Interrupting Derrida

"Interrupting Derrida" is a major new work by Geoffrey Bennington, internationally renowned Derrida scholar and translator of Derrida's work. This bold and provocative collection of essays surveys key themes in work by and about Derrida. Presenting a compelling challenge to influential readings of Derrida that have emerged from both the philosophical and literary traditions, Bennington shows how Derrida's work "interrupts" metaphysics, not by redefining philosophy but by rendering it indefinite. Arguing that we can fruitfully interrupt Derrida himself, Bennington offers us a dazzling and provocative reading that points the way towards any future dialogue with Derrida's work.

One of the most significant contemporary thinkers in continental philosophy, Jacques Derrida’s work continues to attract heated commentary among philosophers, literary critics, social and cultural theorists, architects and artists. This major new work by world renowned Derrida scholar and translator, Geoffrey Bennington, presents incisive new readings of both Derrida and interpretations of his work. Part one sets out Derrida’s work as a whole and examines its relevance to, and ‘interruption’ of, the traditional domains of ethics, politics and literature. The second part of the book presents compelling insights into some important motifs in Derrida’s work, such as death, friendship, psychoanalysis, time and endings. The final section introduces trenchant appraisals of other influential accounts of Derrida’s work. This influential and original contribution to the literature on Derrida is marked by a commitment to clarity and accuracy, but also by a refusal to simplify Derrida’s often difficult thought.

Introduction; Part 1 Pedagogics; Chapter 1 ‘Jacques Derrida’; Chapter 2 Derrida and Politics; Chapter 3 Deconstruction and Ethics; Chapter 4 Derrida’s Mallarmé; Part 2 Allographics; Chapter 5 R.I.P.; Chapter 6 X; Chapter 7 Circanalysis (The Thing Itself); Chapter 8 Forever Friends; Chapter 9 Is It Time?; Chapter 10 Almost the End; Part 3 Philopolemics; Chapter 11 Genuine Gasché (Perhaps); Chapter 12 Emergencies; Chapter 13 An Idea of Syntax;

Geoffrey Bennington is Professor of French at the University of Sussex. His previous publications include Legislations: The Politics of Deconstruction and Jacques Derrida.