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Sovereignties in Question: The Poetics of Paul Celan
Contents
• For Paul Celan
• “A Self-Unsealing Poetic Text”: Poetics and Politics of Witnessing
• Language Does Not An Interview
• The Majesty of the Reading Celan’s “The Meridian”
• Uninterrupted Dialogue―between Two Infinities, the Poem
This book brings together five powerful encounters. Themes central to all of
Derrida’s writings thread the intense confrontation between the most famous
philosopher of our time and the Jewish poet writing in German who, perhaps
more powerfully than any other, has testified to the European experience of
the twentieth century.
They include the date or signature and its singularity; the notion of the trace;
temporal structures of futurity and the “to come”; the multiplicity of language
and questions of translation; such speech acts as testimony and promising, but
also lying and perjury; the possibility of the impossible; and, above all, the question
of the poem as addressed and destined beyond knowledge, seeking to speak to
and for the irreducibly other.
The memory of encounters with thinkers who have also engaged Celan’s work
animates these writings, which include a brilliant dialogue between two
interpretative modes―hermeneutics and deconstruction. Derrida’s approach to
a poem is a revelation on many levels, from the most concrete ways of reading
―for example, his analysis of a sequence of personal pronouns―to the most
sweeping imperatives of human existence (and Derrida’s writings are always
a study in the imbrication of such levels). Above all, he voices the call to
responsibility in the ultimate line of Celan’s “The world is gone,
I must carry you,” which sounds throughout the book’s final essay like a refrain.
Only two of the texts in this volume do not appear here in English for the first time. Of these, Schibboleth has been entirely retranslated and has been set following Derrida's own instructions for publication in French; "A Self-Unsealing Poetic Text" was substantially rewritten by Derrida himself and basically appears here as the translation of a new text.
Jacques Derrida’s most recent books in English translation include Traveling with Jacques Derrida (with Catherine Malabou). He died in Paris on October 8, 2004.
Thomas Dutoit teaches at the Université de Paris 7. He translated Aporias and edited On the Name, both by Jacques Derrida.
• For Paul Celan
• “A Self-Unsealing Poetic Text”: Poetics and Politics of Witnessing
• Language Does Not An Interview
• The Majesty of the Reading Celan’s “The Meridian”
• Uninterrupted Dialogue―between Two Infinities, the Poem
This book brings together five powerful encounters. Themes central to all of
Derrida’s writings thread the intense confrontation between the most famous
philosopher of our time and the Jewish poet writing in German who, perhaps
more powerfully than any other, has testified to the European experience of
the twentieth century.
They include the date or signature and its singularity; the notion of the trace;
temporal structures of futurity and the “to come”; the multiplicity of language
and questions of translation; such speech acts as testimony and promising, but
also lying and perjury; the possibility of the impossible; and, above all, the question
of the poem as addressed and destined beyond knowledge, seeking to speak to
and for the irreducibly other.
The memory of encounters with thinkers who have also engaged Celan’s work
animates these writings, which include a brilliant dialogue between two
interpretative modes―hermeneutics and deconstruction. Derrida’s approach to
a poem is a revelation on many levels, from the most concrete ways of reading
―for example, his analysis of a sequence of personal pronouns―to the most
sweeping imperatives of human existence (and Derrida’s writings are always
a study in the imbrication of such levels). Above all, he voices the call to
responsibility in the ultimate line of Celan’s “The world is gone,
I must carry you,” which sounds throughout the book’s final essay like a refrain.
Only two of the texts in this volume do not appear here in English for the first time. Of these, Schibboleth has been entirely retranslated and has been set following Derrida's own instructions for publication in French; "A Self-Unsealing Poetic Text" was substantially rewritten by Derrida himself and basically appears here as the translation of a new text.
Jacques Derrida’s most recent books in English translation include Traveling with Jacques Derrida (with Catherine Malabou). He died in Paris on October 8, 2004.
Thomas Dutoit teaches at the Université de Paris 7. He translated Aporias and edited On the Name, both by Jacques Derrida.
222 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2005
9 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Derrida
657 books1,809 followersJacques Derrida was a French philosopher best known for developing deconstruction, a method of critical analysis that questioned the stability of meaning in language, texts, and Western metaphysical thought. Born in Algeria, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he was influenced by philosophers such as Heidegger, Husserl, and Levinas. His groundbreaking works, including Of Grammatology (1967), Writing and Difference (1967), and Speech and Phenomena (1967), positioned him at the center of intellectual debates on language, meaning, and interpretation.
Derrida argued that Western philosophy was structured around binary oppositions—such as speech over writing, presence over absence, or reason over emotion—that falsely privileged one term over the other. He introduced the concept of différance, which suggests that meaning is constantly deferred and never fully present, destabilizing the idea of fixed truth. His work engaged with a wide range of disciplines, including literature, psychoanalysis, political theory, and law, challenging conventional ways of thinking and interpretation.
Throughout his career, Derrida continued to explore ethical and political questions, particularly in works such as Specters of Marx (1993) and The Politics of Friendship (1994), which addressed democracy, justice, and responsibility. He held academic positions at institutions such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of California, Irvine, and remained an influential figure in both European and American intellectual circles. Despite criticism for his complex writing style and abstract concepts, Derrida’s ideas have left a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and cultural criticism, reshaping the way meaning and language are understood in the modern world.
Derrida argued that Western philosophy was structured around binary oppositions—such as speech over writing, presence over absence, or reason over emotion—that falsely privileged one term over the other. He introduced the concept of différance, which suggests that meaning is constantly deferred and never fully present, destabilizing the idea of fixed truth. His work engaged with a wide range of disciplines, including literature, psychoanalysis, political theory, and law, challenging conventional ways of thinking and interpretation.
Throughout his career, Derrida continued to explore ethical and political questions, particularly in works such as Specters of Marx (1993) and The Politics of Friendship (1994), which addressed democracy, justice, and responsibility. He held academic positions at institutions such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of California, Irvine, and remained an influential figure in both European and American intellectual circles. Despite criticism for his complex writing style and abstract concepts, Derrida’s ideas have left a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and cultural criticism, reshaping the way meaning and language are understood in the modern world.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 19, 2014
Die Welt is fort, ich muss dich tragen
Read
February 4, 2023There's this cool thing called deconstruction BUT DONT YOU FUCKING ASK DERRIDA TO DEFINE IT BC IT IS NOT A
WORD OR A CONCEPT!!! DONT TRY HIM HE WILL END YOU
WORD OR A CONCEPT!!! DONT TRY HIM HE WILL END YOU
October 11, 2016
"Rams" is really, really good. Left a... trace!... on me. The interviews are helpful. The Celan-centric essays were hard for me to get into.
March 31, 2025
Derrida truly understands Celan
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews