Irigaray and Confucius: A Collaborative Approach to (Feminist) Agency

Abstract

In this paper we take Luce Irigaray’s idea of fluid feminine subjectivity as productive for the project of rethinking agency in a collaborative feminist-Confucian context. We discuss how diffused agency in the Analects can be used alongside Irigaray’s work to critique contemporary notions of atomic agency. Our argument employs the notions of fluidity and agency in Irigaray and the Analects with concentrations on: 1) similarities between Irigaray’s “philosophy of breath” and Confucian ritual; 2) parallels between fluid feminine subjectivity and diffused agency; and 3) a shared concern for the ethical life. We thus see how Confucianism can contribute to contemporary feminist discourse.