Gendered Mimesis: Rethinking the Subject in Feminist Theory and Criticism

This project takes contemporary theories of gendered mimesis (or imitation) as a starting point to rethink subject formation. Adopting a comparative and interdisciplinary approach to behavioural imitation, it focuses on contemporary feminist thinkers working at the crossroads of continental philosophy and literary theory to formulate a relational and intersubjective approach to the mimetic subject. Judith Butler, Catherine Malabou, and Adriana Cavarero in particular, respond to the new identity crises associated with gender, trauma, and sovereignty via concepts like “performativity,” “plasticity,” and “inclination” that urge new generations of feminist theorists and critics to rethink the ancient problematic of mimesis from a gendered perspective—or gendered mimesis—relevant for sexual, racial and class disadvantage as well. The general hypothesis of this project is that these thinkers propose a relational, embodied, and affective theory of the subject that is constitutive not only of gendered identities but of subjectivity tout court.

Keywords:gender, mimesis, subjectivity, feminism, affect, relationality

Disciplines:Gender studies, Feminist philosophy, Literary theory, Comparative literature studies