[lbo-talk] Conversation with Derrida

[Chuck Grimes]

Below is a link to about an hour of Jacques Derrida. It starts with a
brief discussion of the word deconstruction. He moves on the concept of
deconstruction of the subject, then moves to whether or not
deconstruction is a form of irrationalism and its relation to
rationalism, then finally deconstruction of nationalism, nationality,
language, and then all of the above in relation to universal human
rights and English as the international language.  

For the con side on Derrida, he answers almost everything that has been
thrown against him. For the pro-side, I think Derrida does a beautiful
job of explaining and demonstrating what he means and how he goes about
it. The basic message, I think, is that our concepts of subject,
rationialism, nation, and other cherished projects are always an ongoing
system. So then, the method of deconstructing them is essentially to
historicize them and then open them to further development. 

You don't have to have read Derrida at all to get the ideas and see the
method in action. 

What I think what has happened to deconstruction historically in the US
is a pretty terrible rendition, and some of it is outright wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s8SSilNSXw&NR=1  

I am trying to see how that happened. I think it has to do with the
difference between writing and speaking, or between a lecture and a
conversation. It amazes me how much I learn and how quickly, when
listening to a conversation. This speed is in contrast to the slowness
of reading and writing. It's also pretty amazing how easily I understood
Derrida in conversation, while he seems so opaque and difficult in
print.

But there is more to the problem of the US reception than that. I think
it has to do with the fact that most US students, their teachers and the
criticism in art and literature have little or no background in the
European history of ideas and its intimate relationship to each
country's historical development, their national literature, and then
their battles with each other. We are not used to tracing the trajectory
of various arguments, schools of thought, and concepts through changes
in language, culture, and through centuries of transformation. We are
also not used to switching on and off different modes of thought, which
is a kind of mysterious thing that goes when switching between two or
more languages.

Derrida mentions this phenomenon at the very last part of his
conversation when he starts to talk about his relationship to English as
a native French speaker. 

Derrida talks about trajectories and genealogies. I was reminded of
Foucault's archaeology. One thing Derrida mentioned was the appearance
of concepts and their changes. What I was thinking at the time was also
about the disappearance of concepts. For example, the ancient Egyptian
concepts of mind. 

CG