Performative (re)writing: Valerie Solanas and the politics of scribble

Abstract

Valerie Solanas, a radical feminist writer best known for shooting Andy Warhol in 1968, is also the author of S.C.U.M. Manifesto, a feminist anti-capitalist treatise advocating for women's revolution against work, men, capitalism, and the patriarchy Some time after publication. Solanas defaced the New York Library's copy of S.C.U.M. Manifesto, rewriting it to document her rejection of the unauthorized edits that had been made to the published version of her work. Based on this performance, in this essay I argue for broadening the conception of performative writing to admit Solana's activism. Such an understanding of performative writing allows us to widen our field of investigation to include writings that might be cast aside for not being traditional or conventional enough in style or material location and written by those outside of creative writing or academic circles.