Kelly Oliver

"Philosophy reads humanity against animality, arguing that "man" is man because he is separate from beast. Deftly challenging this position, Kelly Oliver proves that, in fact, it is the animal that teaches us to be human. Through their sex, their habits, and our perception of their purpose, animals show us how not to be them. This kinship plays out in a number of ways. We sacrifice animals to establish human kinship, but without the animal, the bonds of "brotherhood" fall apart. Either kinship with animals is possible or kinship with humans is impossible. Philosophy holds that humans and animals are distinct, but in defending this position, the discipline depends on a discourse that relies on the animal for its very definition of the human. Through these and other examples, Oliver does more than just establish an animal ethics. She transforms ethics by showing how its very origin is dependent upon the animal. Examining for the first time the treatment of the animal in the work of Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, Agamben, Freud, Lacan, and Kristeva, among others, Animal Lessons argues that the animal bites back, thereby reopening the question of the animal for philosophy."--Publisher's description.

"French Feminism Reader is a collection of essays representing the authors and issues from French theory most influential in the American context. The book is designed for use in courses, and it includes illuminating introductions to the work of each author. These introductions include biographical information, influences and intellectual context, major themes in the author's work as a whole, and specific introductions to the selections in this volume."--Back cover.

In Womanizing Nietzsche, Kelly Oliver uses an analysis of the position of woman in Nietzsche's texts to open onto the larger question of philosophy's relation to the feminine and the maternal. Offering readings from Nietzsche, Derrida, Irigaray, Kristeva, Freud and Lacan, Oliver builds an innovative foundation for an ontology of intersubjective relationships that suggests a new approach to ethics. (Source: [Routledge](

Presenting new scholarship in feminist language theory, this book addresses issues within diverse traditions, bringing together feminist positions, strategies, and styles in an original way. Gathering together authors with different backgrounds and methods, Language and Liberation puts this diverse scholarship into dialogue. The questions and concerns reflected in these essays are presented within the context of their historical background, provided by the editors' comprehensive introduction. These questions include: Is there a distinction between "female" and "male" language? What is the relationship of feminine/feminist identity to language? What is the value of metaphor for feminist theory and practice?

The image of a heavily pregnant woman, once considered ugly and indecent, is now common to Hollywood film. Kelly Oliver investigates this curious shift and its reflection of changing attitudes toward women's roles in reproduction and the family. Reading various films, the book investigates pregnancy as a vehicle for romance, a political issue of choice, a representation of the hosting of others, a prism for fears of miscegenation, and a screen for modern technological anxieties.

"Contemporary French Feminism brings together a wide selection of different perspectives from some of the most exciting feminist writing in France today, including some of the most prominent writers in the field, such as Michele le Doeuff and Julia Kristeva. The majority of pieces in this selection have never before appeared in English translation, meaning that this volume makes many of the most recent debates in French feminism available to the English-speaking world for the first time. And as Lisa Walsh makes clear in the introduction, the essays presented here suggest the emergence of a whole new generation of French feminist thinkers - a 'third wave', whose approach to questions of equality and difference is quite distinct from that of earlier feminist thinkers in its attempt to move towards a new concept of the individual."--Jacket.