In uncertain terms: mothering without guilt in Marie Darrieussecq’s 'Le Mal de mer' and Christine Angot’s 'Léonore, toujours'

This article addresses the issue of maternal guilt, by focusing on contemporary French literature - 'Le Mal de mer' (1999) by Marie Darrieussecq and 'Léonore, toujours' (1994) by Christine Angot, in which mothers refuse to compromise their own needs. It argues that, in their respective expressions of what is arguably guilt-free mothering, both texts using uncertainty tempt the readers’ judgement of the mothers’ mothering, on the one hand, while, on the other, they work against the formulation of a negative judgement. Thus they confront readers with their own prejudices and invite a productive interrogation of mothering itself.