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can free themselves from their own mistrust, the only ones who can con-
quer the ground that belongs to them already [53].) This extension of her
own cultural alienation to that of French Canadians continues the satire
and especially the principle of relativity and the revelation it brings to
both cultures. The narrator comes to appreciate and articulate a new-
found freedom (57), not that inherent in her adopted culture but that
gained by the juxtaposition of the two cultures, which leads finally to a
rediscovery or reconfiguration of 'place': 'J'ai trouvé mon lieu, grand-
mère, celui au centre de moi qui donne la solidité pour avancer, j'ai
trouvé mon milieu.' (57; I have found my place, Grandmother, the place
inside that gives me the strength to go forward, I have found my centre
[54].) The notion that finding ones own 'place' and the freedom it entails
does not involve a return to the past but an advancement based on self-
assurance, and a new, broadened cultural experience is a lesson plainly
aimed at the French-Canadian people, not just the Chinese immigrant.
Rose et blanc
, dedicated to the Italian-born francophone playwright
Marco Micone, takes the form of yet another letter, written by a young
French-Canadian woman of Italian descent to her Italian-language
teacher, Ugo Lagorio. A budding writer, she has fallen in love with him
through his works, which express her own thoughts, and through what
she sees as their common ethnic situation, interpreted thus: 'Je suis née
ici, je ne suis pas une immigrante, je veux occuper le territoire. Depuis
que je sais que ce coin de terre est francophone, je refuse de m'extraire
de la majorité dominante, je refuse de stagner dans les rangs des exclus.'
(96; I was born here. I'm not an immigrant, I want to make this land
mine. Since I've realized this place is French-speaking, I refuse to cut
myself off from the majority, I refuse to stagnate in the ranks of the ex-
cluded [85].) Yet despite her desire be 'French-Canadian,' she is equally
determined to remain 'Italian,' which explains her attraction to Lagorio:
'Ce qui nous attend, toi et moi, c'est une perspective peut-être exaltante,
après tout, celle de ne jamais fondre dans l'homogénéité qui endort.'
(97; What awaits us, both of us, is a fate that could be exhilarating: never
melting into the stultifying homogeneity [85].) In short, she is deter-
mined to experience the contradiction of being at once inside and out-
side of the dominant culture, at once unified and diverse, homogeneous
and heterogeneous, which is fast becoming a central issue in this col-
lection of tales. Here, however, the focus is on ethnicity not race, and
the colours of the title apply accordingly: white connotes the nordic
temperament - 'les femmes nées ici sont polaires et acides comme les
pommes d'hiver' (97; the women born here are as cold and bitter as
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