derrida and me

i was watching derrida, which is a pathetic substitute for reading derrida, but I have accepted my limitations -- i'm not a philosopher, i'm just a guy.

this film is either a brilliant commentary on the limitations of documentary filmmaking, or a desperate attempt to appear to have a clue by someone who ought to be more clued in. i'm not smart enough to be able to tell the difference.

anyway, there are a couple of beautiful moments though, and i thought i would try to share one of them here.

they try to do the normal "sit the thinker down in a library and have them pontificate" scene. as i watched this scene, it was like derrida vanished and i was listening to jesus.

Interviewer: "You're very well known in the united states for deconstruction. Can you talk a little bit about the origins of that idea?"

Derrida: "Before responding to this question, I want to make a preliminary remark on the completely artificial character of this situation. I don't know who's going to be watching this, but I want to underline rather than efface our surrounding technical conditions, and not feign a "naturality" which does not exist".

I've already in a way started to respond to your question about deconstruction, because one of the gestures of deconstruction is not to naturalize what isn't natural – to not assume that what is conditioned by history, institutions, or society is natural."

he is refusing to pretend to have a philosophical conversation in front of books, but instead insists on beginning the conversation with a recognition of how unnatural it is to be sitting in front of a camera, talking to people who aren't there, and pretending not to be talking the whole film crew, who is there.

i think people love different things about jesus. some people love his compassion for the poor, others love him because he walked in power and could turn water into wine. listening to derrida i think i realized that i love jesus, to a great extent, because he was like this. you want to have one conversation with him, and he wants to have a deeper one with you. in order to invite you into the deeper conversation though, it is almost as if he has to destroy the language you have used all your life before you can hear him.

Comments

[Dave]

I love the idea of the rule of Jesus as "natural" (i.e. the real world) and that it is so hard to talk about that natural state when we are suspended in the un-natural state of self-rule, or prince-of-darkness-rule that the scriptures are always saying stand against the rule of Jesus (the kingdom of God). To get a grip on God's rule we have to first loosen our grip on our self-rule or our submission to / complicity with the reign of the enemy powers over us.

[Shok]

You write well, I like reading your blog ... maybe we'll golf together someday

[Whitewave]

You've captured it pretty well. I consider Derrida to be pretty freakin' generous to spend so much time and energy showing all these people how to do this and with such patience. I know he lost patience now and then (Just like Jesus), but overall, the people who want to attack him or argue with him have receieved so much grace from him that it just astounds me. He had to generate more than equal and opposite force to dismantle the structures which limit our imaginations, and do so on the fly so that there would be room in academia to even have a Voice. God, bless him!

[mark]

I like what you said about Derrida. He was my teacher.