Emmanuel Levinas's Concept of the Feminine and Its Feminist Critics

This study provides an unusual perspective on the §concept of the feminine in Emmanuel Levinas s §philosophy and exegesis of the Jewish canon. The §undoubtedly patriarchal attitude to femininity §expressed in these texts is pitched against feminist §criticism of Levinas s work, which has consistently §been indignant with this attitude, while highly §appreciative of Levinas s philosophy of the Other. §This contradictory attitude generally resulted in a §failure of dialogue with or productive reading of §Levinas s work. While the author is in much the same §position herself, she sets out to find a more §productive way of dealing with Levinas s work, §attempting to legitimize both of these§incompatible positions regarding femininity. The §author proposes that femininity, or more broadly, §sexual difference, cannot and should not be theorized §from one universal or neutral standpoint it can §only be discussed dialogically, from dissimilar and §particular positions in which every thinker is §situated. This model is based on the major concepts §of Levinas s philosophy, such as radical otherness §of the Other and the notion of language as primarily§an attitude towards the Other.