Hélène Cixous
Encyclopedia
Hélène Cixous is a professor
, French feminist
writer
, poet
, playwright
, philosopher
, literary critic
and rhetoric
ian. She holds honorary degrees from Queen's University
and the University of Alberta
in Canada; University College Dublin
in Ireland; the University of York
and University College London
in the UK; and Georgetown University
, Northwestern University
, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. In 2008 she was appointed as A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University
until June 2014.
, French Algeria
, to a German
Ashkenazi Jewish mother and French Pied-noir
Sephardic Jewish father. She earned her agrégation
in English in 1959 and her Doctorat ès lettres
in 1968. Her main focus, at this time, was English literature
and the works of James Joyce
. In 1968, she published L'Exil de James Joyce ou l'Art du remplacement (The Exile of James Joyce, or the Art of Displacement) and the following year she published her first novel, Dedans (Inside), a semi-autobiographical work that won the Prix Médicis
. She is a professor at European Graduate School
in Saas-Fee
, Switzerland
and the University of Paris VIII, whose center for women's studies
, the first in Europe
, she founded.
She has published widely, including twenty-three volumes of poems, six books of essays, five plays, and numerous influential articles. She published Voiles (Veils) with Jacques Derrida
and her work is often considered deconstructive
. In introducing her Wellek Lecture, subsequently published as Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, Derrida referred to her as the greatest living writer in his language (French
). Cixous wrote a book on Derrida titled Portrait de Jacques Derrida en jeune saint juif (Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Young Jewish Saint). Her reading of Derrida finds additional layers of meaning at a phonemic
rather than strictly lexical
level. In addition to Derrida and Joyce, she has written monograph
s on the work of the Brazil
ian writer Clarice Lispector
, on Maurice Blanchot
, Franz Kafka
, Heinrich von Kleist
, Michel de Montaigne
, Ingeborg Bachmann
, Thomas Bernhard
, and the Russia
n poet Marina Tsvetaeva
.
Along with Luce Irigaray
and Julia Kristeva
, Cixous is considered one of the mothers of poststructuralist
feminist theory
.
In the 1970s, Cixous began writing about the relationship between sexuality
and language. Like other poststructuralist feminist theorists, Cixous believes that our sexuality is directly tied to how we communicate in society. In 1975, Cixous published her most influential article "Le rire de la méduse" ("The Laugh of the Medusa"), translated and released in English in 1976. She has published over 70 works; her fiction, dramatic writing and poetry, however, are not often read in English.
, Sigmund Freud
, Jacques Lacan
and Arthur Rimbaud
.
Sigmund Freud established the initial theories which would serve as a basis for some of Cixous' arguments in developmental psychology. Freud's analysis of gender roles and sexual identity concluded with separate paths for boys and girls through the Oedipus complex, theories of which Cixous was particularly critical.
and Cixous both grew up as French Jews in Algeria and share a "belonging constituted of exclusion and nonbelonging"—not Algerian, rejected by France, their Jewishness concealed or acculturated. In Derrida’s family "one never said 'circumcision' but 'baptism,' not 'Bar Mitzvah' but 'communion.’" Judaism cloaked in Catholicism is one example of the undecidability of identity that influenced the thinker whom Cixous calls a "Jewish Saint." Her book Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Young Jewish Saint addresses these matters.
Through deconstruction
, Derrida employed the term logocentrism
(which was not his coinage). This is the concept that explains how language relies on a hierarchical
system that values the spoken word over the written word in Western culture
. The idea of binary opposition
is essential to Cixous' position on language.
Cixous and Luce Irigaray
combined Derrida's logocentric idea and Lacan's symbol for desire, creating the term phallogocentrism
. This term focuses on Derrida's social structure of speech and binary opposition as the center of reference for language, with the phallic being privileged and how women are only defined by what they lack; not A vs. B, but, rather A vs. ¬A (not
-A). However, it should be noted that Cixous’ deployment of the concept of phallogocentrism has been criticised by Prof. W. A. Borody as misrepresenting the complicated history of the philosophies of ‘’indeterminateness’’ in Western culture. In its ideological capacity, Borody argues, the phallogocentric argument functions as a ‘meta-narrative’ that "figures" or "tropes" all of modern Western culture in a denunciatory manner as "phallogocentric"-- in much the same manner, and for many of the same reasons, as the new-world colonialists troped native culture as "savage."
after Cixous donated the entirety of her manuscripts to date. They then featured in the exhibit "Brouillons d'écrivains" held there in 2001.
