Hélène Cixous

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Hélène Cixous in her apartment in Paris, photographed by Olivier Zahm

interview by OLIVIER ZAHM and DONATIEN GRAU

 

Hélène Cixous (born 1937, in Oran, Algeria) is a legend in contemporary thought who has played a crucial role in shaping today’s feminism. With the concept of écriture féminine (feminine writing), she encouraged women to explore the many possibilities of their sexual identity; she has made it the source not of limitations but of freedom. Her work as a writer places her among the most innovative voices of contemporary literature. Here, she tells us her personal history, and discusses what it has taken her to become who she is.

 

OLIVIER ZAHM — I’d like to start with your birth in Oran, in French Algeria. What was your childhood like?
HÉLÈNE CIXOUS — I am a mass of continents, contradictions, compatible incompatibilities. I was born…