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Luce Irigaray is a Belgian-born French feminist philosopher, linguist, psychoanalyst, and cultural theorist. She is known for her critiques of phallocentrism, psychoanalysis, and Western philosophy, and her explorations of gender, language, and identity.
Learn about Luce Irigaray, a French thinker who challenged the male-dominated philosophy and psychoanalysis with her theory of sexual difference. Explore her life, work, and influence on gender studies and ethics.
- Mary Beth Mader
Oct 27, 2021 · An overview of Irigaray's philosophy and critique of patriarchy, based on her works such as An Ethics of Sexual Difference and Thinking the Difference. Learn how she challenges the male-centric discourse, culture, history and psychoanalysis with her concept of sexual difference.
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- Biography
- Irigaray’s Project
- Influences
- Major Themes
- Criticisms
- References and Further Reading
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In a 1993 interview with Margaret Whitford, Luce Irigaray specifically says that she does not like to be asked personal questions. She does not want opinions about her everyday life to interfere with interpretations of her ideas. Irigaray believes that entrance into intellectual discussions is a hard won battle for women and that reference to biogr...
Irigaray argues that, since ancient times, mothers have been associated with nature and unthinking matter. Further, Irigaray believes that all women have historically been associated with the role of “mother” such that, whether or not a woman is a mother, her identity is always defined according to that role. This is in contrast to men who are asso...
Irigaray’s interdisciplinary interests in philosophy, psychoanalysis, and linguistics underscore that her work has more than one influence. Two main discourses that maintain a strong presence throughout her work are psychoanalysis, with Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan as its representatives, and philosophy. Insofar as Lacanian psychoanalysis works ...
a. Mimesis
Irigaray describes herself as analyzing both the analysts and the philosophers. Perhaps the most famous critical tool employed by Irigaray is mimesis. Mimesis is a process of resubmitting women to stereotypical views of women in order to call the views themselves into question. Key to mimesis is that the stereotypical views are not repeated faithfully. One example is that if women are viewed as illogical, women should speak logically about this view. According to Irigaray, the juxtaposition o...
b. Novel Language and Utopian Ideals
While the goal of mimesis is to problematize the male definition of femininity to such a degree that a new definition of and, ultimately, an embodied subject position for women can emerge, Irigaray says in her earlier work that she will not prescribe in advance either the definition or the subject position. In This Sex Which Is Not One, Irigaray clearly indicates that she will not redefine femininity because it would interfere with women redefining themselves for themselves. Further, she beli...
c. Mother/Daughter Relationships
According to Irigaray, while it is necessary to alter cultural norms, it is equally as important to address the problematic nature of individual relationships between women-especially the mother/daughter relationship. To emphasize how mother/daughter relationships are sundered in contemporary Western culture, Irigaray turns to Greek mythology. For example, she discusses the myth of Demeter, the goddess of the earth (agriculture), and her daughter Persephone. In the myth, Zeus, Persephone’s fa...
a. Strategic Essentialism
Irigaray’s use of strategic essentialism has been criticized as essentialism itself-or of endorsing the belief that social behavior follows from biology. The appearance of her translated work in the United States was met with great opposition. She was read as further naturalizing women at a time when women were benefiting both politically and socially from arguing that biology did not matter. Irigaray and her supporters defended her engagement with essentialist views as a strategy. They argue...
b. Privileges Psychological Oppression
Irigaray has been criticized-especially by materialist feminists-on the grounds that she privileges questions of psychological oppression over social/material oppression. The concern is that the psychoanalytic discourse that Irigaray relies upon-even though she is critical of it-universalizes and abstracts away from material conditions that are of central concern to feminism. Materialist feminists do not believe that definitive changes in the structure of politics can result from the changes...
c. Elides Differences
Related to the materialist critique is the question of whether or not Irigaray’s psychoanalytic approach can account for real differences between women. Irigaray often discusses a subject position for women and a new definition of women. A common question asked of Irigaray is whether or not a universal definition for women is desirable considering the real differences between women. More specifically, if Irigaray insists on a universal subject position for women, will it be exclusively determ...
a. English Translations
1. Irigaray, Luce. An Ethics of Sexual Difference. Trans. Carolyn Burke and Gillian C. Gill. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1993. 1.1. Mimetic engagement with Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Spinoza, Merleau-Ponty, and Levinas on the question of ethics. Irigaray elaborates here her own vision for ethical relationships. 2. Between East and West: From Singularity to Community. Trans. Stephen Pluhácek. New York: Columbia UP, 2002. 2.1. Draws on Eastern philosophy and meditative techniques such as yoga to sugg...
b. Suggested Further Reading
1. Chanter, Tina. Ethics of Eros: Irigaray’s Re-Writing of the Philosophers. New York: Routledge, 1995. 1.1. Thoroughly discusses philosophical influences on Irigaray’s work. Argues that comprehending the philosophical influences on Irigaray highlights her innovative ideas about the now passe sex/gender distinction. 2. Cheah, Pheng and Elizabeth Grosz. “The Future of Sexual Difference: An Interview with Judith Butler and Drucilla Cornell.” Diacritics, no. 28.1 (1998): 19-41. 2.1. Highlights c...
Author Information
Sarah K. Donovan Email: Sarah.Donovan@villanova.edu Villanova University U. S. A.
A comprehensive overview of the life and work of Luce Irigaray, a prominent French feminist philosopher and psychoanalyst. Learn about her critique of phallocentrism, her suggestions for sexual difference, and her involvement in the women's movement.
Apr 29, 2021 · Luce Irigaray, now ninety-two years old, was, among many other things, one of the most impactful feminists of the 1970s liberation movements – before she was marginalised, then ostracised, from the francophone intellectual sphere.
Jan 24, 2023 · A book chapter that explores Irigaray's ethical vision of a living, creative dialogue across differences, based on her concept of sexuate difference. It analyzes her interactions with Lacan, Heidegger, and Aristotle, and situates them within feminist contexts.
Sep 20, 2022 · In this interview, Luce Irigaray talks about how two of her latest books, Towards a New Human Being and To Be Born, relate to her wider work and her most well-known theoretical contributions. Irigaray offers reflections on important additions to her earlier work and how those can be a response to the most urgent challenges humanity is facing today.