In 2003, the Bibliothèque held the conference "Genèses Généalogies Genres: Autour de l'oeuvre d'Hélène Cixous". Among the speakers were Mireille Calle-Gruber, Marie Odile Germain, Jacques Derrida, Annie Leclerc, Ariane Mnouchkine, Ginette Michaud, and Hélène Cixous herself.
Dense with literary allusions, "The Laugh of the Medusa" is an exhortation to a "feminine mode" of writing; the phrases "white ink" and "écriture féminine
" are often cited, referring to this desired new way of writing. It is a strident critique
of logocentrism and phallogocentrism, having much in common with Jacques Derrida's earlier thought. The essay also calls for an acknowledgment of universal bisexuality
or polymorphous perversity
, a precursor of queer theory
's later emphases, and swiftly rejects many kinds of essentialism
which were still common in Anglo-American feminism at the time. The essay also exemplifies Cixous's style of writing in that it is richly intertextual
, making a wide range of literary allusions
. In homage to French theorists of the feminine, Laughing with Medusa was published by Oxford University Press in 2006.
Critics have suggested that Cixous's arguments in "The Laugh of the Medusa," rather than liberating women, give ammunition to traditional sexist arguments that women are incapable of rational thought.
Dedans, Grasset, 1969.
Le Troisième Corps, Grasset, 1970.
Les Commencements, Grasset, 1970.
Un vrai jardin, L'Herne, 1971.
Neutre, Grasset, 1972.
Tombe, Le Seuil, 1973.
Portrait du Soleil, Denoël, 1973.
Révolutions pour plus d'un Faust, Le Seuil, 1975.
Souffles, Des femmes, 1975.
La, Gallimard, 1976.
Partie, Des femmes, 1976.
Angst, Des femmes, 1977.
Préparatifs de noces au-delà de l'abîme, Des femmes, 1978.
Vivre l'orange, Des femmes, 1979.
Ananké, Des femmes, 1979.
Illa, Des femmes, 1980.
With ou l'Art de l'innocence, Des femmes, 1981.
Limonade tout était si infini, Des femmes, 1982.
Le Livre de Promethea, Gallimard, 1983.
La Bataille d'Arcachon, Laval, Québec, 1986.
Manne, Des femmes, 1988.
Jours de l'an, Des femmes, 1990.
L'Ange au secret, Des femmes, 1991.
Déluge, Des femmes, 1992.
Beethoven à jamais, ou l'éxistence de Dieu, Des femmes, 1993.
La Fiancée juive, Des femmes, 1997.
OR. Les lettres de mon père, Des femmes, 1997.
Voiles (with Jacques Derrida), Galilée, 1998.
Osnabrück, Des femmes, 1999.
Les Rêveries de la femme sauvage. Scènes primitives, Galilée, 2000.
Le Jour où je n'étais pas là, Galilée, 2000.
Benjamin à Montaigne. Il ne faut pas le dire, Galilée, 2001.
Manhattan. Lettres de la préhistoire, Galilée, 2002.
Rêve je te dis, Galilée, 2003.
L'Amour du loup et autres remords, Galilée, 2003.
Tours promises, Galilée, 2004.
L'amour même dans la boîte aux lettres, Galilée, 2005.
Hyperrêve, Galilée, 2006.
Si près, Galilée, 2007.
Cigüe : vieilles femmes en fleurs, Galilée, 2008.
Philippines : prédelles , Galilée, 2009.
Ève s'évade : la ruine et la vie, Galilée, 2009.
Double Oubli de l'Orang-Outang, Galilée, 2010
, 1971.
Portrait de Dora, Des femmes, 1976.
Le Nom d'Oedipe. Chant du corps interdit, Des femmes, 1978.
La Prise de l'école de Madhubaï, Avant-scène du Théâtre, 1984.
L'Histoire terrible mais inachevée de Norodom Sihanouk, roi du Cambodge, Théâtre du Soleil
, 1985.
