Sôma,technêand the Somatechnics of Sexual Difference

Abstract

This article investigates what may be called a somatechnics of sexual difference by way of making a detour through the classical Greek notions of sôma and technê. An emphasis is put upon a tension between different figurations of these notions within an ancient Greek context, exemplified through a contrast, or counterpoint, between a later Platonic and earlier pre-Platonic significance of these words. Taking some of the various denotations that sôma and technê carry within early Greek thinking both as a point of departure and as a means of providing an outside to more contemporary ways of conceptualizing and understanding corporeality and technology, the article attempts to use this as a background in order to shed light upon sexual difference. That is to say, I am addressing three different contexts in this article: The first is a pre-Platonic context. The second is a later, classical context: the context of Plato, if you will. These two constitute a background in order to shed light upon the third contemporary one, where the concept of somatechnics as well as the notion of sexual difference as conceived by Luce Irigaray belong.