From the Inverted Alter Ego to the Chimera-Self Mélusine, André Breton and Armenia

The poet's quest for identity is realized in André Breton’s works through a projection on a female figure which takes the form of the fairy Mélusine in the poetic story Arcane 17. However, his rewriting of the myth is part of an Armenian constellation which is constituting itself in the life of the poet at the same time. The search for the inverted alter ego leads to the chimera-self through which we can hear the echo of the founder of Lusignan’s kingdom.