Théâtre, Des femmes, 1986.
L'Indiade, ou l'Inde de leurs rêves, Théâtre du Soleil, 1987.
On ne part pas, on ne revient pas, Des femmes, 1991.
Les Euménides d'Eschyle (traduction), Théâtre du Soleil, 1992.
L'Histoire (qu'on ne connaîtra jamais), Des femmes, 1994.
"Voile Noire Voile Blanche / Black Sail White Sail", bilingual, trad. Catherine A.F. MacGillivray, New Literary History 25, 2 (Spring), Minnesota University Press, 1994.
La Ville parjure ou le Réveil des Érinyes, Théâtre du Soleil, 1994.
Tambours sur la digue, Théâtre du Soleil, 1999.
Rouen, la Trentième Nuit de Mai '31, Galilée, 2001.
Le Dernier Caravansérail, Théâtre du Soleil, 2003.
Les Naufragés du Fol Espoir, Théâtre du Soleil, 2010.
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
, French feminist
Feminism in France
Feminism in France has its origins in the French Revolution. A few famous figures emerged during the 1871 Paris Commune, including Louise Michel, Russian-born Elisabeth Dmitrieff, Nathalie Lemel, and Renée Vivien .-French Revolution:...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, philosopher
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, literary critic
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
and rhetoric
Rhetoric
Rhetoric is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the facility of speakers or writers who attempt to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations. As a subject of formal study and a productive civic practice, rhetoric has played a central role in the Western...
ian. She holds honorary degrees from Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
and the University of Alberta
University of Alberta
The University of Alberta is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, it is widely recognized as one of the best universities in Canada...
in Canada; University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
in Ireland; the University of York
University of York
The University of York , is an academic institution located in the city of York, England. Established in 1963, the campus university has expanded to more than thirty departments and centres, covering a wide range of subjects...
and University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
in the UK; and Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
, Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. In 2008 she was appointed as A.D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
until June 2014.
Biography
Hélène Cixous was born in OranOran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
, French Algeria
French Algeria
French Algeria lasted from 1830 to 1962, under a variety of governmental systems. From 1848 until independence, the whole Mediterranean region of Algeria was administered as an integral part of France, much like Corsica and Réunion are to this day. The vast arid interior of Algeria, like the rest...
, to a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Ashkenazi Jewish mother and French Pied-noir
Pied-noir
Pied-Noir , plural Pieds-Noirs, pronounced , is a term referring to French citizens of various origins who lived in French Algeria before independence....
Sephardic Jewish father. She earned her agrégation
Agrégation
In France, the agrégation is a civil service competitive examination for some positions in the public education system. The laureates are known as agrégés...
in English in 1959 and her Doctorat ès lettres
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in 1968. Her main focus, at this time, was English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and the works of James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
. In 1968, she published L'Exil de James Joyce ou l'Art du remplacement (The Exile of James Joyce, or the Art of Displacement) and the following year she published her first novel, Dedans (Inside), a semi-autobiographical work that won the Prix Médicis
Prix Médicis
The Prix Médicis is a French literary award given each year in November. It was founded in 1958 by Gala Barbisan and Jean-Pierre Giraudoux. It is awarded to an author whose "fame does not yet match his talent."...
. She is a professor at European Graduate School
European Graduate School
The European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
in Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee
Saas-Fee is the main village in the Saastal, or the Saas Valley, and is a municipality in the district of Visp in the canton of Valais in Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and the University of Paris VIII, whose center for women's studies
Women's studies
Women's studies, also known as feminist studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field which explores politics, society and history from an intersectional, multicultural women's perspective...
, the first in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, she founded.
