‘Being Inside a Tangled Knot’: Écriture Féminine and Elena Ferrante
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Starting from the intertwining of interpretations of the term écriture féminine, this analysis will develop around the ‘poethical’ and political aspects of Cixous’ concept, which could be described as the non-presence of the author, language as a productive force and the ‘poethical’ as political. If it is the case that écriture féminine is not a recipe, not a protocol, not a style, and not even necessarily féminine, then the rest of écriture might also host versions of a feminine that is formed in its own language, outside of any particularity, essence or opposition. The core ideas underlying our claim that Ferrante’s oeuvre is a new form of écriture féminine lie in Ferrante’s reflections on her way of writing, in the productive heights of narrative pleasure she expresses, and in the narrator’s not-knowing, not-saying and enjoying. Ferrante’s writing challenges the theoretical and/or political dead ends of thinking about women and literature, not only because of her persistent anonymity, but above all because of her immersion in a language that does not allow for safe simplifications.
Authors: Brigita Miloš, Dubravka Dulibić-Paljar
Institution: University of Rijeka
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408078954