Post-structuralism's Second Wave: Derrida; A Review Essay

During the closing decades of the twentieth century, French post-structuralism constituted a powerful shaping force on many academic disciplines, especially literary and cultural studies. At the opening of the twenty-first century, most of its major figures, born between the two world wars, have died. Yet a flood, a second wave, of posthumous publications has poured from French presses. The publication of Jacques Derrida's seminars promises to be an unparalleled project among the leading first-generation French post-structuralists. It will publish forty-three years of seminars and courses (one volume for each year). Thus far, two volumes have been published, Seminaire: La bete et le souverain, Volume 1 (2001–2002) and Volume 2 (2002–2003), published in 2008 and 2010, respectively. (In 2009 the University of Chicago Press inaugurated the translation of the series into English with the publication of volume 1.) This review essay of the forthcoming volume 2, the last seminar, assesses Derrida's themes, styles, and organization. It highlights his comments on interpretation and his explorations of the undecidable concept of survivance (life death).