Julia Kristeva (Routledge Critical Thinkers) [Paperback]

Noelle McAfee (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415250099 | ISBN-13: 978-0415250092 | Publication Date: December 11, 2003

One of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century, Julia Kristeva has been driving forward the fields of literary and cultural studies since the 1960s. This volume is an accessible, introductory guide to the main themes of Kristeva's work, including her ideas on:
*semiotics and symbolism
*abjection
*melancholia
*feminism
*revolt.
McAfee provides clear explanations of the more difficult aspects of Kristeva's theories, helpfully placing her ideas in the relevant theoretical context, be it literary theory, psychoanalysis, linguistics, gender studies or philosophy, and demonstrates the impact of her critical interventions in these areas.
Julia Kristeva is the essential guide for readers who are approaching the work of this challenging thinker for the first time, and provides the ideal opportunity for those with more knowledge to re-familiarise themselves with Kristeva's key terms.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Noëlle Claire McAfee is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Coordinator of Gender Studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. She is also Associate Editor of the Kettering Review, a journal of political thought published by the Kettering Foundation. McAfee specializes in social and political philosophy, feminist theory, twentieth century continental philosophy, and ethics. She combines philosophic research in deliberative democratic theory with investigations in the public sphere, including new experiments being conducted around the globe. She is the author of Habermas, Kristeva, and Citizenship (Cornell University Press, 2000) and the co-editor, with James Veninga, of Standing with the Public: the Humanities and Democratic Practice (Kettering Foundation Press, 1997).

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415250099
• ISBN-13: 978-0415250092
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #912,046 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Noelle McAfee is an associate professor of philosophy at Emory University, the associate editor of the Kettering Review, and the co-chair of the Public Philosophy Network. Her work is at the intersection of subjectivity and public life, the ways in which human well-being depends upon people's abilities and opportunities to help shape their common world -- which she takes to be central to democracy. Accordingly, in her view, to be told that one does not matter, that what one cares about will never be heeded, is to be effectively stripped of the title of citizen. This, she thinks, is the epitome of political evil.

McAfee draws widely from various traditions in philosophy and from experiments in self-government around the world. Her latest book, Democracy and the Political Unconscious (Columbia University Press, 2008), charts a course for democratic practice in a world sorely needing transformation. It explores the potential of deliberative dialogue and other public testimonies to work through the traumas of oppression, terror, and brutality that keep political communities from developing spaces and practices through which all can help shape their common world.

Before joining the faculty at Emory, she was based at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. ICAR is one of the most innovative programs in the world in understanding how political communities recover from conflict and brutality and move toward developing more democratic societies.

Since 1990 she has been an editor of the Kettering Review, a journal of political thought published by the Kettering Foundation. She has also been a principle investigator on a project for the Kettering Foundation on media and democracy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely Helpful, October 20, 2007

By 

Andre P. Feitosa - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Julia Kristeva (Routledge Critical Thinkers) (Paperback)

The book gives an overview of Kristeva's theory. It surely has helped me to understand better the language used by Kristeva. It also includes other references given by other theorists such as Lacan. This guide does not subsistitute reading the original material published by Kristeva but it traces a guide-line for those who are not acquainted with Kristeva's theories. After reading this guide, some points that were still blurry for me on Kristeva's theory are now a lot clearer. I recommend it!