Via Telefaune, a Phone Call with Hélène Cixous

Abstract

Johanna Braun, the editor of the present volume, has invited Hélène Cixous and Elisabeth Schäfer to make a telephone call on hysteria and to add the transcript of this call to the volume. Schäfer asked Cixous on the phone what she sees as the potential of hysterical intervention and whether or to what extent she would combine hysteria and transgression or metamorphosis. They cover Cixous’ influential work on hysteria from the late twentieth century to pressing contemporary issues, such as the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements; discussing what the current hysterical revival has in common with its predecessors and what new perspective have enriched discussions on hysteria in the present.

The interview was conducted by Elisabeth Schäfer on July 19, 2020, partly in English and partly in French, audio recorded and transcribed. All French passages were translated into English by Elisabeth Schäfer.