Anaïs Nin, Fictionality and Femininity

by Helen Tookey

Helen Tookey examines the work of Anaïs Nin (1903-77)-- and the different versions of Nin herself, as woman, writer, and iconic figure--through the lens of cultural and historical contexts. She focuses particularly on questions of identity and femininity, exploring how the self, for Nin, is constructed through narratives and performances of various kinds, and shedding light on key issues and conflicts within feminist thinking since the 1970s, particularly questions of identity, femininity, and psychoanalysis.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published March 27, 2003

About the author

Helen Tookey was born near Leicester in 1969. She studied philosophy and literature at university and has worked in academic publishing, as a university teacher, and as a freelance editor. Her short collection Telling the Fractures, a collaboration with photographer Alan Ward, was published by Axis Projects in 2008. Her verse was anthologised in New Poetries V (Carcanet, 2011). Missel-Child (Carcanet, 2013), is her first full collection.

Reviews

[Poupeh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-done comprehensive analysis of Anais Nin, her life and her work, from different angles and using views of different scholars.