‘Where meaning collapses’: Alien and the outlawing of the female hero

Abstract

The article explores the film’s apparent but problematic feminism, involving the undermining of the setting up of the main character as a heroic and liberated woman - a dissonant stance which is considered to be symptomatic of a fundamental contradiction in the positioning of woman in relation to culture and language. Kristeva’s views on subjectivity and the abject are explored and applied. The silencing of the voice of the (hu)man is explored in the context of linguistic empowerment and disempowerment. A postscript on Thelma and Louise is added to underline a n d confirm the double hind in which the female hero fin d s herself.