Starting out my post-graduate studies, I never imagined that the 17th century would be my area of literary and historical focus. Initially, the poetry of the romantic period attracted me. The earlier poets, Donne, Jonson, Dryden, Pope were intimidating—especially the allusions to Christianity. As I get older, the Romantics grow fluffy, verbose.
As I aged, I faced a truth that I had sensed, though not always named. Writes French playwright and literary critic, Helène Cixous: “There is always in her at least a little of that good mother’s milk. She writes in white ink.” Whatever power I had wielded had been a combination of looks, sexuality, and intellect. But somewhere around my mid-forties, I became invisible.
It took a handful of years to come to terms with my membership in The Invisibility Club, but intellect remains! This validation changed my life.
I had always known instinctively how to use my power, however, previously, I never had to test gender limitations. Thankfully, in my forties, Professor Holly Laird introduced me to feminist theory. Though I still avoid the angrier theorists, in re-reading some Bread Loaf journaling, I see how I was attracted to Helène Cixous’ more joyful writing, especially when referring to women writers.
I had forgotten how I cited her approach to feminist theory in the Oxford paper on 17th century poet Anne Finch that introduced me to Mary of Modena’s female court of writers. Through winding in and out of research, I landed in an era of repression so complete, that I felt outrage for the first time and knew there was an angle from which I needed to delve deeper. Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Own” entered the picture: Now seeds are connecting. –WH Forrester, “Only connect.”
Cixous’ poetic essay, The Laugh of Medusa, intended to break structural norms set by patriarchy. She maintained that “writing that is fluid, transgressive and beyond binary systems of logic.”
Cixous prefers a more playful, imaginative medium. She urges women to write extensively:
Cixous coined the concept of ‘écriture feminisne, translated, ‘feminine writing.’ Her idea of écriture feminine marked women’s writing as fluid and evocative. According to Cixous, intuition, emotion and feelings must be placed at the same level as reasoning. She argued that women must write herself in order to be effective and expressive. Cixous used the Greek myth of monster Medusa, depicted as a fierce, ugly woman, full of rage and has snakes instead of hairs on her head. In the myth, Perseus kept Medusa’s slain head to use it as a weapon against his foes. Cixous argued that this narrative of Medusa has “been distorted by patriarchal man to depict woman who have desires as dangerous, contrary to the beautiful, loyal and virgin princess that they adored.”
Cixous believes that our sexuality is directly tied to how we communicate in society.“Censor the body and you censor breath and speech at the same time. Write yourself. Your body must be heard.”
Amen, sister!
https://www.getsetnotes/ecriture-feminism-by-helene-cixous
