Hélène Cixous
Hélène Cixous is a prominent French literary figure, born on June 5, 1937, in Oran, Algeria, during French colonial rule. She has a rich multicultural background, with a French father and an Austro-German mother, and she was educated primarily in France, where she developed her expertise in English literature. Cixous's academic career began in the 1960s, serving as a professor at various institutions, including the University of Bordeaux and the Sorbonne in Paris. Her literary contributions span novels, essays, and critiques, with a notable focus on feminist themes and the portrayal of women's experiences.
Among her most significant works is the influential essay "Le Rire de la Meduse" (The Laugh of the Medusa), published in 1975, which argues for the recognition of women's perspectives in literature. Cixous coined the term "feminine writing" to highlight the differences in how male and female authors perceive and express reality. Throughout her career, she has championed the inclusion of women writers in the literary canon and engaged in collaborations with other feminist thinkers. As of 2024, she has authored over seventy books, with her most recent works reflecting on the human condition. Her contributions have garnered international recognition, positioning her as a central figure in feminist literary criticism.
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Hélène Cixous
Professor
- Born: June 5, 1937
- Place of Birth: Oran, Algeria
Biography
Hélène Cixous was born on June 5, 1937, in Oran, Algeria, when Algeria was still a French colony. Her father was of French descent, and her mother was of Austro-German origin. She grew up speaking both French and German, and most of her education took place in France. While a university student, she studied English literature, and she wrote her doctoral dissertation on the Irish writer James Joyce. She defended her dissertation in 1968. She married in 1959. She gave birth to two children before her divorce in 1965. In 1962, she became a professor of English literature at the University of Bordeaux. Three years later, she accepted a position as a professor of English at the Sorbonne in Paris. Since 1965, she has taught at various campuses of the University of Paris. In the late 1960s, she became acquainted with such major French philosophers and literary critics such as Gérard Genette, Tzvetan Todorov, and Michel Foucault. She continued to publish on English-language writers, but she also began writing novels and social criticism on the exploitation of women in contemporary societies. She published her first novel in 1969, Dedans (Inside). She then published a trilogy of fiction works between 1970 and 1972: The Troisième Corps (1970), Les Commencements (1970), and Neutre (1972).
In 1974, she created at the University of Paris a research center on women writers and also launched with Tzvetan Todorov the scholarly journal Poétique, which has published numerous influential studies on social and literary criticism. She helped to expand the canon of French literature to include more women writers. She wrote several essay collections on women and sexuality. She soon became an influential French feminist, and she created the term “feminine writing” in order to encourage readers to consider the possibility that men and women writers may well have different subjective perceptions of reality. After 1977, feminism increasingly became the focus of her writing. Cixous soon became one of the most respected literary and social critics in France. Her influence extended to the English-speaking world because she also writes in English, and many of her major works have been translated into English. She collaborated with many other feminist writers, including Madeleine Gagnon, Annie Leclerc, Catherine Clément, and wrote about her contemporary, Clarice Lispector.
By 2024, Cixous had written more than seventy books. She continued to write into her mid-eighties, publishing Revoir in 2021. She released Well Kept Ruins in English in 2022, in which she reflects on the human condition. The book is considered to be part memoir and part novel. As of 2024, Cixous's best-known work was likely the feminist essay "Le Rire de la Meduse" (The Laugh of the Medusa), originally published in 1975. The essay exemplifies a writing style used by a woman to write an essay for women. In the essay, Cixous explains how culture mostly reflects the male perspective. According to DW (Deutsche Welle) and other publications, Cixous was a strong contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Bibliography
Cixous, Hélène. The Hélène Cixous Reader. Ed. Susan Sellers. New York: Routledge, 1994. Print.
Cixous, Hélène. The Portable Cixous. Ed. Marta Segarra. New York: Columbia UP, 2010. Print.
Grenier, Elizabeth. "Why 'The Laugh of the Medusa' Remains Influential Today." DW Culture, 5 June 2023, www.dw.com/en/why-the-laugh-of-the-medusa-remains-influential-today/a-65785050. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.
Hilfrich, Carola. "Hélène Cixous b. 1937." Jewish Women's Archive. Jewish Women's Archive, 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Porte, Rebecca Ariel. "Hélène Cixous, a Poet Among Theorists." The Nation, 6 Dec. 2023, www.thenation.com/article/culture/helene-cixous-well-kept-ruins/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2024.