Stigmata: Escaping Texts

by Hélène Cixous

Overview

A 'wilful extremist' according to the London Times, Hélène Cixous is hailed as one of the most formidable writers and thinkers of our time. Acclaimed by luminaries such as Jacques Derrida, her writing has nonetheless been misunderstood and misread, to a surprising extent. With the inclusion of Stigmata, one of her greatest works into the Routledge Classics series, this is about to change. Questions that have long concerned her – the self and the other, autobiographies of writing, sexual difference, literary theory, post-colonial theory, death and life – are explored here, woven into a stunning narrative. Displaying a remarkable virtuosity, the work of Cixous is heady stuff indeed: exciting, powerful, moving, and dangerous.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781134282692
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/01/2005
Series:	Routledge Classics
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	927 KB

About the Author

Hélène Cixous (1937- ) Born in Algeria, Cixous spent her childhood in France. Known for her experimental writing that crosses the traditional limits of academic discourse into poetic language, she is equally well known for her work in education and as a novelist and a playwright.

Table of Contents

Reading in painting 1 Bathsheba or the interior Bible 2 Without end, no, State of drawingness, no, rather: The Executioner’s taking Off, Ringing in the feminine hour 3 In October 1991… 4 Hiss of the axe 5 What is it o’clock? or The door (we never enter) 6 Love of the wolf 7 ‘Mamãe, disse ele,’ or Joyce’s second hand Going off writing 8 Unmasked! 9 Writing blind: conversation with the donkey 10 My Algeriance, in other words: to depart not to arrive from Algeria From my menagerie to Philosophy 11 Shared at dawn 12 Stigmata, or Job the dog

Editorial Reviews

Cixous, author of more than 30 books of fiction, essays, and plays and professor of literature at the University of Paris 8, which she helped found in 1968, describes this work as an autobiographical narrative. One of the scant autobiographical facts she mentions is that her father, a Jewish physician, chose to raise his family in an Arab neighborhood in Algeria rather than a French one. As long as her father lived, the family was treated with respect, but when he died, she claims that the Arabs spurned the family because of their " `jewfrenchness,' a double original sin." Cixous's essays reveal her vast erudition, covering topics as diverse as sexual difference, postcolonial theory, literary theory, love, life, and death. In one essay, her analysis of the works of James Joyce and Clarice Lispector are especially insightful. This is fascinating reading, especially for comparative literature and other scholars.--Robert T. Ivey, Univ. of Memphis

Library Journal

'Stigmata's sample of offerings brings the reader up to date with her current concerns [and] make[s] a worthwhile contribution to Cixous studies . . . undoubtedly of value to those students, teachers and researchers who are interested in her rich body of writing.' - Gill Rye, Women's Philosophy Review

From the Publisher