WILD ZONES

Kelly Ives explores the worlds sexual representation in art and pornography, from a feminist viewpoint.

The book includes chapters on the depiction of sexuality in art, from contemporary art and pornography back through the Renaissance to prehistory; on the problematic relations between showing sexuality and censorship; the history of porn; and women's art and how women artists have depicted sexual acts and identities.

Fully illustrated, with images from the history of representing sexuality from prehistory to the present day.

Includes notes and bibliography.

KELLY IVES has written widely on feminism, philosophy and art. Her previous books include Cixous, Irigaray, Kristeva: The Jouissance of French Feminism, Julia Kristeva and Helene Cixous.

EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION

Firstly, there are as many definitions of art and pornography as there are people. Everyone has their own opinions, their own interests and realms to defend. There are the liberals who say that nothing should be censored, including pornography. Pornography is seen as part of artistic expression, and if people want to express themselves, they should, and if they want pornography, they should have it. This is the view of liberals such as Peter Webb, who campaigns for freedom of expression, and an art that should 'celebrate' eroticism. This is a familiar viewpoint, which we have heard made many times. In the (male) liberal view, sex is OK, so sexual art must be OK, so that much of pornography must be OK. The 'experts' on sex, the so-called 'sexologists' (Eduard Fuchs, Richard von Krafft-Ebbing, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich) argue that sex is a normal part of life, so it is natural that it should abound in art. Fuchs wrote; ' a]rt has treated erotic themes at almost all periods... it] lies at the root of all human life.'

Everyone seems to have their cut-off points, however, their 'standards' of 'taste' and 'decency'. It's a very subjective business, the debates between art and pornography, and between pornography and censorship. As Wendy Moore writes: ' c]ensorship like freedom is an entirely subjective term'. What you like defines yourself. As Pierre Bourdieu put it: ' t]aste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.'

Taste, choice, categorization and classification, then, defines the viewer, the reader, the consumer. Censorship, you might say, defines the culture. And 'sensitive' novelists are wary of writing 'sex scenes', because they know that what they write defines themselves. Yet sex is crucial to art, many artists say. As Gertrude Stein wrote: ' l]iterature - creative literature - unconnected with sex is inconceivable.'

CIXOUS, IRIGARAY, KRISTEVA THE JOUISSANCE OF FRENCH FEMINISM

This book is a poetic study of three French feminists, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva and Helene Cixous, the 'holy trinity' of French feminism.

Kelly Ives writes: 'I hope to convey some the inspiration and excitement that their work instils. For these three feminists/ philosophers/ speakers/ poets are extraordinarily enriching. Their writings are not dull, nor yet are they limited to having one or two things to say. Rather, they say a lot, about a lot. Sometimes they write things that are outrageous, at other times they are incredibly, searingly poignant. They annoy many feminists - their insistence on the body and biology, for instance, aggravates some theorists.'

EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION

Helene Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva all have different modes of writing. There are times when they are writing in the sober, tones of a cultural critic, philosopher or psychoanalyst. They have strident feminist voices (Cixous and Irigaray more than Kristeva). They are personal reminiscence modes. They have a relaxed, informal mode in interviews. And, most powerful of all, they have lyrical modes. Thus, Cixous, the most 'poetic' of the three, will break into a visionary, ultra-lyrical way of writing.

Luce Irigaray, too, changes, less frequently than Helene Cixous, from a critical to a lyrical form. Thus, in a piece such as "When Our Lips Speak Together," Irigaray will write poetic sentences such as 'Kiss me. Two lips kiss two lips, and openness is ours again.' This is the kind of phrase which never appears in most cultural theorists outside of quotation marks. One doesn't find Jacques Derrida, Jacques Lacan, Gilles Deleuze, Jean Baudrillard, Mikhail Bakhtin, Michel Foucault, Roland Barthes or Jean-Paul Sartre writing 'kiss me' very often.

What marks Helene Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva apart from many cultural theorists and philosophers, then, is this personal, confessional and poetic way of writing, where they directly address the reader as the other, the 'you' in an intimate relationship. Derrida, Foucault, Baudrillard, and Jakobson are rarely, if ever, this personal.

KELLY IVES has written widely on feminism, philosophy and art. Her previous books include Julia Kristeva and Helene Cixous.

The text has been revised and updated for this edition.

Illustrated, with a revised text. European Writers Series. Bibliography and notes. 188pp. ISBN 9781861714206. www.crmoon.com

This is a critical study of French philosopher Julia Kristeva (born 1841) which explores many different aspects of Kristeva's work.

L U C E I R I G A R A Y LIPS, KISSING AND THE POLITICS OF SEXUAL DIFFERENCE

An exploration of the often controversial French thinker and feminist Luce Irigaray. Kelly Ives discusses Luce Irigaray's relation with Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, Jacques Lacan, and other feminists. Irigaray's provocative notions include: labial lips embracing; sexual difference; the speculum; 'sexuate rights' and sexual ethics; women's language and power; angels; and female mystics.

