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Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection
Kristeva is one of the leading voices in contemporary French criticism, on a par with such names as Genette, Foucault, Greimas and others.
Powers of Horror is an excellent introduction to an aspect of contemporary French literature which has been allowed to become somewhat neglected in the current emphasis on paraphilosophical modes of discourse. (Paul de Man)
Powers of Horror is an excellent introduction to an aspect of contemporary French literature which has been allowed to become somewhat neglected in the current emphasis on paraphilosophical modes of discourse. (Paul de Man)
Paperback, 1st edition European Perspectives Series, 219 pages
Published
July 15th 1982
by Columbia University Press
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Kristeva, like most of the French theorists of her era, is somewhat hit or miss: at times, as in her analysis of Proust or her work on the early novel, she's amazing. Other times, such as her own works of fiction, she's quite lackluster and some of her scholarship on the social psychology of contemporary Europe seems like overly obvious observations cast into florid language. In Powers of Horror though she's at her finest, drawing on her dual careers as a practicing psychoanalyst and a linguist....more
Neil and Elodie
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone whose thoughts are as tortured as mine
In Pouvoirs de l'horreur Kristeva explores abjection, a condition which is fundamental in the formation of identity, where the "abject" subject acts in a transgressive revolt of the Oedipal (sexual) identity and of the sexual specificity. Closely related to narcissism, abjection can thereby be equated to Lacan's mirror formation, and women, not men, are even more structurally closer to abjection throughout their lives. Abjection for women is an ongoing struggle, one that brings into...more
Eirin
rated it
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in psychoanalysis and complex (literature) theory
Recommended to Eirin by:
My professor in literature theory
One of the heaviest theory-books I've ever read; starting the first chapter I was ready to give up, but couldn't, due to the fact that I had to write a report on it. At times I felt like crying, especially after having dragged myself through fifty pages in six to eight hours and I felt like I'd understood nothing at all.
But it was so gratifying to get through it. Kristeva's language is beautiful (even translated into English), so that made a lot of it almost delightful to read. Some...more
But it was so gratifying to get through it. Kristeva's language is beautiful (even translated into English), so that made a lot of it almost delightful to read. Some...more
I’m a little nonplussed here, after reading two pages I thought this was going to be a good read, a slow read, but a good one. After the two pages my enthusiasm, interest, and attention wandered all over the place. I couldn’t find an argument, so I ventured on in search of pathos, after not really giving much kudos to any of the readings to writers I am very fond of – Dostovesky, Proust, Celine – I skim read the rest looking for anything of interest.
After spending several years rea
Reading this book makes you feel like you're uncovering the darkest, most sinister secrets of the universe. In fact, I'm fairly certain I read somewhere that the first edition of Powers of Horror was bound in human flesh and inked in blood, but I might be thinking of something else.
Admittedly, parts of it will be near-incomprehensible the first time through (unless you wrote your dissertation on Lacan, I suppose). But you'll more than likely be goaded into a second reading anyway...more
Admittedly, parts of it will be near-incomprehensible the first time through (unless you wrote your dissertation on Lacan, I suppose). But you'll more than likely be goaded into a second reading anyway...more
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The only real downside to this book is that reading it requires you to translate every damn thing from Freud to Makes-Sense. To be clear: there's a high amount of Makes-Sense in this book, but it requires you to read each instance of the word "phallus," for example, as "concept of the law," etc.
I'd be interested in seeing what someone from a non-psychoanalytic background could do with the basic ideas in this book...
I'd be interested in seeing what someone from a non-psychoanalytic background could do with the basic ideas in this book...
I was reading this for research towards my thesis and I found it really easy to read (for someone not from a psychology background). Her ideas and messages came across without a bunch of buzzwords us poor laymen can't decipher, so if you're after some info on abjection theory but are a little daunted by the usual langage is psychology texts I'd say this is definitely the way to go.
That said the actual content of the theory is quite heavy and complex but the language certainly makes i...more
That said the actual content of the theory is quite heavy and complex but the language certainly makes i...more
Read part for class. Heavy, but fascinating. Want to go back and read the whole thing.
Will read again and again and again.
I felt in the dark on much of her terminology. Too bad--I am very interested in "the abject" as a psychological state or character of performance/art, and was hoping for solid gold from this book, but I am afraid I don't have the necessary background. Any tips?
I'll have to reread it at some point. I like that word, "Abject".
I'm probably missing a lot.
I'll have to reread it at some point. I like that word, "Abject".
I'm probably missing a lot.
Hmmm. I feel like a lot has been made out of Kristeva's account of the abject but it only took up like twenty pages or so that interested me. I don't know. It seemed like McClintock's summary of it or cultural studies' application of it is more interesting than the original theory it seeems.
Michelle Metzer
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in Philosophy
I would have never picked up this book had it not been for my Feminist Philosophy class, but I learned a great deal from it. Kristeva takes an interesting approach to explaining abjection and how it relates to other disciplines. You need time to sit down and read it because it is complex.
If I could recommend one book on literary theory to people who aren't otherwise interested in the field, it would probably be this one. Moving, thoughtful and well-written; it can change the way you experience reading.
Julia Kristeva shares with Marguerite Duras the role of my favorite female author. I can't really even begin to share the impact that her writing has had on me and on my creative work as a visual artist.
Beautifully written and completely impossible to understand at times. I still don't get why sperm isn't abject...I don't know. If you like reading about poop, this is the book for you.
Masterpiece on the notion of cleaness and filthiness. The language is not easy, but it's worth spending a lot of time digesting her analysis. Psychoanalytic background required.
Great book for any kind of scholarly work where you need to define abjection. Interesting, a little tough at times to get through. Useful...
This book is like a knot with perfect little shining threads that might sense when you can extricate them-- or not. Still- it fascinates me.
This is one of the most important pieces of writing to me in reference to my artwork....brilliant!!
No matter what else I learn, I keep coming back to this book...
An intense examination on the ab-ject, and what the ab-ject means to art and existence, Kirsteva manages to produce an eloquent theory on the nature of ab-jection, why we do it, and where it comes from. This book produces an elegant method of relearning the stakes present in language, image, love, sex, and everything else to which there is a balance of light/dark, shadow/light, object/abject.
her elucidation of the way in which the new testament inverted the old testament's symbolic order was really striking. dense and not for everyone, but great.
Brilliant.
Jared Houston
marked it as to-read
Vassilchik
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Robin Graham
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Stuart
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Julia Kristeva is a French psychoanalyst, sociologist, critic and philosopher. She researches on psychoanalysis of the Lacanian tradition, and has interest in semiotics. She also founded the Simone de Beauvoir Prize.
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“When the starry sky, a vista of open seas, or a stained-glass window shedding purple beams fascinate me, there is a cluster of meaning, of colors, of words, of caresses, there are light touches, scents, sighs, cadences that arise, shroud me, carry me away, and sweep me beyond the things I see, hear, or think, The "sublime" object dissolves in the raptures of a bottomless memory. It is such a memory, which, from stopping point to stopping point, remembrance to remembrance, love to love, transfers that object to the refulgent point of the dazzlement in which I stray in order to be.”
—
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