The Power of the Word: The (Unnameable) Lesbian Body

Abstract

In the twenty-five year's since Monique Wittig's novel, "The Lesbian Body", first appeared in print in English, much debate has continued with respect to the strategies for representing the lesbian subject. While undertaking a graduate course, "Theories of Lesbian Sexualities", it became apparent that Wittig's novel remains central to the exploration of the limits, and possibilities, of language within an interrogation of the social construction of sexual subjects. This paper represents a textual analysis of Wittig's work, and an examination of the ways in which this narrative has been taken up by other contemporary theorists.