Derrida, Cixous, and (feminine) writing

Abstract

Jacques Derrida's thinking on literature and writing was nourished by his close friendship, since the early sixties, with the writer, theorist, and playwright Helene Cixous. The philosopher was, admittedly, the first reader of Cixous's writings, and she also had access to Derrida's texts before their publication, as shown by the multiple, although sometimes well hidden, cross-references and counter-signatures that can be found in their respective works. 1 Both have publicly recalled their first discussion, in which the rising philosopher who was Derrida, awestricken by the novelty and powerful appeal of the young writer's still undisclosed pieces of writing, encouraged Cixous to publish them and to pursue her literary endeavor. In the following years, while Jacques Derrida's first seminal books appeared, Helene Cixous became a renowned and awarded writer: she was granted the Prix Medicis in 1969 for Dedans, 2 a novel (although she finally preferred to call her narrative works