Derrida appears to have a fear of letting his writing and thoughts go to a point where he may end up hurting the feelings or viewpoints of a particular colleague or fellow writer. For Derrida, his ideas and writings are powerful and purposeful at all times. He finds it necessary to write down the ideas that come to his mind, but this raw quality to his writing also produces fear. He does not want to harm others in the relinquishing of his heartfelt opinions, yet at the same time, he does not want to alter his writing in a way that would ruin its genuine nature. Derrida does entrust the written word with a particular power. He mentions that he has never revoked anything that he has written, meaning, the writing itself has power and authority enough over him to remain on the page. Writing, to him, is raw subject matter from his mind that makes its way to the paper in order to inform himself and other individuals of his ideals. Derrida entrusts an absurd amount of power in the written word. The written word has such a power over Derrida that it mulls over in his mind at times when he is about to nap or fall asleep as he addresses in the video.
I write freely sometimes at night, and it is there that I experience some anxiety in regards to the power of my writing. I will write after fights or any slip-ups I experience throughout the day. Sometimes a fear comes over me briefly that someone will read what I have written and know that it is about them, and that they'll take major offense. Another part of me doesn't care who reads it and what they think of it; it's a piece of my writing that I'm proud of and nobody can do anything to change my feeling about that. Writing is one of the best ways to draft one's feelings. For me, it provides a text for future confrontations I would like to make with the people I get in little conflicts with, who make me feel the necessity to write. In this way, I do realize the power of what I write, but I strongly believe in allowing written word to possess this power because it is a great tool that can be used by individuals.
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I like your interpretation of the last of Professor Lay's questions which was about the power Derrida entrusts in his work. I interpreted it differently and thought that he cares so much about his writing because of the way in which people would interpret his writing. But you make a good point because it does indeed infect his mind before he goes to sleep.
ReplyDeleteDerrida does come off as a very powerful writer and he is afraid is will come off as that in his writings. He doesn't want to offend anyone, but in a person's writing they should be able to express themselves. You should believe in your writing and have faith that it is serving a purpose.
ReplyDeleteRaw quality. Raw is the way that any information should be written. It should strictly convey something that shocks or makes an impression on the reader; the raw truth. Its true, this is way Derrida can criticize and take complete control and free will in his writing.
ReplyDeleteIs Derrida's fear related to Kenneth Bruffee's sense of abnormal discourse?
ReplyDelete