Coming to Writing and Other Essays

Coming to Writing and Other Essays

by HeleneCixous (Author), Deborah Jenson (Editor), SarahCornell (Editor), SusanRubinSuleiman (Editor)

Synopsis

Of Helene Cixous's many and diverse writings, few have been translated into English. This collection presents six essays by one of France's most remarkable contemporary authors. Cixous is known for her work on sexual difference and its relations to literary text. Here she explores the problematics of a feminine mode of writing, basing her method on the premise that differences between the sexes - viewed as a paragdigm for all difference, which is the organizing principle behind identity and meaning - manifest themselves, write themselves, in texts. Tancredi Continues and The Last Painting or the Portrait of God question the enigma of sexual difference and the origins of writing through artistic practices analogous to writing (music and painting). The title essay explores Cixous's decision to become an author and the problems raised by a woman's writing herself into history and into a particular literary and cultural tradition. The remaining essays examine another aspect of her work: her ongoing dialogue with the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector. By the light of an Apple and Clarice Lispector: The Approach are celebrations of Cixous's Brazilian contemporary. In The Author in Truth Cixous quotes passages from Lispector and discusses them in detail, providing a sense of why Lispector has assumed such importance in her life. This volume aims to be of interest not only to scholars who are engaged in the task of understanding Cixous as writer and theorist but to all readers seeking a unique and exciting voice.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 214
Edition: 1st Edition.
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 06 Sep 1991

ISBN 10: 0674144368
ISBN 13: 9780674144361

Media Reviews
Cixous, important as she is as a feminist theorist and activist, is equally important as an accurate emotional sounding board for women everywhere. As such, her articulation of powerful, if delicate, perceptions in lucid prose/poetry compels the attention of European and American readers...The power of her prose is philosophically sound.
The tradition of Cixous's interest in feminine writing and talent at manipulating words continues in this collection. In one essay she describes vividly how she was overcome by the intoxication of writing...Other essays explore the influence of music and gender on writing...and painting. In all cases the language is visual and jewel-like, sparkling with color.
Deborah Jenson judiciously selects from Cixous's output between 1976-89 'Coming to Writing, ' 'Clarice Lispector: The Approach, ' 'Tancredi continues, ' 'The Last Painting or the Portrait of God, ' 'By the Light of an Apple, ' and 'The Author in Truth.' Her perceptive closing essay, together with Susan Suleiman's introduction...trace the umbilical links between Cixous's end-stopped poetic-philosophic prose and her roots which anchor her perilously between two holocausts, Jewish and colonial, and two tongues German and the classical French...These essays highlight a wealth of disparate inspiration... in an ideal guide to Cixous. -- Elizabeth Moles Times Higher Education Supplement UK