Foreigners to Kristeva: Refashioning Orientalism and the Limits of Love

Abstract

Julia Kristeva, an influential 20th-and 21st-century thinker, adopts an approach to religion that distinguishes between Islamic and Christian belief systems. She argues that, unlike the Christian God, the God of Islam is preeminent and abstracted from worldly affairs and human experience. This thesis reinforces a general notion that Europeans typically defend Western culture against the assumed assault of others/Muslims. This article examines Kristeva's acclaimed universal and ethical positions and their relevance to other cultures, particularly Islamic cultures. Notwithstanding the fact that Kristeva's approach is informed by postmodern psychological and religious terms, she continues to refashion an orientalist discourse that colonial powers utilized in the era of high colonialism to rule and disempower others/Muslims. The inconsistencies in many of her statements show that the transcendentalism she unfavorably attributes to Islam is germane to many aspects of her thought.

Refusing abjection: transphobia and trans youth survivance

“…While Kristeva has made claims of seeking an atheist and universal ethics of love, she has also made some clear Eurocentric and orientalist assertions. Hanan Ibrahim's (2018) article draws on Kristeva's political viewpoints and theorising in relation to Islam and Muslim communities to showcase how Kristeva's work reinforces Eurocentric, orientalist and colonising agendas. Ibrahim draws on three stances that Kristeva has taken to help support her overall argument.…”

“…First, Ibrahim notes that Kristeva often evokes negative stereotypes of Islam through comments that state that Islam and the Islamic religion pose an 'inherent source of violence' and that Islam leaves Kristeva with 'impressions of horror ' (2018: 2). Second, Ibrahim (2018: 2) reminds readers of Kristeva's public stance against Muslim women wearing the Muslim scarf in French communities. Finally, she points out that 'Kristeva demands of Arab Muslim women in France to adopt French values if they are to be accepted by French communities' (Ibrahim, 2018: 2).…”