French
feminist of Bulgarian descent, born 1941. Typical for her
intellectual environment is her attempt to describe
repression and
liberation by meticulously investigating in
language. According to Kristeva language holds two components: the ‘
semiotics’ are established in the period that one is still totally bound to one’s
mother, and the ‘
symbolics’ are established in the stage of life when a
child becomes aware of the existence of a
father. From the moment a child comes to actual
linguistic usage there’s a continuously changing
relation between these two ‘
modalities’.
In Kristeva’s vision a woman shouldn’t try to enter man’s history, but also shouldn’t lock herself out of it. It’s not the point for woman’s individuality to become reconciled with man’s individuality, but to reach a new discourse, a new kind of communication.