UA French Professor Honors Famous Feminist Writer with Latest Book

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Metka Zupančič, associate professor of French and modern languages at The University of Alabama, pays tribute to one of the most influential women writers in France with her latest work.

“Hélène Cixous: Texture Mythique et Alchemique” (“Mythical and Alchemical Texture”), published by Summa Publications Inc., is a collection of essays that examine the writings of Cixous, a French feminist writer and philosopher known for her work on the relationship between sexuality and language.

The book is written in French and focuses on Cixous’ works published during the past 17 years. Zupančič explores Cixous’ commitment to literature and reflects on particular texts by the writer, such as “L’OR and Osnabrück,” “La Ville parjure ou le réveil des Érinyes,” and “L’Amour du loup et autres remords.”

Zupančič’ said her book demonstrates how Cixous wins over readers with the liveliness and the creative energy of her writings.

“Her writing is full of dreams, experiences and memories,” Zupančič said. “It’s very difficult to read, and it was very challenging for me to read, but I enjoyed it.”

Zupančič said she met Cixous at a seminar in Sorbonne, France, in June. She later mailed Cixous a copy of her book, and they have since exchanged letters.

“She found the book original and personal, and that’s the way she likes it,” Zupančič said.

Zupančič is a specialist in contemporary French and Francophone literature in the department of modern languages and classics in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences. She is the author of “Lectures de Claude Simon” (2001) and “La polyphonie de la structure et du mythe” (2001) and has edited collective volumes on myths, spirituality and philosophy in literature.

Her most recent books, also published by Summa Publications, include “Hermes and Aphrodite Encounters” (2004) and “Death, Language, Thought: On Gérard Bucher’s L’imagination de l’origine” (2005). She is currently working on projects that deal with feminine genealogy and writing as “rememberment” in works of modern French-speaking women writers. She also has written several articles about Quebec feminist writers, such as Madeleine Monette, Francine D’Amour, France Théoret and Monique LaRue.

Zupančič is a native of Slovenia and received her doctorate in romance philology from the University of Zagreb in Croatia in 1988 and a doctorate in general and comparative literature in 1977 from the Université des Sciences Humaines in Strasbourg, France.

She received the Habilitation to direct research from Poitiers, France, in 2005. Zupančič teaches courses in French phonetics, English-French translation, commercial French, French civilization, Feminism and French literature. She has been a faculty member at UA since 2000 and a fellow of the Blount Undergraduate Initiative since 2002. The Blount Undergraduate Initiative is a privately-endowed liberal arts program in the College of Arts and Sciences designed to develop academically accomplished thinkers and leaders through an intense curriculum.