J.C. Hayes: Unconditional Translation: Derrida’s Enlightenment-to-Come

Julie Candler Hayes’s Unconditional Translation: Derrida’s Enlightenment-to-Come focuses on the role of lumieres (enlightenment) in Derrida’s “metapolitical” thought. The a-venir (to-come) quality of Derrida’s democracy is, in his later work, extended to his concept of Enlightenment. The aporetic structure (or stricture) of lumieres and democracy is then applied to the practice of translation.

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L. Lawlor : ‘Looking for Noon at Two O’Clock: An Investigation of Specters of Marx’

Personally, I enjoyed this essay quite a bit. Obviously, anyone who is considering a final paper on Specters would find this essay helpful for their research. However, less obviously, it would be of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the thinkers that influence Derrida’s work (or, more precisely, the thinkers that Derrida shares a parasitic relationship with!). To the latter end, it is easy to digest because the essay focuses on the single motif of the promise rather than a broad account of Derrida’s interactions with other major works/thinkers. This is only my impression, but, for those who are interested, I think Lawlor’s attention to Levinas throughout the essay is quite effective (although my summary that here is a little hasty).

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