Exile writers often deal with such motifs as doppelgangers, mirror images, and the mirror as a symbol of questioning one's own identity. Some examples are the novel "Lisas Zimmer" by Hilde Spiel (1965; original title "The darkened Room", 1961) and poems by Berthold Viertel collected in "Der Lebenslauf" (1946). Spiel's characters are mirror images: While attractive Lisa gradually wastes away in exile in New York and perceives her life as utterly fragmented, Lele, who fled Latvia, develops into a pretty young woman and finally replaces Lisa at her American husband's side. In contrast to Lisa, Lele apparently manages to settle into American society. Viertel's poems convey a sense of spiritual affinity to exiles such as Lisa or Spiel herself: Many of her works are also about split identity, losses due to exile and one's own fault and longing for what is irretrievably lost. © Klincksieck. Tous droits réservés pour tous pays.

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