Luce Irigaray was born May 3, 1932 in Belgium (some sources say 1930). She studied at the University of Louvain; she worked on a master's degree in psychology at the University of Paris (1959-62); and at the Institut de Psychologie de Paris (1962). From 1962-64 she worked at the Foundation Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique in Belgium, and then at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Pars, where she eventually became Director of Research. She produced a doctoral degree in linguistics (University of Paris X at Nanterre, 1968), and in philosophy (University of Paris VIII, 1974). Irigaray was, famously, a member of the Ecole Freudienne, presided over by Jacques Lacan. Irigaray's second dissertation (Speculum de l'autre femme) created some controversy among the members of the Freudian School, and Irigaray became an outcast from the Ecole Freudienne. This was a key setback in her academic career.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Luce Irigaray taught at Rotterdam, Bologna, Toronto and Paris, among other places. With books such as Ce Sexe qui n'en est pas un, Et l'une ne bouge pas sans l'autre, Amante Marine: De Friedrich Nietzsche, Sexes et parentes, Sexes et genres a travers les langues and Le Oubli de l'air: Chez Martin Heidegger, Irigaray became a major international philosopher.

The text has been revised and updated for this edition.

Illustrated, with a revised text. European Writers Series. Bibliography and notes. 120pp. ISBN 9781861714510. www.crmoon.com

CONTENTS Abbreviations 9 Preface 15 PART ONE: FRENCH FEMINISM 1 Introduction 21 2 French Feminist Poetics: Feminist and Women's Art 27 3 Luce Irigaray, French Feminism, Sexuality, and Sexual Difference 45 PART TWO: LUCE IRIGARAY 4 "Kiss My Lips" Luce Irigaray's Philosophy of Sexual Difference 69 Illustrations 89 Notes 99 Bibliography 105

KELLY IVES has written widely on feminism, philosophy and art. Her previous books include Cixous, Irigaray, Kristeva: The Jouissance of French Feminism, Julia Kristeva, Helene Cixous and Wild Zones: Pornography, Art and Feminism.

Luce Irigaray is one of the premier French philosophers and feminists. This is a poetic exploration of the often controversial thinker and feminist. Kelly Ives discusses Irigaray's relation with Nietzsche, Freud, Lacan, and other feminists. Irigaray's provocative notions include: labial lips embracing; sexual difference; the speculum; 'sexuate rights' and sexual ethics; women's language and power; angels; and female mystics.

Julia Kristeva was born in Bulgaria in 1941. Educated in part by French nuns, she was involved early on in her life with Communist Party youth organizations and children's groups. Since moving to Paris in the 1960s, Kristeva has risen in stature in intellectual circles so that she is now regarded as one of the most important thinkers of the contemporary era.

This is a poetic study of the highly influential French feminist and writer Helene Cixous.

Kelly Ives explores the worlds sexual representation in art and pornography, from a feminist viewpoint.

The book includes chapters on the depiction of sexuality in art, from contemporary art and pornography back through the Renaissance to prehistory; on the problematic relations between showing sexuality and censorship; the history of porn; and women's art and how women artists have depicted sexual acts and identities.

Fully illustrated, with images from the history of representing sexuality from prehistory to the present day.

Includes notes and bibliography.

KELLY IVES has written widely on feminism, philosophy and art. Her previous books include Cixous, Irigaray, Kristeva: The Jouissance of French Feminism, Julia Kristeva and Helene Cixous.

EXTRACT FROM THE INTRODUCTION

Firstly, there are as many definitions of art and pornography as there are people. Everyone has their own opinions, their own interests and realms to defend. There are the liberals who say that nothing should be censored, including pornography. Pornography is seen as part of artistic expression, and if people want to express themselves, they should, and if they want pornography, they should have it. This is the view of liberals such as Peter Webb, who campaigns for freedom of expression, and an art that should 'celebrate' eroticism. This is a familiar viewpoint, which we have heard made many times. In the (male) liberal view, sex is OK, so sexual art must be OK, so that much of pornography must be OK. The 'experts' on sex, the so-called 'sexologists' (Eduard Fuchs, Richard von Krafft-Ebbing, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich) argue that sex is a normal part of life, so it is natural that it should abound in art. Fuchs wrote; ' a]rt has treated erotic themes at almost all periods... it] lies at the root of all human life.'

Everyone seems to have their cut-off points, however, their 'standards' of 'taste' and 'decency'. It's a very subjective business, the debates between art and pornography, and between pornography and censorship. As Wendy Moore writes: ' c]ensorship like freedom is an entirely subjective term'. What you like defines yourself. As Pierre Bourdieu put it: ' t]aste classifies, and it classifies the classifier.'

Taste, choice, categorization and classification, then, defines the viewer, the reader, the consumer. Censorship, you might say, defines the culture. And 'sensitive' novelists are wary of writing 'sex scenes', because they know that what they write defines themselves. Yet sex is crucial to art, many artists say. As Gertrude Stein wrote: ' l]iterature - creative literature - unconnected with sex is inconceivable.'