Helene Cixous

This book is a clear and accessible introduction to the writings of Helene Cixous, novelist, dramatist and critic, whose work has had a major impact on feminist theory and practice. Susan Sellers, a major scholar on Cixous, provides a lucid account of Cixouss theoretical position, and in particular her distinctive theory of an écriture féminine. She discusses the development of Cixouss literary oeuvre in the context of this theory, and analyses a selection of the works in detail to illustrate the different stages in Cixouss writing career. Focusing on the key novels and plays, Sellers explores a range of issues and themes central to her work; the correlation between the death of Cixouss own father and her coming-into-being as a writer; the psychological process of separation and individuation and the creation of a female authorial self; the discovery of the other and the dramatization of love; the delineation/depiction of an alternative form of relationship between self and other which would have a significance in a wider sphere than that of the merely personal. This much-needed book will be welcomed by students in literature and literary theory, feminism and womens studies, English and French studies and philosophy.