The Straight Mind and Other Essays
Cover of the first edition | |
Author | Monique Wittig |
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Language | English |
Publisher | Beacon Press |
Publication date | 1992 |
Publication place | United States |
Media type |
The Straight Mind and Other Essays is a 1992 collection of essays by Monique Wittig.
The collection was translated into French as La pensée straight in 2001.[1] The title essay, "The Straight Mind", was delivered to the Modern Language Association annual convention in 1978,[2] and makes reference to The Savage Mind by Claude Lévi-Strauss.[3]
Summary
[edit]In April 1979, Wittig delivered her essay, "The Straight Mind", as the morning keynote address at Barnard College's event, "The Scholar and the Feminist Conference, The Future of Difference".[4] The essay appeared in French in Questions féministes, where the editorial collective, which included Wittig, splintered over "the lesbian question" leading to a dissolution of the collective and end to the publication. It also appeared in English in Feminist Issues.[3]
"One Is Not Born a Woman", delivered in September 1979 at the "30th Anniversary Conference of the Second Sex" held at New York University, takes up the outcomes of Simone de Beauvoir's feminist political visions for lesbians.[1] Wittig writes "Lesbians Are Not Women" under the assumption that the term "woman" is defined by men.[1] Moreover, she compares lesbians to fugitive slaves.[5]
"The Trojan Horse" explains her theory of literature as a "war machine",[1] echoing Gilles Deleuze.[6]
Reception
[edit]In her review of the collection, Rosemary Hennessy highlights Wittig’s materialist critique of heterosexuality as a political regime.[7] Hennessy contrasts Wittig’s approach with that of queer theory, arguing that while both challenge identity politics and the notion of stable sexual identities, queer theory primarily engages with sexuality as a discursive construct, often neglecting the broader materialist and structural dimensions of oppression. Wittig, on the other hand, emphasizes how heterosexuality is not just a cultural discourse but a system of power and economic exploitation tied to capitalism and patriarchy.[7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Epps, Brad; Katz, Jonathan (October 1, 2007). "Monique Wittig's Materialist Utopia and Radical Critique". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 13 (4): 423–454. doi:10.1215/10642684-2007-001. ISSN 1064-2684.
- ^ Shaktini, Namascar, ed. (2005). "Chronology". On Monique Wittig: theoretical, political, and literary essays. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-02984-4.
- ^ a b Wittig, Monique (March 1980). "The straight mind". Feminist Issues. 1 (1): 103–111. doi:10.1007/BF02685561. ISSN 0270-6679.
- ^ West, Lois A. (1979). "French Feminist Theorists & Psychoanalytic Theory". Off Our Backs. 9 (7): 4–23. JSTOR 25773119.
- ^ Martin, Douglas (January 12, 2003). "Monique Wittig, 67, Feminist Writer, Dies".
- ^ Jardine, Alice (October 1, 2007). "Thinking Wittig's Differences". GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies. 13 (4): 455–466. doi:10.1215/10642684-2007-002. ISSN 1064-2684.
- ^ a b Hennessy, Rosemary (1993). "Queer Theory: A Review of the "Differences" Special Issue and Wittig's "The Straight Mind"". Signs. 18 (4): 964–973. ISSN 0097-9740.