Écrire la danse, danser la vie. 'Ego tango' de Caroline de Mulder

Abstract

Ego tango is the debut novel by a Belgian writer, Caroline de Mulder. In 2010, it won the most significant literary award in the country. The story is set in a closed circle of the Paris tango dancers. The present study examines the original narration of the novel and the construction of the plot, which are both subordinated to the introvert nature of the tango – a dance that becomes an addiction and an obsession. De Mulder’s text is an interesting example of a theoretical problem of the “correspondence of arts,” their mutual overlapping and co-dependence; in this particular case, literature and dance. This concerns both the music and the lyrics of the tangos, which constitute and integral component of the structure of the musical piece and determine the rhythm of the story being told, its atmosphere, mood and type of the relationship between the protagonists. The novel was inspired by the personal experience of the authoress – a tango dancer and was structured in accordance with the nature and the spirit of this dance.

Keywords

• modern Belgian novel
• autofiction
• obsession
• addiction
• correspondence of arts