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DERRIDA AND THE TEST OF SECRECY

DERRIDA AND THE TEST OF SECRECY Jacques Derrida reads the biblical story of Genesis 22, in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, as a test of secrecy. Derrida follows Kierkegaard in presuming that Abraham not only does not but also cannot tell anyone about what God has commanded him to do. For Derrida, moreover, Abraham comes to embody the absolute right to non-response or secrecy constituting the modern institution of literature. In this essay, I criticize Derrida's highly Kierkegaardian account of Genesis 22 for underplaying the involvement of Isaac and the ram in the sacrifice. By seeing how Derrida ignores the two victims of the sacrifice, we can see how both Genesis 22 and literature are inadequately described as tests of secrecy. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities Taylor & Francis

DERRIDA AND THE TEST OF SECRECY

Danta, Chris
Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities , Volume 18 (2): 15 – Jun 1, 2013
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DERRIDA AND THE TEST OF SECRECY

Abstract

Jacques Derrida reads the biblical story of Genesis 22, in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, as a test of secrecy. Derrida follows Kierkegaard in presuming that Abraham not only does not but also cannot tell anyone about what God has commanded him to do. For Derrida, moreover, Abraham comes to embody the absolute right to non-response or secrecy constituting the modern institution of literature. In this essay, I criticize Derrida's highly Kierkegaardian account...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN
1469-2899
eISSN
0969-725X
DOI
10.1080/0969725X.2013.804991
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Jacques Derrida reads the biblical story of Genesis 22, in which God asks Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, as a test of secrecy. Derrida follows Kierkegaard in presuming that Abraham not only does not but also cannot tell anyone about what God has commanded him to do. For Derrida, moreover, Abraham comes to embody the absolute right to non-response or secrecy constituting the modern institution of literature. In this essay, I criticize Derrida's highly Kierkegaardian account of Genesis 22 for underplaying the involvement of Isaac and the ram in the sacrifice. By seeing how Derrida ignores the two victims of the sacrifice, we can see how both Genesis 22 and literature are inadequately described as tests of secrecy.

Journal

Angelaki: Journal of Theoretical Humanities – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jun 1, 2013

Keywords: Jacques Derrida; Abraham; Genesis 22; sacrifice; secrecy; literature

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