“Quasi-Transcendental” and “Being-with”: Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy on Drawing

Abstract

Abstract: In the camp of deconstruction, drawing is an important device of contemplation thanks to its explicit connection with the trace of writing. Both Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy wrote about drawing. In their works, drawing is all about revealing the relation to the Other. However close these thoughts may seem to be, the two philosophers differ in their thinking about the Other. Derrida affirms the Other in a holistic manner and posits it as a quasi-transcendental being. In contrast, Nancy is more inclined to present a form of “being-with” the Other on the basis of affirming heterogeneity and distance. A close analysis of Derrida's and Nancy's thought on drawing offers us an approach to the inner core of their deconstructionist ideas as well as clarifying the continuity and difference between the two deconstructionist thinkers.

Key words: drawing, the Other, deconstruction, Derrida, Nancy, being-with

Su Lin. “Quasi-Transcendental” and “Being-with”: Jacques Derrida and Jean-Luc Nancy on Drawing[J]. Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art, 2024, 44(1): 36-45.

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