A comparison between the treatment of the father role in Sartre's "Les Sequestres d'Altona" and Cixous's "Portrait de Dora" ,using psychoanalytical, feminist and gender based perspectives.
Abstract This essay deals with the philosophical themes underlying two of the most influential French plays of the twentieth century, placing them in the context of the latently similar thinking of their authors. From a close reading of a very small sample of their theatrical output, with sustained reference to existentialist, Marxist, and psychoanalytical (that of Irigaray and Levi-Strauss in particular) philosophies, it makes a detailed interpretation of the engagement with bourgeois, patriarchal values the two authors share.
From the Paper "This essay will make a comparative analysis of the treatment of the role of the father in Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Sequestr's d'Altona (1959) and H?l?ne Cixous's Portrait de Dora (1976). At first sight this may seem to be an unusual choice of texts ? one might be justified in wondering where any common ground can lie between the two plays. It is true that Sartre and Cixous seem to have little in common, aside from both being prolific writers who use the largest possible variety of media to communicate the philosophies they hold as being important truths. In terms of their periods of activity, their aims in writing theatre, and most importantly their treatment of the feminine in their work, they are indeed very different. Most importantly as regards the feminine, for as Cranston remarks, He [Sartre] is revolted by women. There is something sickening about all the female characters in Sartre's plays and stories.1 Although Dora is a difficult character, even impenetrable, it could not be said that she is repulsive, as Freud's determination to solve her apparent neurosis shows. Even given the context of their production, though, this essay will seek to show similarities in theme and objective in the two plays. There are, in effect, latent points in common between Cixous's 'theatre of the body' and Sartre's existentialist writing, and this has an important bearing as to the role of the father as being first and foremost the role of a male human being, with sexual desires and sexual desirability. This in turn has important consequences on the notions of subjectivity and the "look" or "gaze" of the "other" - in other words how characters identify themselves through the other characters on stage. This essay will explore these concepts, which are the essence of characterisation in the two plays, examining the consequences of the father's influence in the child's self identification, and the negative outcome that this has. If the role of the father is thus seen in a negative light, then this is not without social and political consequences, and an exploration of the engagement of the two plays in interpreting the social role of the father will form the final part of this essay."
A discussion on how the political and theoretical work of French feminists has been much misunderstood owing to the reader's failure to distinguish between their use of the terms "feminine", "woman" and "women".
Abstract This paper begins with an overview of the problems facing feminist theorists regarding terminology, such as the persistent risk of 'essentializing' woman's culturally specific situation into an immutable truth. It then discusses Kristeva's conception of the culturally and temporally specific woman in "Le Temps Des Femmes" (Women's Time) and compares it with Cixous' work in 'La Jeune Mee' (The Newly Born Woman) in terms of the theorists' similar approaches to the constructed, 'symbolic' woman. It then looks briefy at Simone Beauvoir's early work, "Le Deuxieme Sexe" (The Second Sex), adding her conception of ontology as a perpetual state of becoming and political analysis of woman's situation to the constructivist debate. Finally, it examines Irigaray's more post-structuralist work (including "Speculum" and "Ce Sexe Qui N'en Est Pas Un") in order to discuss the further complication of housing the material aspect of woman within langage.
From the Paper "Kristeva's thought on feminism provides a useful point of departure for a discussion of how a useful feminist understanding of the term woman, especially if taken from an "essentialist" point of view, is far from simple. In her 1982 essay Le temps des femmes , Kristeva postulates that the concept of "woman" desiring men and desired by them is created in the symbolic by the concept of desire founded on a lack with the penis as its major referent. She believes that the "meaning" of the woman object, the female body only exists in the symbolic and that any attempt to deny, or re-traverse the separation between this symbolic nature and something contained within the physical nature of "woman" merely magnifies this separation and perpetuates the myth which allows oppression to occur."
From the Paper "In The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pizan, an Early Modern writer, metaphorically constructs a literary, mythological and historical intellectual space for educated women of her time and after."
Abstract Women have suffered from the effects of discriminatory employment practices throughout the history of America. Women have traditionally earned less and enjoyed fewer management positions than their male counterparts. The reactions from the feminist community in response to this inequitable share of the American pie have caused a number of misperceptions to develop regarding both the intent and the purpose behind the feminist movement. This paper provides an overview of feminist ethics, followed by an assessment of how the issue is viewed by contemporary feminist authors and observers. A summary of the research is provided in the conclusion.
From the Paper "Tong says that in order for women to develop a new sense of identity and purpose, they must adopt some new ways of thinking about how the male and female roles have evolved through the ages, and what effect these roles have had on our society today. Tong makes the point that when hard-pressed, even the most ardent feminist, like a Democrat or Republican, might have a difficult time defining precisely what the term means. For this author, feminism is not a monolithic ideology that is restricted to one aspect of these traditional relationships, rather it is one that must recognize everyone's stake in the outcome."
Tags: Simone, de, Beauvoir, H?l?ne, Cixous, Jean, Genet
Abstract Marguerite Duras has been hailed as one of France's pre-eminent women writers and her work is generally very well received by feminists. Her autobiographical novel "L'Amant" was an international bestseller, and a winner of the Prix Goncourt. It talks about pleasure, death and her desire to write, against the exotic backdrop of thirties Saigon. In examining the main characters and the style in which the book is written this paper aims to uncover whether or not "L'Amant" can be classed as feminist writing.
From the Paper Our first description of the author is not one of a typical beauty; she is sad, creased, wrinkled and cracked. When we next meet her as a young girl she is wearing her brother's belt and a man's hat, she is also skinny with unruly hair. She is not a young girl conforming to patriarchal ideals of beauty; she is in fact quite masculine. This masculinity does not stop at her clothes, she conforms to the masculine stereotype in other ways; in the active role she plays in lovemaking, and in her ambition. Her masculinity is even more pronounced when taken in comparison with the apparent femininity of her lover, the rich Chinese man."
Abstract This paper attempts to critically examine Joanna Russ' following quote: "Our literature is not about women. It is not about women and men equally. It is by and about men". The paper discusses how feminist literary theory can address this state of affairs and what feminist writing and reading as political act would entail.
From the Paper "Russ' claim encompasses that all literature is a direct product of male-centred critical approaches, determined according to male values only. A brief look at the literary canon is enough evidence that 'accepted' or 'civilised high standard' literature is literature written by male, Western and usually dead writers. In English Literature on the Internet Jan Gorak draws a "graphocentric, nationalist, phallophilic and gynophobic picture (...) of the literary canon." He cites that the canon is constructed and outlined by men and largely consists of works by male writers. The fact that females are hardly mentioned in the Western canon should be plenty of evidence that literature is in the grip of patriarchy, and it certainly does not mean that there is lack of feminine writing talent. "
Abstract The paper uses the works of Luce Irigaray to explore the twin towers tragedy as a symbol for the "de-gendering" of our society. The paper discusses the twin towers representing a phallic symbol and the planes crashing into the towers representing castration or emasculation.
From the Paper "Seen through this phallologcentric lens, the events of 911 become re-envisioned as a profoundly visual and profoundly sexual enactment of the "theatricality of tragic events" (Cixous, 42). How many times did each of us watch the replays (the iteration of an objectifying gaze) of the planes plunging into the towers as onlookers screamed in horror at the act itself? It was also, as Irigaray would suggest, a contestation of "linguistic codes" (2002, 79) that culminates, she would challenge, in the kind of essentialist reductionism practiced by Carla in her roundtable contribution. "
