The Book of Promethea
Nebraska Paperback · Print & ebook · February 1, 1991
A Poetry pick for readers exploring The Book of Promethea.
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- Who it’s for
- Cixous writes love as both physical presence and infinity, testing what language can hold.
- Themes
- Love between women, Love and language, Fiction and presence
- Genres
- Feminist Fiction, Women Poets, French Literary Collections
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Start with this bookAbout this book
In writing Le Livre de Promethea Hélène Cixous set for herself the task of bridging the immeasurable distance between love and language. She describes a love between two women in its totality, experienced as both a physical presence and a sense of infinity. The result is a stunning example of Pecriture feminine that won kudos when published in France in 1983.
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Its translation into English by Betsy Wing will extend the influence of a writer already famous for her novels and contributions to feminist theory. In her introduction Betsy Wing notes the contemporary emphasis on "fictions of presence." Cixous, in The Book of Promethea, works to "repair the separation between fiction and presence, trying to chronicle a very-present love without destroying it in the writing."
Love in Language
Cixous writes love as both physical presence and infinity, testing what language can hold.
Come here for
- A love between two women described in its totality
- The charged distance between loving and writing
Expect
- Layered, immersive prose that resists separating fiction from presence
- A meditation on whether writing can chronicle love without diminishing it
Where it sits
| Feminist Fiction | 84% |
|---|---|
| French Literary Collections | 40% |
| Women Poets | 28% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Literary Criticism
- Feminist Lit Crit
- French Literary Criticism
- Queer Literary Criticism
Show all 7 publisher categories
- Women Authors Criticism
- Literary Theory
- Feminist Theory & Criticism
- Authors
- Helene Cixous
- Publisher
- Nebraska Paperback
- Published
- February 1, 1991
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Love between women · Love and language · Fiction and presence
- Reading lane
- Literary Criticism