Une fissure dans l'édifice colonial: inquiétante étrangeté ou agentivité féminine?Le cas de quatre nouvelles de Maupassant

This article looks at four short stories published by Guy de Maupassant after his first trip to Algeria: "Allouma," "Marroca," "Mohammed-fripouille," and "Un soir." Through an analysis of the representations made of the stories' female characters I argue that those representations conform entirely to the (discursive) model established by colonial literature of the subaltern-woman as seen through the gaze of the White male. Nonetheless, a close reading of the texts reveals that sometimes the illusion of control shatters in such a way that the attentive reader can perceive a different story which, if told, can shake the very foundations of hegemony.