Kristeva in America: Re-Imagining the Exceptional (Pivotal Studies in the Global American Literary Imagination)

This Pivot studies the influence of Julia Kristeva's work on American literary and film studies. Chapters consider this influence via such innovative approaches as Hortense Spillers's and Jack Halberstam's to Paule Marshall's fiction and Bram Stoker's Dracula , respectively. The book also considers how critics in the United States receive Kristeva's work on French feminism, semiotics, and psychoanalytic writing in complex, controversial ways, especially on the question of marginalized populations. Examples include Kelly Oliver and Benigno Trigo on Orson Welles's The Lady from Shanghai and Touch of Evil as well as Frances Restuccia on David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. Carol Mastrangelo Bové also examines Kristeva's take on the US in her essays and fiction, which provide a vital part of the dialogue with American critics. Like them, Bové incorporates Kristeva's thought in her own creative readings of little-known authors and directors including Christiane Rochefort, Nancy Savoca, and Frank Lentricchia. This Pivot studies the influence of Julia Kristevas work on American literary and film studies. Chapters consider this influence via such innovative approaches as Hortense Spillerss and Jack Halberstams to Paule Marshalls fiction and Bram Stokers Dracula, respectively. The book also considers how critics in the United States receive Kristevas work on French feminism, semiotics, and psychoanalytic writing in complex, controversial ways, especially on the question of marginalized populations. Examples include Kelly Oliver and Benigno Trigo on Orson Welless The Lady from Shanghai and Touch of Evil as well as Frances Restuccia on David Lynchs Mulholland Drive. Carol Mastrangelo Bove also examines Kristevas take on the US in her essays and fiction, which provide a vital part of the dialogue with American critics. Like them, Bove incorporates Kristevas thought in her own creative readings of little-known authors and directors including Christiane Rochefort, Nancy Savoca, and Frank Lentricchia Acknowledgments Introduction Praise for Kristeva In America Contents 1 Kristeva’s Theories on Motherhood and Abjection: Spillers and Halberstam References 2 Kristeva’s Impact on Film Studies: Orson Welles and David Lynch References 3 “Allow Me a Confession: I Love America” References 4 The Fiction: A Modernist View of America References 5 Re-Envisioning World Literature and Film: Rochefort, Savoca, and Lentricchia References Conclusion Index