Michèle Causse
Michèle Causse (July 29, 1936 – July 29, 2010[1]) was a French lesbian theorist, translator and author.
Early life
Causse was born in Martel region of Lot in France.[2][3] She later taught in Tunisia, and then lived for ten years in Rome, where she studied Chinese.[4] After that she moved to Martinique and then to the United States before emigrating to Canada.[5]
Theory
Canadian academic Clive Thompson has referred to Causse as a "writer of Radical lesbian texts"[6] In her works, she is critical of heterosexuality, stating that "as long as a woman wishes to please a man, she is inauthentic... She does not have the integrity, the un-corruptibility that comes with not wishing to please.".[7] Causse was also critical of both the Women's Movement and of the concept of a homosexual movement, and stated, "I am not a feminist, I am not a homosexual, I am a radical lesbian," She believed that "the women's movement is sustained by lesbians in every country; it is a lesbian movement, profoundly lesbian.[8] She was also critical of the influence of patriarchy on lesbians, claiming that lesbians were phallicized in the 1980s by the male homosexual movement.[9]
Translations
Causse translated between the French, English and Italian languages and was fluent in all three languages. Her translations of works included texts by Herman Melville, Gertrude Stein, Ti-Grace Atkinson, Djuna Barnes, Jane Bowles, Willa Cather, Mary Daly, Ignazio Silone and Alice Munro.
Last years and death
In her last years, she lived in the southwest of France.[10] Causse chose to end her life on her 74th birthday, in association with Dignitas, an assisted dying group in Switzerland.[11][12][13]
This was filmed and then shown on Swiss TV.
Bibliography
- Dé/figures du soi, (unpublished)
- Hors de soi in ...Disent-ils, Ed. Ahla/Bagdam, Montréal / Toulouse, 2006
- Concept d'amour né de l'écriture de ( ), Bagdam Espace Lesbien, Toulouse, 2006
- Contre le sexage, le bréviaire des Gorgones, Ed. Balland, Paris, 2000
- Court of appeal, récit en anglais, Revue Tessera, Montréal, 1996, in Anthologie Orlanda Frauenverlag, Berlin, 1997
- Quelle lesbienne êtes-vous ?, Paroles de lesbiennes, Archives Recherches Cultures Lesbiennes ARCL, Paris, 1996, 72 p.
- Duelle, Revue Treize, Montréal, 1994
- Voyages de la grande naine en Androssie, Ed. Trois, Laval, Québec, 1993
- L’Interloquée-Les Oubliées de l’oubli-Dé/générée, Ed. Trois, Laval, Québec, 1991
- The world as will and representation in Lesbian Philosophies and cultures, Ed. Jeffner Allen, 1990, pages 259–274
- L'ilote, Revue Trois, Montréal, 1990
- A quelle heure est la levée dans le désert ?, Ed. Trois, Laval, Québec, 1990
- ( ), (prononcer Parenthèses), Collection Topaze, Ed. Trois, Laval, 1987, 148 p.
