Is feminism realism possible? A theory of labial eros and mimesis

This article establishes a correlation between Aristotle's concept of mimes is and the two concepts of modern realism and linear narration, which, With good reason, have been attacked as phallic by many feminist theorists. The correlation is established on the basis of my analysis of the narrative st ructure of the play Oedipus Rex, and of the reasons why Aristotle might hav e chosen it as his main example to illustrate his theory in The Poetics. Wh ile Aristotle argued that drama is better than lyric and epic, he ironicall y chose a narrative play to represent his favourite genre to his male stude nts at the Lyceum. This suggests that the example was the most suitable for them to understand. I argue that this accessibility is directly related to the student's gender, their heterosexual acculturation and their masculine embodiedness and eros. Nonetheless, Aristotle established a positive notio n of mimesis, which is useful to feminist because it helps us to correlate the reality of our experience with the representations of it that we propos e to each other and the external world Hence, I propose that we use Aristot lelian mimesis as a point of departure to formulate a notion of mimesis bar ed on female embodiedness and eros. A first example to which I point iss th at of labial mimesis, in which a female duo replaces the phallic hero at th e center of the frame of representation. I argue that this duo represents t he labia, thus pointing to the possibility of a feminist realism in which t he relationship between experience and the intelligible is mediated by fema le embodiedness and eros, and of developing a new symbolic order bared an t hese new mediations. As I intend to move feminist thought beyond formalist views of realism, I c ontend that phallic mimesis is only one of the many possible mimeses; not t he most sophisticated and definitely not universal. Indeed, The Poetics con structs it ar universal because Aristotle's job war acculturating his stude nts in a system that valorized phallic eros and expected them to become goo d citizens and procreators. Thus we see that in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, the hero stands erect at the center of the scene of representation and functio ns as the symbol of the linear, phallic mimesis which is particular but is presented as universal. Feminist readers can look for alternatives to this kind of mimesis, and we can focus on plays where a female duo is at the cen ter of the dramatic structure, and their interaction is the focus of the pl ay. I propose that this mimesis establishes a different relationship betwee n experience and the intelligible for it is based on labial eros. It is a ' labial mimesis' that can be observed in many modem and contemporary films a nd plays that are realistic for they order experience in a clear, intelligi ble way, but do so through a mechanism that symbolizes a site of pleasure f ound in women's bodies. In this alternative to phallic mimesis, the mimetic function is accomplished by the labia, a symbol in which we women can reco gnize our own eros and interrelatedness.