Readings: The Poetics of Blanchot, Joyce, Kakfa, Kleist, Lispector, and Tsvetayeva (Theory and History of Literature)

This book offers a series of striking textual studies of major literary figures and "emergent" authors. Written in an accessible, direct style the texts can be read as inspiration for Helen Cixous's fictional and critical practices. They not only introduce readers to writings from Brazil, Russia and Eastern Europe, they also give new, incisive insights into classic works such as Joyce's "Portrait of the Artist" and Kafka's "Before the Law". While the selection of texts reflects Cixous's ongoing concern with the origin of writing, with questions of love and the gift, and her insistence on pleasure, they also reveal her interest in problems of history. The juxtaposition of texts across centuries and national boundaires opens up exciting possibilities of multiple and fluid readings. Drawing on philosophy and psychoanalysis, this volume of readings can be read side by side with "Reading With Clarice Lispector" as an ongoing meditation on ethics and poetics.