Kristeva's Revolt

The word revolt, as Julia Kristeva defines it in her article “New Forms of Revolt,” as a “challenge to pre-established norms, values, and powers” that, since the French Revolution, is seen as the “secular version of the negativity that is characteristic of the life of conscience when it attempts to remain faithful to its internal logic.” She goes on to say that the “New World Order” does not work in tandem with revolt as one looses sight of who to revolt against in cases of corruption or vacant value while loosing the ability to revolt as one ceases to be “subject” and instead turns into a “patrimonial person,” or a sack of organs. Overall, she cites various examples of revolt throughout her article as examples and evidence to her claims. However, an over-arching theme in her writing, I believe, is the contrast between “old” and “new” revolt. She likens “old revolt” to something akin to “revolution,” something that, for the past two centuries, has been associated in politics as “the abandonment of retrospective questioning in favour of an outright rejection of the old (old as in previous, not old revolt), so that new dogmas can take its place.” By contrast, “new revolt” is the “ nihilistic (rejection of old values in favour of a cult of new values that are unquestioned) suspension of questioning in favor of so-called new values which, precisely as “values,” have forgotten to question themselves, and as a result, have essentially betrayed the meaning of revolt.” Mainly, I see her thought process throughout the article as a criticism of the development of “new” revolt as it has developed and changed through various stages of both various psychological and physical manifestations of revolt. She mentions other forms of revolt (humble revolt, intimate revolt) and presents examples (Possession) she deems fits her categories. Though I may have completely misunderstood the article, I believe she is arguing that the modern development of revolt damages more than liberates, and should therefore be changed.