Julia Kristeva

Since arriving in Paris in 1966 as a doctoral fellow, Bulgarian-born Julia Kristeva has become a dominant figure in contemporary critical theory, as well as one of the world's most respected and rigorous intellectuals.

Developing her thought by merging various disciplines -- philosophy, linguistics, semiotics, literary theory, psychoanalysis -- Kristeva has continually sought to formulate new modes of critical discourse in order to reflect logic and reality differently. Her principal objects for analysis are modern or modernist (especially avant-garde) literary texts.

These preoccupations were first revealed by her activities in conjunction with the Tel Quel group[?] (which also included Roland Barthes, Michel Foucault, Marcelin Pleynet[?] and Philippe Sollers[?]) which she joined in 1969. This period is represented by works such as S�m�iotik�: Recherches pour une s�manalyse (1969), Le Texte du roman: approche s�miologique d'une structure discursive transformationnelle (1970) and La R�volution du langage po�tique: l'avant-garde � la fin du XIX� si�cle (1974), a magisterial study of experiments in poetic language in the late French 19th century.

Throughout her career, it is non-Freudian psychoanalysis--the ultimate signifying discourse, in her view--which has exercised the determining influence on her theories. It is Kristeva's particular non-Freudian version of psychoanalysis that one sees propelling such works as Pouvoirs de l'horreur. Essai sur l'abjection (1980), on the topic of narcissism and abjection[?] in their psychoanalytic, philosophical and linguistic implications, Histoires d'amour (1982), a study of the "love-relation, love-object" and its expression in literary theory, Au commencement �tait l'amour (1985), on the relations between psychoanalysis and faith, and Soleil noir. D�pression et m�lancolie (1987), where Kristeva probes melancholy and depression in their artistic manifestations.

Concerned with current issues of racism and xenophobia in France, Kristeva has also published the essay, Etrangers � nous-m�mes (1988), in which she examines the history of the foreigner and its intersection with nationalism and its attendant problems.

Recent publications include Contre la d�pression nationale, Le f�minin et le sacr�, Proust: questions d'identit�, and Visions capitales.

Having realized the abiding impact of psychoanalysis on her work, Julia Kristeva has established a practice in Paris in conjunction with her obligations as a member of the Faculty at the University of Paris VII.

For the last fifteen years, she has been a regular Visiting Professor at Columbia University, sharing the Chair of Literary Semiology with Umberto Eco and Tzvetan Todorov[?]. She is also Executive Secretary of the International Association of Semiology[?] and a member of many editorial boards. In April 1997, Julia Kristeva received one of France's highest honors "Chevali�re de la l�gion d'honneur" for her work spanning thirty years and which has been translated into ten languages.