Gender after Lyotard

SUNY Series in Gender Theory

by Margret Grebowicz (editor)

The revolutionary French thinker Jean-François Lyotard indicates in many of his writings that one of the most significant philosophical problems is the problem of gender. In spite of this, feminist thinkers in both the continental and Anglo-American traditions have largely ignored his work, perhaps because his approach to the question of gender is unsystematic, fluid, and difficult. This volume attempts to situate the central concerns of contemporary feminist theory--aesthetics, embodiment, performance, sexual difference, ethics, testimony--within Lyotard's writings, to show that these concerns have always been there. Contributors discuss film theory, body modification, feminist critiques of science, postholocaust art, the feminine sublime, and theater. As a whole, the book serves as a robust meditation on the nature of the political as understood by Lyotard, and demonstrates the many different ways in which feminist concerns are taken up in discussions regarding the nature of the political in contemporary continental thought. An afterword by James Williams--one of the world's leading Lyotard commentators--is included.

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Corey]

The first essay by Grebowicz and Zakin is excellent. Same goes for those by Sullivan, Bean, and Badmington. It's also interesting to see how different the interpretations of the same work were within the anthology. Excellent reading for anyone interested in gender theory, postmodernism, or Lyotard.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uneven, the way most anthologies are, but on the whole quite good--I especially liked the article by my friend Nikki Sullivan, on the ethics of cosmetic surgery, Neil Badmington's on posthumanism, Theresa Geller's on film, and the conversation between Margaret Grebowitz and Emily Zakan on feminist technoscience. I've always found Lyotard's writing to be far more interesting and useful to me than either Derrida or Lacan, a close second to Foucault. It's great to find a collection of essays by people who have thought through some of the implications of Lyotard's work and its relation to gender theory far more thoroughly than I have. I'll definitely use some of this in my work!