Contents
Julia Kristeva
Developing influential ideas about intertextuality and abjection.
Semeiotikè · Powers of Horror
- Born
- 24 June 1941
- Birthplace
- Sliven, Bulgaria
More people
Julia Kristeva
Julia Kristeva is a Bulgarian-French thinker whose writing connects literary theory, language and psychoanalysis. Her books examine how meaning, identity and emotional experience are formed.
Early life
French-language schooling
Attended a Francophone school in Bulgaria.
Sofia studies
Studied at Sofia University before a research fellowship brought her to France in 1965.
Career
- 1960s
Paris intellectual circles
Worked with scholars including Roland Barthes and became associated with Tel Quel.
- 1970s
Academic work
Taught and developed research bridging linguistics and psychoanalysis.
- 2004
Holberg Prize
Became the prize’s first laureate.
Selected work
Semeiotikè
Collected early work on language, texts and the production of meaning.
Powers of Horror
Examined abjection: what people reject to establish boundaries of self and society.
Black Sun
Explored depression and melancholy through psychoanalysis and literature.
Beyond work
Literary family
Married the writer Philippe Sollers in 1967.
Public engagement
Helped establish the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for women’s freedom.
Sources & photo credit
Life, career and references ↗Holberg Prize biography ↗Photo: photo2008. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
