Abstract
This paper unfolds a textual history of laughter and sacrifice through an examination of Hélène Cixous's figure of Isaac, Caroline Bergvall's doll-centric poetry in Goan Atom, and Hans Bellmer's mutilated dolls. In tracing the genealogy of Isaac from Genesis to Cixous's Déluge to Derrida's Gift of Death, it becomes evident that the role of author as sacrificer is primal and yet always evolving. By following the trace of Isaac, the text survives...
This paper unfolds a textual history of laughter and sacrifice through an examination of Hélène Cixous's figure of Isaac, Caroline Bergvall's doll-centric poetry in Goan Atom, and Hans Bellmer's mutilated dolls. In tracing the genealogy of Isaac from Genesis to Cixous's Déluge to Derrida's Gift of Death, it becomes evident that the role of author as sacrificer is primal and yet always evolving. By following the trace of Isaac, the text survives its own sacrifice; by examining and contrasting Bergvall and Bellmer's work, this paper proposes that this form of sacrificial laughter allows a text to move within and against the Enlightenment tradition of linear narrative.
Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities – Taylor & Francis
Published: Jun 1, 2013
Keywords: Cixous; Bergvall; laughter; sacrifice; narrative; authorship
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