She has published widely, including twenty-three volumes of poems, six books of essays, five plays, and numerous influential articles. She published Voiles (Veils) with Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
and her work is often considered deconstructive
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
. In introducing her Wellek Lecture, subsequently published as Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, Derrida referred to her as the greatest living writer in his language (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
). Cixous wrote a book on Derrida titled Portrait de Jacques Derrida en jeune saint juif (Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Young Jewish Saint). Her reading of Derrida finds additional layers of meaning at a phonemic
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
rather than strictly lexical
Lexicon
In linguistics, the lexicon of a language is its vocabulary, including its words and expressions. A lexicon is also a synonym of the word thesaurus. More formally, it is a language's inventory of lexemes. Coined in English 1603, the word "lexicon" derives from the Greek "λεξικόν" , neut...
level. In addition to Derrida and Joyce, she has written monograph
Monograph
A monograph is a work of writing upon a single subject, usually by a single author.It is often a scholarly essay or learned treatise, and may be released in the manner of a book or journal article. It is by definition a single document that forms a complete text in itself...
s on the work of the Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian writer Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector
Clarice Lispector was a Brazilian writer. Acclaimed internationally for her innovative novels and short stories, she was also a journalist...
, on Maurice Blanchot
Maurice Blanchot
Maurice Blanchot was a French writer, philosopher, and literary theorist. His work had a strong influence on post-structuralist philosophers such as Jacques Derrida.-Works:...
, Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
, Heinrich von Kleist
Heinrich von Kleist
Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was a poet, dramatist, novelist and short story writer. The Kleist Prize, a prestigious prize for German literature, is named after him.- Life :...
, Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne
Lord Michel Eyquem de Montaigne , February 28, 1533 – September 13, 1592, was one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance, known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and is popularly thought of as the father of Modern Skepticism...
, Ingeborg Bachmann
Ingeborg Bachmann
Ingeborg Bachmann was an Austrian poet and author.-Biography:Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of a headmaster. She studied philosophy, psychology, German philology, and law at the universities of Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna...
, Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard
Thomas Bernhard was an Austrian novelist, playwright and poet. Bernhard, whose body of work has been called "the most significant literary achievement since World War II," is widely considered to be one of the most important German-speaking authors of the postwar era.- Life :Thomas Bernhard was...
, and the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n poet Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Tsvetaeva
Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva was a Russian and Soviet poet. Her work is considered among some of the greatest in twentieth century Russian literature. She lived through and wrote of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the Moscow famine that followed it. In an attempt to save her daughter Irina from...
.
Along with Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray is a Belgian feminist, philosopher, linguist, psychoanalyst, sociologist and cultural theorist. She is best known for her works Speculum of the Other Woman and This Sex Which Is Not One .-Biography:...
and Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva is a Bulgarian-French philosopher, literary critic, psychoanalyst, sociologist, feminist, and, most recently, novelist, who has lived in France since the mid-1960s. She is now a Professor at the University Paris Diderot...
, Cixous is considered one of the mothers of poststructuralist
Post-structuralism
Post-structuralism is a label formulated by American academics to denote the heterogeneous works of a series of French intellectuals who came to international prominence in the 1960s and '70s...
feminist theory
Feminist theory
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical discourse, it aims to understand the nature of gender inequality...
.
In the 1970s, Cixous began writing about the relationship between sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
and language. Like other poststructuralist feminist theorists, Cixous believes that our sexuality is directly tied to how we communicate in society. In 1975, Cixous published her most influential article "Le rire de la méduse" ("The Laugh of the Medusa"), translated and released in English in 1976. She has published over 70 works; her fiction, dramatic writing and poetry, however, are not often read in English.
Influences on Cixous' writing
Some of the most notable influences on her writings have been Jacques DerridaJacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
, Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
, Jacques Lacan
Jacques Lacan
Jacques Marie Émile Lacan was a French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist who made prominent contributions to psychoanalysis and philosophy, and has been called "the most controversial psycho-analyst since Freud". Giving yearly seminars in Paris from 1953 to 1981, Lacan influenced France's...
and Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
.
Sigmund Freud
PsychoanalystPsychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
Sigmund Freud established the initial theories which would serve as a basis for some of Cixous' arguments in developmental psychology. Freud's analysis of gender roles and sexual identity concluded with separate paths for boys and girls through the Oedipus complex, theories of which Cixous was particularly critical.
