Posthumously : For Jacques Derrida

In 2004, Jacques Derrida gave one of his final interviews prior to his death. Regarding the future of his work, Derrida advanced two contradictory hypotheses: "I will not be read"; and "despite a handful of good readers . . . I am yet to be read". This book is an homage to the spirit of Derrida, and seeks to grasp the significance of his death on the rich corpus of his work, in a voice that remains true to the "faithful betrayals" of Derridas own works of deconstuction. Two key journeys underpin Posthumously. The first is an exploration of both Derrida and deconstruction through the unusual prism of cinema and photography, bringing into play Gilles Deleuze's concept of creative repetition. In the second journey, the author embarks on a detailed engagement with Derrida's oft-neglected book on drawing, Memoirs of the Blind, and provides a subversive reading of that text, arguing that its labyrinthine turns (confession, self-portrait, and mourning) obscure a secret ambition to stage the last battle between its own graphic trait and the image in full colour. Beneath this vivid canopy, Zsuzsa Baross brings together a collection of shorter pieces developing the meaning of the term "posthumous" in the world of writing and literary criticism, interrogating Derrida's posthumous lesson on "learning to live". The final act in this unique volume analyses Derrida's last hand-written note; a note, the author argues, that reopens the question of the posthumous and provides an infinitely moving lesson on life. In 2004, philosopher Jacques Derrida gave one of his final interviews prior to his death. Regarding the future of his work, Derrida advanced two contradictory hypotheses: "I will not be read" and "despite a handful of good readers...I am yet to be read." Posthumously is an homage to the spirit of Derrida, grasping the significance of his death on the rich corpus of his work, in a voice that remains true to the "faithful betrayals" of Derrida's own works of deconstruction. Two key journeys underpin the book. The first journey is an exploration of Derrida and deconstruction through the unusual prism of cinema and photography, bringing into play Gilles Deleuze's concept of creative repetition. The second journey is a detailed engagement with Derrida's oft-neglected book on drawing, Memoirs of the Blind, and provides a subversive reading of that text, arguing that its labyrinthine turns (confession, self-portrait, and mourning) obscure a secret ambition to stage the last battle between its own graphic trait and the image in full color. Beneath this vivid canopy, Posthumously brings together a collection of shorter pieces, developing the meaning of the term "posthumous" in the world of writing and literary criticism, interrogating Derrida's posthumous lesson on "learning to live." The final act in this unique volume analyzes Derrida's last hand-written note - a note, the book argues, that reopens the question of the posthumous and provides an infinitely moving lesson on life. Cover Title Page Copyright Contents Acknowledgments Dedication 1 Preface—The Posthumous 2 Fragments Two Versions of the Image 3 Toward a Memory of the Future: Cinema, Memory, History i) Hors-Texte ii) Projection—A Method ii) Projection—A Method iv) Postscript 4 The Image and the “Trait” i) Foreword ii) Exhibition(s) iii) Self-Portrait(s) iv) Between the Lines v) The Question of Color 5 Postscript—L’Arrêt de Mort Notes Works Cited Index The posthumous Fragments Toward a memory of the future: cinema, memory, history The image and the "trait" Postscript: l'arrêt de mort.