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The Story is Told as a History of the Body
Strategies of Mimesis in the Work of Iragaray and
Bausch

• Article by Susan Kozel
• Presentation by Mina Ford

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Timeline for Presentation

• Mimesis- 5 minutes
• Background on Iragaray and Bausch- 5 Minutes
• Distortion- 1 minute
• Duality v. Indifference- 5 minutes
• Occupying the feminine v. challenging the
  patriarchy- 5 minutes
• Time, Space, Fluidity and Desire- 5 minutes
• Conclusion- 1 minute

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Mimesis

• Mimesis is the Greek word for artistic
  representation(101)
• Traditionally, it has been understood as a rather
  direct imitation of life.

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Mimesis in Iragaray and Bausch

• The mimesis found in their work is based on a
  principle of repetition or analogy which is not
  one of identical reproduction or simple
  limitation(101).

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Kozels Take on Mimesis

• Kozel believes there is always a moment of
  excess or a remainder in the mimetic
  process(101).
• Because of this, the mimicry is always completely
  different from that which inspires it.

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Before we get ahead of ourselves, lets talk a
little about
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Luce Iragaray

• Born in Belgium in the 1930s
• Moved to France in the 60s
• Feminist theorist and philosopher
• Very interested in language and in Jacques Lacan.

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and Pina Bausch

• Born in 1940 in Germany
• Came to America to attend Julliard
• Returned to Germany in 1960
• Founded dance company Tanztheater Wuppertal

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Kozels Distortion

• The difference between the real and the
  representation of the real is what Kozel refers
  to as distortion.
• Mimesis in Iragarays and Bauschs work is more
  in line with Kozels ideas than those of the
  ancient Greeks.

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Duality differences v. indifference

• Male/female, mind/body, same/other all seem like
  confrontations of different elements.
• Iragaray surmises that they are not that, but
  merely a guise of indifference that ignores or
  excludes one element while glorifying the other
  element.

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Question

• Iragaray believes that trying to directly
  challenge the patriarchal structure is an
  inappropriate response to the subordination of
  the female role. Why, according to Iragaray, is
  this so?

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Occupying The Feminine

• To play with mimesis is thus, for a woman, to
  try to recover the place of her exploitation by
  discourse, without allowing herself to be simply
  reduced to it(102).

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Points of Exit

• Rosi Braidotti asserts that the aim of mimetic
  repetition is to repossess meanings and
  representations, then to find points of exit
  from them.
• This process allows new meanings to emerge and in
  Iragaray and Bausch it allows for a reexamination
  of political, emotional, sexual and physical
  dualities.

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Time,Space, and Fluidity(oh my!)

• Iragaray speaks of fluid density which
  overturns habitual space-time and yet always
  already takes place in it(103)
• Bausch Uses filmic devices to transform
  theatrical space. Challenges duality of
  private/public space. Breaks the fourth wall
  often to remind the audience what they are seeing
  is not real.

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Question

• Why is desire and important element in mimesis,
  especially to Iragaray?

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Answer?

• Kozel says that desire spans the interval
  between people, and this interval has its own
  space and fluidity(106).

• Since Iragarays work comes from the perspective
  of the neglected sexual other, the presence of
  desire is natural.

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Kozels Conclusion

• Is that Iragarays and Bauschs projects
  compliment one another and add to an even larger
  discourse of power, of artistic expression, and
  of departure from the reliance on strict
  dualities to explain our lives.