Geneses, Genealogies, Genres, and Genius: The Secrets of the Archive

by Jacques Derrida, Beverley Bie Brahic (Translator)

Jacques Derrida argues that the feminist and intellectual Hélène Cixous is the most important writer working within the French idiom today. To prove this, he elucidates the epistemological and historical interconnectedness of four terms: genesis, genealogy, genre, and genius, and how they pertain to or are implicated in Cixous's work.

Derrida explores Cixous's genius (a masculine term in French, he is quick to point out) and the inspiration that guides and informs her writing. He marvels at her skillful working within multiple genres. He focuses on a number of her works, including her extraordinary novel Manhattan and her lyrical and evocative Dream I Tell You, a book addressed to Derrida himself and one in which Cixous presents a series of her dreams. Derrida also delves into the nature of the literary archive, the production of literature, and the importance of the poetic and sexual difference to the entirety of his own work.

For forty years, Derrida had a close personal and intellectual relationship with Hélène Cixous. Clever, playful, and eloquent, Geneses, Genealogies, Genres, and Genius charts the influence these two critical giants had on each other and is the most vital work to address Cixous's contribution to French thought.

Collection: European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Theory

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Jacques 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.

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Hélène Cixous's work does to these codes is a storm so unpredictable and so intolerable that there is no question of her garnering a following.

This magical lecture is predicated on two events. Cixous penned a marvelous book titled Manhattan about the isnuous links between libraries and her past: thus the archive and genealogy figure in a nexus of inter-relation. Within the book Cixous cites the spectre of the letter G in her life. Derrida casts a spell of wonder about the four terms of the title and how Cixous' papers have been donated to a French institute, thus her archived memory is archived. This is language at its richest.

[in8 · Rating 4 out of 5]

reviewed it here:
http://5cense.com/09/GENiEmorphEMEolo...

[Eireann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I would rather be reading Cixous than this boring work attempting and failing to describe its marvelousness.

[James G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Requires great patience, and reads like a sweet, long love poem from one language-based philosopher to another. Opened my eyes to Cixous, whom now I will never unsee.