She notes in the Preface that the collection is divided into two parts, the first half being political discussion and the second half being about writing. Wittig published The Straight Mind in 1992, (1) the first (and only) collection of her essays, many of which were previously published in English between 19 in the journal Feminist Issues. Consequently, Wittig is often considered a pioneer of the queer theory movement. In particular, her social theory and literary praxis informed the thinking of leading figures associated with queer theory such as Butler, but also Teresa de Lauretis, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick. Although she moved to the United States in 1976, it was Judith Butler's reading (and critique) of her work in Gender Trouble (1990) that brought Wittig to the attention of academic feminist circles throughout North America, the UK and Australasia. With her subsequent novels and theoretical essays functioning alongside her radical politics, she was foundational in the development of post-Beauvoirian French Feminist philosophy, a movement which she would come to epitomise alongside the better-known figures of Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva and He1ene Cixous. Monique Wittig burst onto the French literary scene in 1964 with the publication of her first novel, L'opoponax, at the age of 29, for which she was awarded the Prix Medicis, one of the most prestigious literary awards in France.
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