Knowing how close Kristeva and Roland Barthes were to each other, does
anyone know if 'chora' is found in any of Barthes' work? From Kristeva's
description of 'chora,' there appears to be a similiarity to Barthes'
lifelong struggle for 'zero degree writing.' Could these two "movements and
their ephemeral stases" be one in the same? If I remember correctly,
Kristeva's description appears to be quite the notion of what Barthes was
arguing in "Sade/Fourier/Loyola;" and what he was trying to capture in his
own triple biography "Barthes on Barthes." I know this is a Foucault list;
but if there are any Barthes readers out there to clarify a connection
between Kristeva's 'chora' and Barthes' 'zero degree writing,' I would
appreciate it.
Matthew Sargent
-----Original Message-----
From: Clare O'Farrell <c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 1998 3:10 AM
Subject: Re: Chora/Khora
>The chora appears is Kristeva's book _La Revolution du langage poetique.
>L'avant garde a la fin fu XIXe siecle. Lautreamont et Mallarme_ Paris
>Seuil, 1974. The first part is translated into English as Wynship points
>out as _Revolution in Poetic Language_ New York, Columbia UP, 1984
>She explains chora in psychoanalytic terms.
>
>It is a very difficult text I have only read it in French and don't know
>how much is missing from the English edition, but for a very useful
>introduction to all of Kristeva's work see John Lechte, _Julia Kristeva_,
>Routledge, 1990. This is what he says about the chora (p.128) following
>Kristeva
>
>'The chora is a kind of place, or receptacle. It is not easy to make this
>element intelligible because it is not, strictly speaking, representable.
>What may be represented, conceptualized, thought of, imagined, made clear
>and explicit, and is above all a product of reglementation and order, is
>part of the symbolic order or simply, the symbolic. the ego and its
>narcissism are part of the symbolic. To speak about the chora at all is
>paradoxical, given that to do so is to give it a place in the semiotic. The
>chora is a mobile and 'extremely provisional articulation constituted by
>movements and their ephemeral stases' (Kristeva 1984,p.25) The chora is a
>semiotic, non geometrical space where drive activity is 'primarily'
>located.'
>
>clare
>
>***********************************************************
>Clare O'Farrell
>email:c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
>web page: http://www.qut.edu.au/edu/cpol/foucault/
>***********************************************************
>
>
anyone know if 'chora' is found in any of Barthes' work? From Kristeva's
description of 'chora,' there appears to be a similiarity to Barthes'
lifelong struggle for 'zero degree writing.' Could these two "movements and
their ephemeral stases" be one in the same? If I remember correctly,
Kristeva's description appears to be quite the notion of what Barthes was
arguing in "Sade/Fourier/Loyola;" and what he was trying to capture in his
own triple biography "Barthes on Barthes." I know this is a Foucault list;
but if there are any Barthes readers out there to clarify a connection
between Kristeva's 'chora' and Barthes' 'zero degree writing,' I would
appreciate it.
Matthew Sargent
-----Original Message-----
From: Clare O'Farrell <c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 1998 3:10 AM
Subject: Re: Chora/Khora
>The chora appears is Kristeva's book _La Revolution du langage poetique.
>L'avant garde a la fin fu XIXe siecle. Lautreamont et Mallarme_ Paris
>Seuil, 1974. The first part is translated into English as Wynship points
>out as _Revolution in Poetic Language_ New York, Columbia UP, 1984
>She explains chora in psychoanalytic terms.
>
>It is a very difficult text I have only read it in French and don't know
>how much is missing from the English edition, but for a very useful
>introduction to all of Kristeva's work see John Lechte, _Julia Kristeva_,
>Routledge, 1990. This is what he says about the chora (p.128) following
>Kristeva
>
>'The chora is a kind of place, or receptacle. It is not easy to make this
>element intelligible because it is not, strictly speaking, representable.
>What may be represented, conceptualized, thought of, imagined, made clear
>and explicit, and is above all a product of reglementation and order, is
>part of the symbolic order or simply, the symbolic. the ego and its
>narcissism are part of the symbolic. To speak about the chora at all is
>paradoxical, given that to do so is to give it a place in the semiotic. The
>chora is a mobile and 'extremely provisional articulation constituted by
>movements and their ephemeral stases' (Kristeva 1984,p.25) The chora is a
>semiotic, non geometrical space where drive activity is 'primarily'
>located.'
>
>clare
>
>***********************************************************
>Clare O'Farrell
>email:c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
>web page: http://www.qut.edu.au/edu/cpol/foucault/
>***********************************************************
>
>