Odysseus and Bagdad: Eric‐Emmanuel Schmitt’s Ulysse from Bagdad and Yasmina Khadra’s Les Sirènes de Bagdad

Abstract

This article examines the symbolic representation of the journey of the common hero and his relationship with Odysseus in Les Sirènes de Bagdad by Y. Khadra (2006) and Ulysse from Bagdad by É.‐E. Schmitt (2008) by analysing some common motifs: the title as allusion, the new setting and classical references — mostly explicit and reiterated — to inner exile, loss of identity, the impossible return and hospitality.