Julia Kristeva (RLE Feminist Theory)

by John Lechte

A leading literary critic and psychoanalyst, Julia Kristeva is one of the most significant French thinkers writing today. In this up-to-date survey of her work, John Lechte outlines fully and systematically her intellectual development. He traces it from her work on Bakhtin and the logic of poetic language in the 1960s, through her influential theories of the ‘symbolic’ and the ‘semiotic’ in the 1970s, to her analyses of horror, love, melancholy and cosmopolitanism in the 1980s. He provides an insight into the intellectual and historical context which gave rise to Kristeva’s thought, showing how thinkers such as Roland Barthes, Emile Benviste and Georges Bataille have been important in stimulating her own reflections. He concludes with an overall assessment of Kristeva’s work, looking in particular at her importance for feminism and postmodern thought in general. Essential reading for all those who wish to extend their understanding of this important thinker, this first full-length study of Kristeva’s work will be of interest to students of literature, sociology, critical theory, feminist theory, French studies and psychoanalysis.

250 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Michael A.]

Lucid introduction to Kristeva. She seems interesting, seemingly a mix (synthesis?) of semiotics (Barthes), linguistics (Beneviste), and Psychoanalysis (Freud & Lacan) and to top it off subtle yet important Bataillean influences. Most people, including me, either know her as a "French feminist" or the person who worked on the abject. But it seems, at least prior to abjection, her main focus was on a psychoanalysis of aesthetics/semiology of poetic language (in this book Mallarme and Lautremont are emphasized). Her application of expenditure to the death drive and "apocalyptic laughter" to cope with the fusion of abjection (horror) and fascination are where the Bataillean themes pop up. I admit I only really am interested in her to see Bataille's influence, but she seems to be a very interesting thinker in her own right. Also, Bataille is definitely a "shadow" of an influence on Kristeva, as he is often called on post-structuralism in general.

[Burcu]

Not only great as a starting point for reading Kristeva but I found this book as a very efficient and understandable summary for Lacan, Barthes, Saussure, and Derrida. I enjoyed how all these favourite authors of mine are connected and melted into Kristeva’s philosophy.

As it is the premise of the book, it’s important to understand Kristeva as a literary theorist and not only as a feminist writer. To be honest, the more I read her the more I like her as a postmodernist than a feminist (although it’s true that her non binary, non hierarchical approach to feminism is also much more inclusive).

On ART: “Kristeva shows that to be challenged by art is to be confronted by the void of non-meaning and the prospect of our own hell, our own suffering caused by a loss of identity including our melancholies and the truly tragic aspect of being. [...] this suffering is also the way to a ‘resurrection’ as a renewal of the self in language.”

[MARIO BASTOS]

In this survey of Julia Kristeva's work, the author outlines her intellectual development, from her work on Bakhtin through her theories of the symbolic and the semiotic to her analysis of horror, love, melancholy and cosmopolitanism.

Blurb of "Julia Kristeva (Critics of the Twentieth Century Series)" Routledge, 1990

Reviews:
“'...sociologist John Lechte now successfully collaborates with cultural and literary theorist Maria Margaroni to reassess Kristeva's early work and to explore the new directions and socio-political concerns of her more recent work.' The European Legacy 11, (4): 2006” – Charlotte Berkowitz,

“'Julia Kristeva: Live Theory is another fine contribution to Continuum's 'Live Theory' series....Lechte and Margaroni succeed in challenging the popular view that the only route into a theorist's work is through the theorist her/himself. This is because the volume they offer does an excellent job of simplifying - and consolidating - to a considerable extent many of Kristeva's often obscure and convoluted ideas. I found particularly sharp, cogent and reqarding John Lechte's interview with Julia Kristeva....this is a remarkably exhilarting book, greater than the sum of its parts, producing an intense conversational space that will easily draw in the perceptive specialist reader.' Akinbola E. Akinwumi, Political Studies Review, 2006, 4 (3)” –
- See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/us/julia-kr...