a mother\u27s first nine months with her newborn son. It also examines how Darrieussecq engages in the riveting debate surrounding maternal creativity. On the one hand, Le Bébé is a success story, one that attests to the victories of the feminist movement. On the other hand, the text examines the new challenges of today\u27s writing mothers. Throughout the work, the mother as scientist analyzes her developing child while the nurturing mom pens her joys, discoveries, and difficulties. The article concludes that because the researcher is also the mother, and because this marriage of roles in relation to one’s own child is somewhat jarring, Darrieussecq achieves a striking and truly contemporary maternal portrait