Saturday, October 09, 2004
(2:57 PM) | Anonymous:
The Cancer of Jacques Derrida.
Since Adam told me the news of Derrida's death I've done nothing but read the reactions from others and peruse through the Derrida edition of Magazine Littéraire that I bought in Paris when I arrived there in April. I was very surprised at the kind and generous words given by President Chirac and Prime Minister Raffrain, two men whose politics are very contrary to the thought of Derrida. Raffarin, a rather unpopular conservative leader of the National Assembly, is reported as saying "His 'school of deconstruction' is the one 'of the demand, of the passion [to] break down for rebuilding, to again question, without ceasing, our presuppositions in the diverse readings of the present world. This is a demand for all, philosophers and politicians."1 That a member of the French Right is acknowledging the demand that Derrida's thought places on everyone to constantly question those destructive aspects that are carried in our greatest promises is testament to the power of Derrida's thought. It is also a marked difference from the kind of reception Derrida had received in France when those in power blocked academic appointments and gave him the label of nihilist.I propose "Jacques Derrida Week" at the Weblog and throughout the blog-o-sphere where we discuss the work and influence that Jacques has had on us. Any seconds? Any spontaneous manifestations of the blog-i-tude?
As a sidenote: Adam remarked about the difference between the French and ourselves. If Richard Rorty (or some true analytic) were to die would Bush give a public statement of sadness? Or would his remark be more like, "Who?"
Update: Has anyone else found it completely insulting, or at least odd, that nearly all the reports (in English and French) of his death mention the child he had with a mistress but do not mention his 57 year-long marriage or the two children that came out of that?
1 Original text: Son "école de la déconstruction" est celle "de l'exigence, de la passion: décomposer pour recomposer, réinterroger sans cesse nos présupposés à la lecture de la diversité du monde actuel, c'est une exigence pour tous, philosophes ou hommes politiques", estime M. Raffarin
