La—The (Feminine)

The first of three passages from La—“The (Feminine)”—published in 1976, offers a portrait of the feminine writer. Depicted as beyond censorship, feminine writing ¹ is described as having the capacity to circumvent “reason” labeled here as an “enemy” of life.” Drawing on the resources of the unconscious, in tune with the body’s needs and pleasures, feminine writing is rooted in a liberating love. Humor is its keynote; its time the present including the acceptance, rather than refusal, of our inevitable death. Its purpose is transmission leading to growth, and a celebration of life in the face of death. As Cixous puts it, feminine writing is the art of “singing the abyss.”