Jacques Derrida
Contemporaries, lifelong friends, and intellectuals, Jacques DerridaJacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher, born in French Algeria. He developed the critical theory known as deconstruction and his work has been labeled as post-structuralism and associated with postmodern philosophy...
and Cixous both grew up as French Jews in Algeria and share a "belonging constituted of exclusion and nonbelonging"—not Algerian, rejected by France, their Jewishness concealed or acculturated. In Derrida’s family "one never said 'circumcision' but 'baptism,' not 'Bar Mitzvah' but 'communion.’" Judaism cloaked in Catholicism is one example of the undecidability of identity that influenced the thinker whom Cixous calls a "Jewish Saint." Her book Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Young Jewish Saint addresses these matters.
Through deconstruction
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is a term introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in his 1967 book Of Grammatology. Although he carefully avoided defining the term directly, he sought to apply Martin Heidegger's concept of Destruktion or Abbau, to textual reading...
, Derrida employed the term logocentrism
Logocentrism
Logocentrism is a term coined by German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the 1920s. It refers to the tradition of "Western" science and philosophy that situates the logos, ‘the word’ or the ‘act of speech’, as epistemologically superior in a system, or structure, in which we may only know, or be...
(which was not his coinage). This is the concept that explains how language relies on a hierarchical
Hierarchy
A hierarchy is an arrangement of items in which the items are represented as being "above," "below," or "at the same level as" one another...
system that values the spoken word over the written word in Western culture
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
. The idea of binary opposition
Binary opposition
In critical theory, a binary opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another. It is the contrast between two mutually...
is essential to Cixous' position on language.
Cixous and Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray
Luce Irigaray is a Belgian feminist, philosopher, linguist, psychoanalyst, sociologist and cultural theorist. She is best known for her works Speculum of the Other Woman and This Sex Which Is Not One .-Biography:...
combined Derrida's logocentric idea and Lacan's symbol for desire, creating the term phallogocentrism
Phallogocentrism
In critical theory and deconstruction, phallogocentrism or phallocentrism is a neologism coined by Jacques Derrida to refer to the privileging of the masculine in the construction of meaning....
. This term focuses on Derrida's social structure of speech and binary opposition as the center of reference for language, with the phallic being privileged and how women are only defined by what they lack; not A vs. B, but, rather A vs. ¬A (not
Negation
In logic and mathematics, negation, also called logical complement, is an operation on propositions, truth values, or semantic values more generally. Intuitively, the negation of a proposition is true when that proposition is false, and vice versa. In classical logic negation is normally identified...
-A). However, it should be noted that Cixous’ deployment of the concept of phallogocentrism has been criticised by Prof. W. A. Borody as misrepresenting the complicated history of the philosophies of ‘’indeterminateness’’ in Western culture. In its ideological capacity, Borody argues, the phallogocentric argument functions as a ‘meta-narrative’ that "figures" or "tropes" all of modern Western culture in a denunciatory manner as "phallogocentric"-- in much the same manner, and for many of the same reasons, as the new-world colonialists troped native culture as "savage."
The Bibliothèque nationale de France
In 2000, a collection in Cixous' name was created at the Bibliothèque nationale de FranceBibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
after Cixous donated the entirety of her manuscripts to date. They then featured in the exhibit "Brouillons d'écrivains" held there in 2001.
In 2003, the Bibliothèque held the conference "Genèses Généalogies Genres: Autour de l'oeuvre d'Hélène Cixous". Among the speakers were Mireille Calle-Gruber, Marie Odile Germain, Jacques Derrida, Annie Leclerc, Ariane Mnouchkine, Ginette Michaud, and Hélène Cixous herself.
The Laugh of the Medusa (1975)
This text, originally written in French as Le Rire de la Méduse in 1975, was translated into English by Keith and Paula Cohen in 1976. Cixous is issuing her female readers an ultimatum of sorts: either they can read it and choose to stay trapped in their own bodies by a language that does not allow them to express themselves, or they can use their bodies as a way to communicate.Dense with literary allusions, "The Laugh of the Medusa" is an exhortation to a "feminine mode" of writing; the phrases "white ink" and "écriture féminine
Écriture féminine
Écriture féminine, literally "women's writing," more closely, the inscription of the female body and female difference in language and text, is a strain of feminist literary theory that originated in France in the early 1970s and included foundational theorists such as Hélène Cixous, Monique...
