Dream I Tell You

This book is an account of, and commentary on, a collection of dreams by the novelist, playwright and theorist Helene Cixous. As such the book presents a rich poetic experience and is a key document in understanding Cixous' writing practice. Jacques Derrida's commentary on Dream I Tell You is published in 'The Frontiers of Theory' series as Geneses, Genealogies, Genres and Genius. Key Features * Importance of Helene Cixous to contemporary literary and French feminist theory. * The poetic, autobiographical quality of the writing. * Significance of the book to the Cixous oeuvre.

The secret of literature is thus the secret itself. It is the secret place in which it establishes itself as the very possibility of the secret, the place it, literature as such, begins, the place of its genesis or of its genealogy, properly speaking. This is true of all literary genres; and as we are aware, Helene Cixous has, among all her different sorts of genius, that of practicing, without exception, every kind of literary writing, from the critical or theoretical essay to the novel, to the tale, to theatre in all its forms. We shan't even mention poetry, for poetry is her language's element, most general of all genres, at all times the generating force behind her work, whatever genre it may be in ... I know of no more impressive and admirable example in the world of this kind of complicity, Helene Cixous' indefatigable and unique translation of the infinite world, of all possible worlds of the nocturnal dream, into the incomparable vigilance of one of the most calculating of diurnal writings. -- Jacques Derrida, Geneses, Genealogies, Genres and Genius Dream I tell You gives us a privileged glimpse into the raw material of Helene Cixous's art. These dreams, written at the moment of waking, on an almost daily basis, and unrevised for publication, raise fascinating questions about Cixous's creative method. -- Beverley Bie Brahic, translator The secret of literature is thus the secret itself. It is the secret place in which it establishes itself as the very possibility of the secret, the place it, literature as such, begins, the place of its genesis or of its genealogy, properly speaking. This is true of all literary genres; and as we are aware, Helene Cixous has, among all her different sorts of genius, that of practicing, without exception, every kind of literary writing, from the critical or theoretical essay to the novel, to the tale, to theatre in all its forms. We shan't even mention poetry, for poetry is her language's element, most general of all genres, at all times the generating force behind her work, whatever genre it may be in ... I know of no more impressive and admirable example in the world of this kind of complicity, Helene Cixous' indefatigable and unique translation of the infinite world, of all possible worlds of the nocturnal dream, into the incomparable vigilance of one of the most calculating of diurnal writings. Dream I tell You gives us a privileged glimpse into the raw material of Helene Cixous's art. These dreams, written at the moment of waking, on an almost daily basis, and unrevised for publication, raise fascinating questions about Cixous's creative method.

Helene Cixous is Director of the Centre d'Etudes Feminines at Universite Paris VIII, Emerita. one of the foremost intellectuals and creative writers in France, and a major figure in the emergence and global spread of postmodern literary theory, late-20th-century Continental Thought, and Women's Studies. She is the author of more than 40 novels, 14 plays and 15 volumes of theory and essays. Her work has been translated into more than 20 languages, including Japanese, Korean, Hindi and Urdu.