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Monique Wittig

モニーク・ウィッティグ

Monīku Wittingu

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1935-07-13 （Dannemarie, Haut-Rhin）
Died
2003-01-03 （Tucson, Arizona） age 67
Nationality
France
Languages
French
Residence History
Dannemarie, Haut-Rhin (birthplace) → Paris (from 1950) → United States (from 1976)

Career

Occupations
Author, Feminist theorist, Activist, Philosopher
Active Years
1964-2003
Affiliations
Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF), Gouines rouges, Féministes Révolutionnaires
Influenced By
Simone de Beauvoir, Nathalie Sarraute, Marguerite Duras
Influenced
Judith Butler, Teresa de Lauretis

Education

Sorbonne
Literature
Period: 1950年代
Country: France
Moved to Paris to study
EHESS
Social Sciences
Degree: PhD
Period: 1980年代
Year of Graduation: 1986
Country: France
Thesis 'Le Chantier littéraire'

Awards

Prix Médicis
1964
Work: L'Opoponax
Result: winner

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

L'Opoponax

1964 Novel

Debut novel depicting girl's coming-of-age in innovative style.

ChildhoodEmerging feminism
Translations
  • English translation available

Les Guérillères

1969 Novel

Revolutionary novel about women warriors overthrowing patriarchy. Landmark in lesbian feminism.

Lesbian feminismRevolutionFemale solidarity
Translations
  • English translation available

The Lesbian Body

1973 Novel

Experimental poetic novel exploring lesbian corporeality.

Lesbian bodyEroticism
Translations
  • English translation available

Bibliography

  • L'Opoponax (1964)
  • Les Guérillères (1969)
  • The Lesbian Body (1973)
  • Lesbian Peoples: Material for a Dictionary (1976)
  • Across the Acheron (1985)

Translations by Author

  • Djuna Barnes 'Spillway and other stories' translation (1982)
  • Herbert Marcuse 'One Dimensional Man' translation (1968)

Translations of Works

  • Many works translated into English etc.

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Materialist approachInnovative techniques like split pronouns (j/e)Emphasis on language shaping reality
Recurring Motifs
LesbianismFeminismAbolition of heterosexual contractAbolition of sex-class system

Health

  • Heart attack
    2003年1月
    Cause of death

Legacy

Major influence on feminist and queer theory, coined 'heterosexual contract.' Founder of French feminism.

Archives

  • Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University

In Popular Culture

  • Influenced Judith Butler's Gender Trouble

Quotes

  • Lesbians are not women.
    Source: The Straight Mind (1992)
  • There is no sex. There is but sex that is oppressed and sex that oppresses.
    Source: The Category of Sex (1982)

Trivia

  • Coined the phrase 'heterosexual contract'
  • Achieved international recognition after Prix Médicis
  • Developed gender theory after moving to the US