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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Where does Kristeva say the "miracle" of Celine lies?

2. Chapter 9 "Ours to Jew or Die" begins with a quote by whom?

3. Kristeva says that today's universe is divided between boredom, abjection, and what?

4. About how long has it been since the publication of "Journey to the End of the Night" when this book was written?

5. Chapter 10 "In the Beginning and Without End . . ." begins with a quote from Celine which says that "in the beginning was" what?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Celine use strong women in his works?

2. Why might Kristeva say many of Celine's stylistic choices be called anti-linguistic or anti-grammatical?

3. Why does Kristeva say her reading of Celine will not be a thematic one?

4. What does Kristeva say Celine felt was the foundation of human existence?

5. In what ways that Kristeva points out do Celine's writings differ from Jewish ideas?

6. How does Kristeva say Celine seemed to feel about human identities?

7. How, according to Kristeva, do Celine's works draw the reader to their primal repressions?

8. What does Kristeva say about how Celine's novels are realistic?

9. What does Kristeva mean when she says Celine's language exhibits a fascination with what might be called "binary" speech?

10. How does Kristeva say Celine captures the abject in his writing?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Explore the use of rites and laws in the book. Why does Kristeva make use of these concepts? What are they examples of? How do rites and laws attempt to combat the abject? What does Kristeva seem to think of these rites and laws?

Essay Topic 2

Explore the idea that Kristeva wrote her book from a feminist perspective. Describe three instances where Kristeva talks specifically about women and their roles in society, history, or religion. What ideas does she have about women that seem to point to feminism?

Essay Topic 3

What does Kristeva mean when she says abject literature is an unstable category? What qualities does literature have to have to be abject? What is the narrative in abject literature supposed to be like? How does this cause a problem for the writer? How does language cause a problem?

(see the answer keys)

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