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Medusa's Laugh
  • Published: 20 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781837310159
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 80
Categories:

Medusa's Laugh

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
16 Feb 2027
EBook
20 Aug 2026
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One of the most influential works of second-wave feminism, in a brilliant new translation

Write! Writing is for you, you are for you, your body is for you, take it.

First published in 1975, Medusa’s Laugh represented a defining moment for French feminism. In this landmark essay, feminist theorist and philosopher Hélène Cixous coined the term écriture féminine (or ‘feminine writing’). Allowing women to claim authority in the face of systematic oppression, she imagines this new mode of writing to be defined by a generous, open attitude to otherness and distinct from patriarchal models of communication. Part philosophical treatise, part political manifesto, Medusa’s Laugh is a clarion call to write – for ourselves and of ourselves – and is one of the most important works of second-wave feminism.

Translated by Eric Prenowitz.
  • Published: 20 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781837310159
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 80
Categories:

About the author

Hélène Cixous

Born in Oran, Algeria, in 1937, Hélène Cixous is a major figure in French literature, feminist theory and thought. In 1969, her debut novel Dedans won the prestigious Prix Médicis. However, she is best known for her seminal 1975 essay Le Rire de la Méduse (Medusa's Laugh), which is one of the most frequently read, quoted and translated works of second-wave French feminism. Her concept of écriture féminine ('feminine writing') encourages women to explore the possibilities and freedoms of their sexual identity. She has been a professor of literature and literary theory since the 1960s and, in 1974, she co-founded Europe's first doctoral program in Women’s Studies.
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Praise for Medusa's Laugh

Hélène Cixous’s bombastic juggernaut of an essay from 1975 has a brilliant new translation . . . A landmark of feminist literature. Its argument is urgent, sometimes unruly, and directed straight at its readers. Women must write themselves into a world that has spent centuries telling their stories for them . . . Feminist, it's time to write

New Feminist

Language in Cixous’s hands is molten, constantly opening onto fresh possibilities

Maggie Nelson