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= __HÉLÈNE CIXOUS __ = __**iNTROduction: **__ Héléne Cixous is a well known French Professor of Feminism who has written many Feminist theory articles. Her success within the world of literary criticism was achieved during the second wave of feminism, as she put forward her thoughts and ideas regarding the place of women in society. Cixous’ writings are said to be heavily influenced by critics such as Sigmund Freud, Jacques Derrida and Franz Kafka. She often writes about the focus on phallocentrism (and her distaste of this) as well as other popular theories such as the “Oedipus Complex.”

__**BRIEF BIOGRAPHY: **__  Héléne was on June 5, 1937 in Oran, Algeria. She attended school in France and studied English Literature. While studying, she focused on the works of William Shakespeare, who often portrays women in an interesting light and could be considered a male feminist to some. She married in 1959, had two children and pursued her Doctorate which she received in 1968. From there, she went on to teach at various Universities such as the University of Paris VIII. During this time Cixous published various fiction novels- //Le Troisième Corps// (1970; The Third Body), //Les Commencements// (1970; “Beginnings”), and //Neutre// (1972; “Neuter”). This was just the beginning for Héléne Cixous because her true popularity came shortly after once she began publishing articles from a strong feminists perspective. Cixous is considered to be one of the “mothers of feminine theory.” She is still alive, but has not published any literary works since 1991. Cixous often gives public lectures aside from the ones that she gives at the European Graduate School.



media type="youtube" key="ZKUQWv0irVw?fs=1" height="390" width="480" "**Censor the body and you censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself. Your body must be heard.**" ﻿ - Héléne Cixous
 * __HER POINT OF VIEW: __**

Most theorists are typically deemed as convoluted and difficult to decipher. But, there is usually one or two poignant messages that they wish for their readers to pull from their works. In the case of Cixous, her main focus is on a political and feminist aspects of criticism. Although she has written many novels and plays, Cixous is known best for writing about feminist subjects and stating her opinions on the matter. Since she does look to theorists such as Derrida for inspiration, there is sense of Deconstruction work within her theory pieces. Cixous enjoys examining topics from multiple angles and offering the reader many ways to think.

In focusing on Héléne Cixous’ main ideas, she often writes about women understanding themselves both inside and out. These academic writings were produced in the mid 1970’s during the second wave of feminism. In an interview conducted in 1996, Cixous stated that her theoretical writing must “respond to a moment of tension in cultural current events, where the ambient state of discourse - academic discourse, for example, or journalistic or political discourse - has pushed me to go back over things, to stop my journey and take the time to emphasize, to display in a didactic manner the thinking movement which for me was indissociable from my poetic movement, but which seemed to me to be entirely misunderstood, forgotten or repressed indeed by the topical scene” (O’Grady). In essence, this means that because feminism was a prominent topic when Cixous became known for her writings, it was simply because the topic was being focused on and considered important to the author that she wrote about them. Cixous still speaks about the subject of feminism because the ideas she contributed in the past are so unique and interesting to discuss.

Overall, Cixous emphasizes the fact that theory does not play a part in her “poetic rhythm” meaning her works aside from those categorized as academic.

__**"LAUGH OF THE MEDUSA": **__ “Laugh of the Medusa” is the most popular and referenced work that Cixous has composed. It was published in the summer of 1976 in the academic journal //Signs.// The article was written in Cixous’ native language of French and translated in English by Keith and Paula Cohen. The idea that is talked about a lot throughout the article is that “woman must write woman” and “woman must write herself.” This concept seems to express that only women can truly express themselves and it is not man that can do so. Women must take this responsibility and speak out for themselves to gain the confidence that men seem to innately command due to the patriarchal society we live in. She seems to essentially say that men are the force behind women hating women. They are also the reason why women feel that they cannot speak out for themselves. Within this text, Cixous also touches base with Derrida’s “Signification of the Phallus” and how he relates the penis and love between a man and a woman or familial love. Cixous deconstructs this piece, giving her own reading and opinion at the same time. Derrida’s “Signification” is pretty straightforward by itself, but Cixous encourages other ideas and displays her distaste of some of his ideas. She pokes fun at the idea, and relates the phallus to writing. The last subject that Cixous writes about is //Other// love, which might sound odd but is really a reiteration of everything else that she has said up to this point. The last line of this article is “In one another we will never be lacking.”

__**<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">OPINIONS ON CIXOUS: **__

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Many scholars have dissected the works of Cixous and even published “readers” or guides to her works. It is as though they have a secret map to navigate the thoughts and ideas of this theorist. Some critics feel that Cixous is a bit hasty when she speaks about misogyny and equal rights between men and women. Click here for a video in which Cixous discusses the right of men and women within France, specifically. This video is from November 2010 and many people feel that her opinions now are not appropriate since women have come so far since the second wave of feminism (Cixous’ high point).

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">While some might find that Cixous current approach in the present day to be too aggressive, there were those in the midst of the 1970’s who found her work to be inspiring. But, then again, not everyone can be happy and in an article published in the academic journal SubStance in 1977, one woman could not help but to express her distaste for Cixous. She thought that Cixous played women as victims who needed to be set free, in turn placing them beneath men automatically. Even if one person does not agree with Cixous’ ideas, it is undeniable that her literary theory approaches are spot on from a technical aspect. Cixous has been noted in that she always argues from every aspect, proving her points in more than one way.



<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">All images courtesy of Pinterest.com
 * __<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">SOURCES: __**

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Cameron, Beatrice. "Letter to Hélène Cixous." SubStance 7.17 (1977): 159-65. JSTOR. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <[|__http://www.jstor.org/stable/3684576__]>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">Cixous, Helene. "The Laugh of the Medusa." Trans. Keith Cohen and Paula Cohen. Signs 1.4 (1976): 875-93. JSTOR. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <[|__http://www.jstor.org/stable/3173239__]>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">"Guardian of Language: An Interview with Hélène Cixous." Interview by Kathleen O'Grady. Trinity College, Mar. 1996. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <[|__http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/wstudies/cixous/index.html__]>.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; letter-spacing: 0px; margin: 0px;">"Hélène Cixous Biography." Biography. Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2010. Web. 17 Apr. 2011. <[|__http://www.biography.com/articles/Hélène-Cixous-40698__]>.

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