" are often cited, referring to this desired new way of writing. It is a strident critique
Critique
Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic analysis of a written or oral discourse. Critique is commonly understood as fault finding and negative judgement, but it can also involve merit recognition, and in the philosophical tradition it also means a methodical practice of doubt...
of logocentrism and phallogocentrism, having much in common with Jacques Derrida's earlier thought. The essay also calls for an acknowledgment of universal bisexuality
Bisexuality
Bisexuality is sexual behavior or an orientation involving physical or romantic attraction to both males and females, especially with regard to men and women. It is one of the three main classifications of sexual orientation, along with a heterosexual and a homosexual orientation, all a part of the...
or polymorphous perversity
Polymorphous perversity
Polymorphous perversity is a psychoanalytic term for human ability to gain sexual gratification outside socially normative sexual behaviors. Sigmund Freud used this term to describe the normal sexual disposition of humans from infancy to about age five....
, a precursor of queer theory
Queer theory
Queer theory is a field of critical theory that emerged in the early 1990s out of the fields of LGBT studies and feminist studies. Queer theory includes both queer readings of texts and the theorisation of 'queerness' itself...
's later emphases, and swiftly rejects many kinds of essentialism
Essentialism
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described...
which were still common in Anglo-American feminism at the time. The essay also exemplifies Cixous's style of writing in that it is richly intertextual
Intertextuality
Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can include an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another. The term “intertextuality” has, itself, been borrowed and transformed many times since it was coined...
, making a wide range of literary allusions
Allusion
An allusion is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, people, places, events, literary work, myths, or works of art, either directly or by implication. M. H...
. In homage to French theorists of the feminine, Laughing with Medusa was published by Oxford University Press in 2006.
Critics have suggested that Cixous's arguments in "The Laugh of the Medusa," rather than liberating women, give ammunition to traditional sexist arguments that women are incapable of rational thought.
Fiction
Le Prénom de Dieu, Grasset, 1967.Dedans, Grasset, 1969.
Le Troisième Corps, Grasset, 1970.
Les Commencements, Grasset, 1970.
Un vrai jardin, L'Herne, 1971.
Neutre, Grasset, 1972.
Tombe, Le Seuil, 1973.
Portrait du Soleil, Denoël, 1973.
Révolutions pour plus d'un Faust, Le Seuil, 1975.
Souffles, Des femmes, 1975.
La, Gallimard, 1976.
Partie, Des femmes, 1976.
Angst, Des femmes, 1977.
Préparatifs de noces au-delà de l'abîme, Des femmes, 1978.
Vivre l'orange, Des femmes, 1979.
Ananké, Des femmes, 1979.
Illa, Des femmes, 1980.
With ou l'Art de l'innocence, Des femmes, 1981.
Limonade tout était si infini, Des femmes, 1982.
Le Livre de Promethea, Gallimard, 1983.
La Bataille d'Arcachon, Laval, Québec, 1986.
Manne, Des femmes, 1988.
Jours de l'an, Des femmes, 1990.
L'Ange au secret, Des femmes, 1991.
Déluge, Des femmes, 1992.
Beethoven à jamais, ou l'éxistence de Dieu, Des femmes, 1993.
La Fiancée juive, Des femmes, 1997.
OR. Les lettres de mon père, Des femmes, 1997.
Voiles (with Jacques Derrida), Galilée, 1998.
Osnabrück, Des femmes, 1999.
Les Rêveries de la femme sauvage. Scènes primitives, Galilée, 2000.
Le Jour où je n'étais pas là, Galilée, 2000.
Benjamin à Montaigne. Il ne faut pas le dire, Galilée, 2001.
Manhattan. Lettres de la préhistoire, Galilée, 2002.
Rêve je te dis, Galilée, 2003.
L'Amour du loup et autres remords, Galilée, 2003.
Tours promises, Galilée, 2004.
L'amour même dans la boîte aux lettres, Galilée, 2005.
Hyperrêve, Galilée, 2006.
Si près, Galilée, 2007.
Cigüe : vieilles femmes en fleurs, Galilée, 2008.
Philippines : prédelles , Galilée, 2009.
Ève s'évade : la ruine et la vie, Galilée, 2009.
