MAJOR WORKS

Cixous's first published work of criticism was her doctoral thesis, L'exil de James Joyce ou l'art du remplacement (1968; The Exile of James Joyce or the Art of Replacement). In this work she examines Joyce's experimental literary techniques and the ways in which they express his belief in the mutually influential relationship between linguistic and mental structures. She criticizes Joyce, however, for emphasizing a connection between guilt and death; she argues that this leads to the unnecessary paradox, detectable in all of his works, that one must "lose" in order to "gain," kill in order to live. In Prénoms de personne (1974), a collection of essays, Cixous presents psychoanalytic analyses of literary texts by Freud, August Heinrich Hoffman, Kleist, Edgar Allan Poe, and Joyce. These essays deal with the concept of the "unified subject," or the individual's sense of being or "possessing" a distinct, whole personality. In 1975, Cixous published "The Laugh of the Medusa", a well-known essay that examines Freud's concept of castration anxiety. Freud argued that this anxiety stems from a fear of female genitalia, perceived by males at a subconscious level as the result of castration—the female body understood subconsciously as "lacking" a phallus. Freud suggested that the mythical story of Medusa, in which people turn to stone when they look at the snake-covered head of the Gorgon, could be read as addressing this psychoanalytic fear. In "The Laugh of the Medusa" Cixous argues, following many theorists, that this masculine view of women as "lacking" has broad social and political implications and manifestations. The Newly Born Woman consists of three parts: Catherine Clément's essay "The Guilty One," Cixous's "Sorties," and "Exchange," a dialogue between the two authors in which they discuss the similarities and differences in their views on women and writing. Through their readings of various historical, literary, and psychoanalytical texts, the two explore the role played by language in determining women's secondary place in society. They go on to propose that Western culture's repressive language must be replaced with a language of liberation. La venue à l'écriture (1977), co-authored with Annie Leclerc and Madeleine Gagnon, further evinces Cixous's preoccupations with language, psychoanalysis, and feminine pleasure. In her novel Illa (1980) Cixous restructures the story of Persephone and Demeter. The Greek goddess Persephone, according to legend, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (the Roman goddess Ceres, goddess of crops and fertility). She was abducted and raped by Hades and forced to be his wife. Demeter searched for Persephone and, grieving over her disappearance, decided that the land would be infertile until she was reunited with her daughter. Zeus brokered a deal that would allow Persephone to reside with her mother for two-thirds of the year; for the other third she would be imprisoned in Hell with Hades. Greek mythology uses this myth to explain the earth's barren condition during the winter months. In Illa, Cixous highlights the male-dominated, colonizing aspects of this tale and changes the story to reflect a more self-determined, feminist text. In Illa, she celebrates camaraderie among women, underscores women's link with nature, and highlights the feminine goals of love and nonviolence. Entre l'écriture (1986; "Coming to Writing," and Other Essays) collects translations of a number of Cixous's critical works written after 1976, including "Clarice Lispector: An Approach," "Trancredi Continues," and the title essay.