This study will explore the theme of transculturation in Francophone Mauritian writing through a critical reading of the metaphor of \u27le voile\u27 in Ananda Devi\u27s Le Voile de Draupadi. At one level, the study will examine the myth of Draupadi\u27s veil within the cultural context of Hindu mythology and its interpretation and contribution to the constitution of a Hindu identity in Mauritius. At another level the reading of the veil will be juxtaposed against the wider linguistic and literary context of Francophone literatures where the term \u27voile\u27 takes on a different religious, cultural and political significance. Ananda Devi\u27s narrative is a site of creative contestation and exposes the complex and dynamic nature of exclusion and marginality in the multi-lingual, multi-racial and multi-religious Mauritian society. The essay will argue that \u27le voile\u27, a metaphor for women\u27s oppression in literary convention in Francophone writing, is translated by Ananda Devi into a metaphor for regenerative tension in the construction of a Hindu identity in Mauritius
