Francofemme Duality (Luce Irigaray-Hélène Cixous) the Many Faces of Womanhood in Pantelis Voulgaris' Brides

Abstract

Luce Irigaray and Helene Cixous dealt with issues of female writing and femininity in art and have gained international respect and recognition for their work. In fact, their theories constitute a framework for the comprehension of gender issues. It is commonly accepted that the reflection of womanhood in contemporary art has undergone various changes. According to these two french feminists, women have been always struggling against male superiority and male vision of the world. This inequality of the genders is apparent from a very early age and it is obvious even in language issues. Both of them mentioned the deep relationship between body and language but also the need for a female discourse. This paper shows, through a detailed analysis, this eternal struggle in Voulgaris' film Brides where the audience experiences the many faces of womanhood during war times. This film achieves to deconstruct the image of the woman as an inferior human being. Through the script, the photography and even human gestures, Pantelis Voulgaris creates a film adaptation which bears a profound respect to the original text. As a result, this paper will impose the basic elements of Irigaray's and Cixous' theory upon the female writing of Ioanna Karystiani in order to reveal the inner connection of this film with these feminist theories and meanings.