Double Oubli de l'Orang-Outang, Galilée, 2010
Theater
La Pupulle, Cahiers Renaud-Barrault, GallimardÉditions Gallimard
Éditions Gallimard is one of the leading French publishers of books. The Guardian has described it as having "the best backlist in the world". In 2003 it and its subsidiaries published 1418 titles....
, 1971.
Portrait de Dora, Des femmes, 1976.
Le Nom d'Oedipe. Chant du corps interdit, Des femmes, 1978.
La Prise de l'école de Madhubaï, Avant-scène du Théâtre, 1984.
L'Histoire terrible mais inachevée de Norodom Sihanouk, roi du Cambodge, Théâtre du Soleil
Théâtre du Soleil
Le Théâtre du Soleil is a Parisian avant-garde stage ensemble founded by Ariane Mnouchkine, Philippe Léotard and fellow students of the L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in 1964 as a collective of theatre artists. Le Théâtre du Soleil is located at La Cartoucherie, a former munitions...
, 1985.
Théâtre, Des femmes, 1986.
L'Indiade, ou l'Inde de leurs rêves, Théâtre du Soleil, 1987.
On ne part pas, on ne revient pas, Des femmes, 1991.
Les Euménides d'Eschyle (traduction), Théâtre du Soleil, 1992.
L'Histoire (qu'on ne connaîtra jamais), Des femmes, 1994.
"Voile Noire Voile Blanche / Black Sail White Sail", bilingual, trad. Catherine A.F. MacGillivray, New Literary History 25, 2 (Spring), Minnesota University Press, 1994.
La Ville parjure ou le Réveil des Érinyes, Théâtre du Soleil, 1994.
Tambours sur la digue, Théâtre du Soleil, 1999.
Rouen, la Trentième Nuit de Mai '31, Galilée, 2001.
Le Dernier Caravansérail, Théâtre du Soleil, 2003.
Les Naufragés du Fol Espoir, Théâtre du Soleil, 2010.
Essays
- L'Exil de James Joyce ou l'Art du remplacement (doctoral thesis), Grasset, 1969.
- Prénoms de personne, Le Seuil, 1974.
- The Exile of James Joyce or the Art of Replacement (translation by Sally PurcellSally PurcellSally Purcell was a British poet and translator. She produced several English translations of poetry and literary works, including the first English translation of Hélène Cixous's The Exile of James Joyce or the Art of Replacement, and published at least six volumes of her own...
of L'exil de James Joyce ou l'Art du remplacement). New York: David Lewis, 1980. - Un K. Incompréhensible : Pierre Goldman, Christian Bourgois, 1975.
- La Jeune Née, with Catherine Clément, 10/18, 1975.
- La Venue à l'écriture, with Madeleine Gagnon and Annie Leclerc, 10/18, 1977.
- Entre l'écriture, Des femmes, 1986.
- L'Heure de Clarice Lispector, Des femmes, 1989.
- Photos de racines, with Mireille Calle-Gruber, Des femmes, 1994.
- Portrait de Jacques Derrida en Jeune Saint Juif, Galilée, 2001.
- Rencontre terrestre, with Frédéric-Yves Jeannet, Galilée, 2005.
- Le Tablier de Simon Hantaï, 2005.
- Insister. À Jacques Derrida, Galilée, 2006.
- Le Voisin de zéro : Sam Beckett, Galilée, 2007
See also
- List of deconstructionists
- Jean-Louis de RamburesJean-Louis de RamburesJean-Louis Vicomte de Bretizel Rambures was a French journalist, author, translator of literature, literary critic, and cultural attaché.- Life :...
, "Comment travaillent les écrivains", Paris 1978 (interview with H. Cixous)
External links
- Hélène Cixous Faculty Profile @ European Graduate SchoolEuropean Graduate SchoolThe European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland is a privately funded graduate school founded by the non-profit European Foundation of Interdisciplinary Studies. Its German name is Europäische Universität für Interdisziplinäre Studien...
with biography and bibliography. - Julie Jaskin. An introduction to Cixous
- Mary Jane Parrine. Stanford Presidential Lectures' Cixous page
- Elmer G. Wiens. Strategies of Difference and Opposition. Hélène Cixous' writing strategy of écriture féminine.
- Carola Hilfrich. Hélène Cixous Biography at Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia