‘Being Inside a Tangled Knot’: <i>Écriture Féminine</i> and Elena Ferrante

Starting from the intertwining of interpretations of the term <i>écriture féminine</i>, this analysis will develop around the ‘poethical’ and political aspects of Cixous’ concept, which could be described as the non-presence of the author, language as a productive force and the ‘poethical’ as political. If it is the case that <i>écriture féminine</i> is not a recipe, not a protocol, not a style, and not even necessarily <i>féminine</i>, then the rest of <i>écriture</i> might also host versions of a feminine that is formed in its own language, outside of any particularity, essence or opposition. The core ideas underlying our claim that Ferrante’s <i>oeuvre</i> is a new form of <i>écriture féminine</i> lie in Ferrante’s reflections on her way of writing, in the productive heights of narrative pleasure she expresses, and in the narrator’s not-knowing, not-saying and enjoying. Ferrante’s writing challenges the theoretical and/or political dead ends of thinking about women and literature, not only because of her persistent anonymity, but above all because of her immersion in a language that does not allow for safe simplifications.