Emmanuel Levinas's Concept of the Feminine and Its Feminist Critics: Towards a Dialogical Model of Theorizing Sexual Difference

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.