The Portable Cixous

by Hélène Cixous, Marta Segarra

Overview

Hélène Cixous is more than an influential theorist. She is also a groundbreaking author and playwright. Combining an idiosyncratic mix of autobiographical and fictional narrative with a host of philosophical and poetic observations, Cixous's writing matches the kaleidoscopic nature of her thought, offering new ways of conceptualizing sex, relationships, identity, and the self, among other topics.

Yet, as Jacques Derrida once observed, a "profound misunderstanding" hangs over the accomplishments of Cixous, with many believing the intellectual excelled only at theoretical exploration. Providing a truly liberal selection of her writings from throughout her career, Marta Segarra rediscovers Cixous's acts of invention for a new generation to enjoy. Divided into thematic concerns, these works fully capture Cixous's genius for merging fiction, theory, and the experience of living. They discuss dreaming in the feminine, Algeria and Germany, love and the other, the animal, Derrida, and the theater. They defy classification, locking literature, philosophy, and psychoanalysis into thrilling new patterns of engagement. Whether readers are familiar with Cixous or are approaching her thought for the first time, all will find fresh perspectives on gender, fiction, drama, philosophy, religion, and the postcolonial.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231145312
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	01/08/2010
Series:	European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Marta Segarra is professor of French studies and feminist theory and director of the Center for Women and Literature at the University of Barcelona. She is also associate scholar of the Centre de recherche en études féminines at the University of Paris 8, where she teaches in a program founded by Hélène Cixous.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Hélène Cixous: Blood and Language
1. Writing and Dreaming the Feminine
1. The Laugh of the Medusa (1975)
2. Coming to Writing (1976)
3. Tales of Sexual Difference (1990)
2. The Origins: Algeria and Germany
4. A Real Garden (1971)
5. Osnabrück (1999)
6. Letter-Beings and Time (2007)
3. Love (and) the Other
7. Lemonade Everything Was So Infinite (1982)
8. Love of the Wolf (1994)
9. On February 12, I committed an Error (2005)
4. The Animal
10. Dedication to the Ostrich (1988)
11. Messiah (1996)
12. My Three-Legged Dog (2000)
5. Derrida
13. Second Skin (2001)
14. On Style (A Question to H. Cixous and J. Derrida) (2004)
15. Today (2006)
6. The Theater of Hélène Cixous: Re-memberings, Refashionings, and Revenants
16. The Name of Oedipus: Song of the Forbidden Body, Twelfth Movement (1979)
17. The Indiad or India of Their Dreams, Act 1, Scene 2 (1988)
18. Rouen, the Thirtieth Night of May '31, Vignette 4: The Trial (2001)
19. The Blindfolded Fiancée or Amelait, Scenes 5 and 6 (2004)
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

Verena Conley

The Portable Cixous gives to its public a clear sense of Hélène Cixous's breadth and diversity. It also attests to her prodigious talents as a poet and writer.

— Verena Conley, Harvard University

Elissa Marder

A carefully organized and edited collection that enables a better understanding of the rich, profound, and diverse works comprising Hélène Cixous's extraordinary oeuvre.

— Elissa Marder, Emory University