Jacques Derrida

This collection of essays on Jacques Derrida, first published in 2004, spans nearly thirty years of critical thinking about Derrida's work. The articles selected here have never previously been collected, yet they are significant contributions that illuminate difficult and important aspects of Derrida's writings. While not seeking to be comprehensive, the volume ranges over the entirety of Derrida's published output and addresses a number of crucial topics, including literature, iterability, the signature, time, alterity, Judaism, metaphor and death. Reprinted here in chronological order of first publication, the essays are complemented by an introduction by Ian MacIachlan which discusses the significance of Derrida's work for our critical thinking.

1. Introduction: Deconstruction, Critical Thought, Literature Ian Maclachlan 2. ‘Literature’/Literature Alan Bass 3. Household Words: Alterity, the Unconscious and the Text Ann Wordsworth 4. Scepticism and Deconstruction A.J. Cascardi 5. Un dialogue du sourds? Some Implications of the Austin-Searle-Derrida Debate Ian Maclean 6. Autobiography and the Case of the Signature: Reading Derrida’s Glas Jane Marie Todd 7. Metaphorics and Metaphysics: Derrida’s Analysis of Aristotle Irene E. Harvey 8. Time After Time: Temporality, Temporalization Timothy Clark 9. Circumcising Confession: Derrida, Autobiography, Judaism Jill Robbins 10. Memento Mori Robert Smith