Islam and the West: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida (Religion and Postmodernism)

137 Pages·2008·0.522 MB·English

by  Mustapha Chérif

Islam and the West
religion and postmodernism
A series edited by Th omas A. Carlson
editorial board
Gil Anidjar, Arnold Davidson, Hent de Vries, Amy Hollywood,
Eric L. Santner
founding editor
Mark C. Taylor
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Islam and the West
A Conversation with Jacques Derrida
mustapha chérif
Translated by
Teresa Lavender Fagan
With a foreword by
Giovanna Borradori
Th e University of Chicago Press (cid:3) Chicago and London
mustapha chérif is Th e University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
professor of philosophy Th e University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
and Islamic studies at the © 2008 by Th e University of Chicago
University of Algiers and All rights reserved. Published 2008
a visiting professor at the Printed in the United States of America
Collège de France. 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 1 2 3 4 5
isbn-13: 978-0-226-10286-3 (cloth)
Among teresa isbn-10: 0-226-10286-6 (cloth)
lavender fagan’s
most recent translations Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
are Rémi Brague’s Th e Derrida, Jacques.
Wisdom of the World, Islam and the West : a conversation with Jacques
Jean Bottéro’s Th e Oldest Derrida / Mustapha Chérif; translated by Teresa
Cuisine in the World, and Lavender Fagan; with a foreword by Giovanna
Alain Boureau’s Satan Borradori.
the Heretic: Th e Birth p. cm.
of Demonology in the isbn-13: 978-0-226-10286-3 (cloth : alk. paper)
Medieval West. isbn-10: 0-226-10286-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Derrida, Jacques—Interviews. 2. East and
Originally published as West. 3. Political science—Philosophy. I. Chérif,
L’Islam et l’occident. Mustapha, 1950– II. Fagan, Teresa Lavender.
Rencontre avec Jacques III. Borradori, Giovanna. IV. Title.
Derrida © Editions cb251.d4 2008
Odile Jacob, 909'.09767—dc22
2006. 2008003988
∞ Th e paper used in this publication meets the
minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ansi z39.48-1992.
To all those who unconditionally
welcome, listen to, and respect
THE OTHER.
With my thanks and gratitude to Madame Marguerite Derrida,
and to Professor Jean-Luc Nancy, who was kind
enough to read and comment on this work.
Contents
Foreword: Pure Faith in Peace ix
Introduction: Friendship, Above All 1
Th e Future of Civilizations 19
Th e Discussion 27
To Have Lived, and to Remember, as an Algerian 29
East-West: Unity and Diff erences 37
Injustice and Decline 47
Separation or Connection? 55
Progress Is Absolute, or Th ere Is No Progress 77
Conclusion: Th e Diff erent Other Is Indispensable to
Our Lives 87
Afterword: From the Southern Shores, Adieu to Derrida 95
Biography: Derrida and the Southern Shores 107

Foreword:
Pure Faith in Peace
I want to speak here, today, as an Algerian, as an Algerian who
became French at a given moment, lost his French citizenship, and
then recovered it.
jacques derrida
It is a late afternoon in the spring of 2003. In the tea-
room of the Institut du Monde Arabe, in Paris, a man
by the name of Mustapha Chérif is sitting at a table,
deeply immersed in his thoughts. He is expecting
the arrival of Jacques Derrida, thinker of worldwide
fame, controversial philosopher, and prophet of the
oppressed, the undocumented, and the unseen.
We can imagine what Chérif could have reasonably
anticipated: after greeting Derrida and exchanging a
few words of gratitude for agreeing to participate in