Hélène Cixous

Hélène Cixous born 5 June 1937 is a French writer playwright and literary critic During her academic career she was primarily associated with the Centre universitaire de Vincennes todays University of Paris VIII which she cofounded in 1969 and where she created the first centre of womens studies at a European university Known for her experimental writing style and great versatility as a writer and thinker she has written more than seventy books dealing with multiple genres theater literary and feminist theory art criticism autobiography and poetic fiction She first gained attention in 1969 with her first work of fiction Dedans Inside a semiautobiographical novel which won the Prix Médicis and explored the themes of identity memory death and writing She is perhaps best known for her 1976 article The Laugh of the Medusa which established her as one of the early thinkers in poststructural feminism She has collaborated with several artists and directors such as Adel Abdessemed Pierre Alechinsky Simone Benmussa Jacques Derrida Simon Hantaï Daniel Mesguich and Ariane Mnouchkine She is considered a strong contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature Cixous was born in Oran French Algeria to Jewish parents Eve Cixous née Klein 19102013 and Georges Cixous 19091948 Georges Cixous a physician who had written his dissertation on tuberculosis died of the disease in 1948 Eve Cixous became a midwife in Algiers following his death until her expulsion with the last French doctors and midwives in 1971 Cixous brother Pierre a medical student and a supporter of Algerian independence was condemned to death in 1961 by the Organisation armée secrète and joined Cixous in Bordeaux Her mother and brother returned to Algeria following the countrys independence in 1962 They were arrested and Cixous obtained their release with the help of Ahmed Ben Bellas lawyer Cixous married Guy Berger in 1955 with whom she had three children AnneEmmanuelle b 1958 Stéphane 19601961 and PierreFrançois b 1961 Cixous and Berger divorced in 1964 Cixous earned her agrégation in English in 1959 and her Doctorat ès lettres in 1968 Her main focus at this time was English literature and the works of James Joyce Cixous became assistante at the University of Bordeaux in 1962 served as maître assistante at the Sorbonne from 1965 to 1967 and was appointed maître de conférence at Paris Nanterre University in 1967 In 1968 following the French student riots Cixous was charged with founding the University of Paris VIII created to serve as an alternative to the traditional French academic environment Cixous would in 1974 found the Universitys center for womens studies the first in Europe Cixous is a professor at the University of Paris VIII and at the European Graduate School in SaasFee Switzerland In 1968 Cixous published her doctoral dissertation LExil de James Joyce ou lArt du remplacement The Exile of James Joyce or the Art of Displacement and the following year she published her first novel Dedans Inside a semiautobiographical work that won the Prix Médicis Source Article Hélène Cixous from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30