- Le monde comme volonté et représentation in Emergence d'une culture au féminin, Ed. St Martin, Montréal, 1986
- Lettres à Omphale, Ed. Denoël-Gonthier, Paris, 1984
- Rencontre avec Djuna Barnes in L'almanach des dames, Ed. Flammarion, Paris, 1982, Amsterdam, 1983, pages 139–160
- Berthe ou un demi-siècle auprès de l'Amazone, Ed. Tierce, Paris, 1982
- L'intruse, poésie, Ed. du Nouveau Commerce, Paris, 1980
- Petite réflexion sur Bartleby, Ed. du Nouveau Commerce, Paris, 1980
- Lesbiana. Seven Portraits, Ed. du Nouveau Commerce, Paris, 1980
- Dire du corps, corps du dire in Journal d'une femme soumise de Mara, Ed. Flammarion, Paris, 1979, Amsterdam, 1981
- Ecrits Voix d'Italie, Ed. des Femmes, Paris, 1977
- L’encontre, Ed. des Femmes, Paris, 1975
Multimedia
- La narrée navrée, lecture, Centenaire de Violette Leduc, video, Arras, 2007
- Une écrivain en terres occupées, film de Michel Garcia-Luna, DVD 47mn20, Ed. Lunaprod, 2005
- Corps de paroles, film of Suzanne Vertue and Dianne Heffernan, 37mn, Video-elles, Montreal, 1989
- A la lettre, cassette, Ed. Anne-Marie Alonzo, Montréal
Articles
- Nomen est omen, post-face in "Défigures du soi", (inédit)
- Claude Cahun ou la mutante héroïque, Pour une anthologie des créatrices lesbiennes dans la Résistance, a cura di Paola Guazzo, Bagdam Espace Lesbien, avril 2008
- La narrée navrée, Centenaire de Violette Leduc, Revue Trésors à prendre, dir. Elisabeth Seys, 2007
- Inside Deep throat, commentary on the film Deep Throat, in collaboration with Katy Barasc, Sysiphe, 2006
- Pourquoi les gays ne peuvent-ils pas être les alliés objectifs des lesbiennes ?, Les Pénélopes, 2002, Bagdam Espace Lesbien, 2006
- Noir dessein (lettre à Nicolas Hulot), Bagdam Espace Lesbien, 2006
- Le genre comme espace de contention, Université de Beyrouth, 2005
- A propos de Lynndie England : Tragédie de la mimesis ou comment muer l'objet en sujet répréhensible, in collaboration with Katy Barasc, Sysiphe, 2004
- Qui a peur de Valerie Solanas ?, Bagdam Espace Edition, Toulouse, 2004, pages 19–35
- Hommage à Monique Wittig, Tribute to Monique Wittig. Extrait du chapitre "La grande Pérégrine" in Voyages de la Grande Naine en Androssie (Ed. Trois, Montréal, 1993), numéro spécial, Labrys-études féministes, Brasilia-Montréal-Paris, septembre 2003
- Sur le voile, Sisyphe, 2003
- Une politique textuelle inédite : l'alphalecte in Lesbianisme et féminisme. Histoires politiques, Ed. L'harmattan, 2002
- L'universite : Alma mater ou père indigne ?, 2e Colloque international d'études lesbiennes: La grande dissidence et le grand effroi, Actes du colloque Espace lesbien n° 2, Bagdam Espace Edition, Toulouse, 2001
References
- ↑ http://www.letelegramme.com/ig/generales/france-monde/france/suisse-deces-de-michele-causse-ecrivain-et-militante-lesbienne-30-07-2010-1005494.php Le Telegramme
- ↑ BIOGRAPHIE de Michèle CAUSSE, 'Revue Violette Leduc
- ↑ Weil, Lise. Trivia: A Journal of Ideas, issue 20 (1992)
- ↑ "Michèle Causse". Causse. 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ↑ Michèle Causse
- ↑ Thompson, Clive. Bakhtin and Feminist Projects: Judith Butler's Gender Trouble in Bakhtin: Carnival and Other Subjects, Ed: David Shepherd 1993 Rodopi, ISBN 90-5183-450-0, p213
- ↑ Causse, Michele. La Parole métèque, 1991, Montreal, pp 17–18
- ↑ Frédéric Martel, Jane Marie Todd, The Pink and the Black: Homosexuals in France Since 1968, Stanford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8047-3274-4, p81
- ↑ Frédéric Martel, Jane Marie Todd, The Pink and the Black: Homosexuals in France Since 1968, Stanford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8047-3274-4, p176
- ↑ Causse, Michèle. Trivia Magazine, Issue 3, Contributor notes Trivia Magazine
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-08-06. Retrieved 2011-07-12. France Soir
- ↑ http://michele-causse.com/
- ↑ http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=748_1349359143