Posthumously – For Jacques Derrida

In 2004, philosopher Jacques Derrida gave one of his final interviews prior to his death. Regarding the future of his work, Derrida advanced two contradictory hypotheses: "I will not be read" and "despite a handful of good readers...I am yet to be read." Posthumously is an homage to the spirit of Derrida, grasping the significance of his death on the rich corpus of his work, in a voice that remains true to the "faithful betrayals" of Derrida's own works of deconstruction. Two key journeys underpin the book. The first journey is an exploration of Derrida and deconstruction through the unusual prism of cinema and photography, bringing into play Gilles Deleuze's concept of creative repetition. The second journey is a detailed engagement with Derrida's oft-neglected book on drawing, Memoirs of the Blind, and provides a subversive reading of that text, arguing that its labyrinthine turns (confession, self-portrait, and mourning) obscure a secret ambition to stage the last battle between its own graphic trait and the image in full color. Beneath this vivid canopy, Posthumously brings together a collection of shorter pieces, developing the meaning of the term "posthumous" in the world of writing and literary criticism, interrogating Derrida's posthumous lesson on "learning to live." The final act in this unique volume analyzes Derrida's last hand-written note - a note, the book argues, that reopens the question of the posthumous and provides an infinitely moving lesson on life.