Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Jacques Derrida: "Fear of Writing"
I think Derrida is describing his doubt that occurs after writing something. We have definitely all experienced it before. You write something and you like it while you're writing it, but when you're finished and start thinking about what you just wrote, you start to tear apart your own work and realize that it's crap. Maybe you'll delete it at that moment or leave it alone and come back to it later and like what you wrote. In Derrida's case, he leaves his piece alone and comes back to it later, only to realize that he actually likes it.
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What I got from Derrida's video thing was that he was afraid of the effect his writing would have on other people. When he is about to go to sleep he realizes that the things he has written may be so critical that his writing can actually cause an uproar. He says he is most conscious before he goes to sleep which is why the truth of what he is doing comes out. While he is writing, he writes what he thinks needs to be said regardless of the consequences his words might have.
ReplyDeleteExactly which is doubt. He doubts that he should continue writing his piece or just discard it all-together.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marissal that Derrida was talking more about his fear of how his writing would be recieved and not the quality of what he wrote. Either way, I always get nervous when I write. Starting papers is always the hardest for me.
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