The work follows the vicissitudes of the concept of difference in contemporary cultural discourse: a shift from the Platonic notion of difference as a pillar of separation to Gilles Deleuze s notion of pure difference as the ground for communication. Special attention is paid to the relevance of pure difference for gender studies, in particular, as a means of redefining the key relations of mind-body and man-woman. The shape the relations in question assume in patriarchal reality (and the consequent subjugation of the feminine) is presented indirectly, via contemporary readings of the...