Overview
Julia Kristeva
(b. 1941)
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(1941– ),
philosopher, literary theorist, and novelist, born in Bulgaria, but resident in France since 1965. Kristeva is one of the foremost figures to emerge from the French post‐structuralist movement, having been closely associated with the theoretical journal Tel Quel. Her writing draws themes from feminism and psychoanalysis, displaying the influence of the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in its examination of subjects such as abjection, the cultural repression of women, and the complex signifying mechanisms of both aesthetic and everyday discourse. Her prolific output includes an investigation of the psychic trauma involved in recognizing our own status as material beings in Pouvoirs de l'Horreur (Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, 1980) and of the influence of depression on creative production in Soleil Noir: Dépression et Mélancolie (Black Sun: Depression and Melancholy, 1989). In recent years, she has turned to writing detective novels.
