Reading Kristeva: Unraveling the Double-bind - Tapa dura

...a thorough, detailed, and critical analysis of the writings of Julia Kristeva. - Elizabeth Grosz. The complex and provocative theories of the French philosopher and psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva are clearly and thoroughly explicated by Kelly Oliver in this first full-scale feminist interpretation of Kristeva's work. Situating Kristeva within the context of French feminism, Oliver guides her readers through Kristeva's intellectual formation in linguistics, Freud, Lacan, and poetics. Oliver's readings of Kristeva indicate ways in which controversial concepts such as the semiotic, abjection, the maternal function, herethics, and the imaginary father can be useful for feminist theory. Oliver shows that Kristeva's writings attempt to unravel the double-bind between static identity, or totalitarianism, on the one hand, and the complete loss of identity, or delirium, on the other. This comprehensive introduction to Kristeva makes accessible her important contributions to philosophy, linguistics, and psychoanalytic feminism.