Who Was Jacques Derrida? An Intellectual Biography

292 Pages·2009·1.63 MB·English

by  David Mikics

Who Was Jacques Derrida?
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Who Was
?
Jacques Derrida
An Intellectual Biography
DAVID MIKICS
Yale University Press New Haven &London
Copyright © 2009by David Mikics.
All rights reserved.
This book may not be reproduced,in whole or in part,including
illustrations,in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107
and108ofthe U.S.Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public
press),without written permission from the publishers.
Set in Minion Roman type by Integrated Publishing Solutions.
Printed in the United States ofAmerica.
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mikics,David,1961–
Who was Jacques Derrida? :an intellectual biography / David Mikics.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN978-0-300-11542-0(hardcover :alk.paper)
1. Derrida,Jacques. I. Title.
B2430.D484M48 2009
194—dc22
[B] 2009011984
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements ofANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992
(Permanence ofPaper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For VM
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Preface xi
List ofAbbreviations xv
Introduction 1
ONE From Algeria to the École Normale:
Sartre,Hegel,Husserl 11
TWO Writing and DifferenceandOfGrammatology 62
THREE Plato,Austin,Nietzsche,Freud 139
viii Contents
FOUR Gadamer,Celan,de Man,Heidegger 182
FIVE Politics,Marx,Judaism 216
Coda 244
Notes 249
Index 259
Acknowledgments
John Kulka and Jennifer Banks,my editors at Yale University
Press,accompanied me every step ofthe way.This book would
not exist without their care and enthusiasm.The anonymous
readers for Yale were also extraordinarily helpful, and Jack
Borrebach provided expert copyediting. Harvey Yunis read
and usefully commented on my discussion of Plato.I greatly
appreciate the support of David Bromwich and John Hollan-
der,as well as the patience ofHarold Bloom,Michael Fox,and
Tzvetan Todorov,who answered my questions about their per-
sonal experience ofDerrida.
The Martha Gano Houstoun fund at the English Depart-
ment of the University of Houston supported the writing of
this book in essential ways.I am grateful to the Houstoun fam-
ily and to the English Department’s Houstoun Committee.
Richard Armstrong and Rob Zaretsky,of the Honors College
at the University of Houston, offered help and insight; the
Honors College was a true intellectual home during my work
on the book.In New York,the Frederick Lewis Allen Room of
the New York Public Library provided a place to work and an
inspiring sense that I was surrounded by many distinguished
writers, past and present. I thank my father, Lewis J. Mikics;