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Le Calcul des langues
Texte énigmatique et entièrement inédit, Le Calcul des langues marque la première tentative de Jacques Derrida d’écrire un livre en deux colonnes. Annoncé comme « à paraître » sur la quatrième de couverture de l’Archéologie du frivole (1973) mais jamais publié du vivant de l’auteur, le tapuscrit de ce projet inachevé fut retrouvé chez Derrida après son décès. La publication posthume de ce texte fort original met au jour un véritable laboratoire typographique où, avant l’écriture de l’un de ses textes les plus célèbres, Glas (1974), Derrida ose couper la page en deux en vue de repenser la relation entre philosophie et écriture.
Poursuivant une réflexion sur les sciences du langage au XVIIIe siècle entamée avec De la grammatologie (1967), Derrida propose ici une lecture en partie double de L’Art d’écrire de Condillac. Mais à la différence de Glas, dont les deux colonnes confrontent un philosophe (Hegel) à un auteur littéraire (Genet), Le Calcul des langues confronte Condillac à lui-même. Si la colonne de gauche propose une exégèse plutôt conventionnelle et méthodologique de L’Art d’écrire, celle de droite divague sans cesse, multipliant les digressions en direction de Freud et d’autres penseurs, à la recherche d’un plaisir de l’écriture qui échapperait à la philosophie.
Lecture de Condillac en deux colonnes, donc, mais aussi en « deux styles » comme l’indique le sous-titre (« Distyle »), cet ouvrage tout à fait singulier dans le corpus derridien donne à lire l’une des plus belles expérimentations de l’écriture déconstructrice.
Le texte a été établi par Geoffrey Bennington et Katie Chenoweth.
Poursuivant une réflexion sur les sciences du langage au XVIIIe siècle entamée avec De la grammatologie (1967), Derrida propose ici une lecture en partie double de L’Art d’écrire de Condillac. Mais à la différence de Glas, dont les deux colonnes confrontent un philosophe (Hegel) à un auteur littéraire (Genet), Le Calcul des langues confronte Condillac à lui-même. Si la colonne de gauche propose une exégèse plutôt conventionnelle et méthodologique de L’Art d’écrire, celle de droite divague sans cesse, multipliant les digressions en direction de Freud et d’autres penseurs, à la recherche d’un plaisir de l’écriture qui échapperait à la philosophie.
Lecture de Condillac en deux colonnes, donc, mais aussi en « deux styles » comme l’indique le sous-titre (« Distyle »), cet ouvrage tout à fait singulier dans le corpus derridien donne à lire l’une des plus belles expérimentations de l’écriture déconstructrice.
Le texte a été établi par Geoffrey Bennington et Katie Chenoweth.
- GenresPhilosophy
108 pages, Paperback
Published June 18, 2020
8 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Derrida
650 books1,798 followersJacques Derrida was a French philosopher best known for developing deconstruction, a method of critical analysis that questioned the stability of meaning in language, texts, and Western metaphysical thought. Born in Algeria, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he was influenced by philosophers such as Heidegger, Husserl, and Levinas. His groundbreaking works, including Of Grammatology (1967), Writing and Difference (1967), and Speech and Phenomena (1967), positioned him at the center of intellectual debates on language, meaning, and interpretation.
Derrida argued that Western philosophy was structured around binary oppositions—such as speech over writing, presence over absence, or reason over emotion—that falsely privileged one term over the other. He introduced the concept of différance, which suggests that meaning is constantly deferred and never fully present, destabilizing the idea of fixed truth. His work engaged with a wide range of disciplines, including literature, psychoanalysis, political theory, and law, challenging conventional ways of thinking and interpretation.
Throughout his career, Derrida continued to explore ethical and political questions, particularly in works such as Specters of Marx (1993) and The Politics of Friendship (1994), which addressed democracy, justice, and responsibility. He held academic positions at institutions such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of California, Irvine, and remained an influential figure in both European and American intellectual circles. Despite criticism for his complex writing style and abstract concepts, Derrida’s ideas have left a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and cultural criticism, reshaping the way meaning and language are understood in the modern world.
Derrida argued that Western philosophy was structured around binary oppositions—such as speech over writing, presence over absence, or reason over emotion—that falsely privileged one term over the other. He introduced the concept of différance, which suggests that meaning is constantly deferred and never fully present, destabilizing the idea of fixed truth. His work engaged with a wide range of disciplines, including literature, psychoanalysis, political theory, and law, challenging conventional ways of thinking and interpretation.
Throughout his career, Derrida continued to explore ethical and political questions, particularly in works such as Specters of Marx (1993) and The Politics of Friendship (1994), which addressed democracy, justice, and responsibility. He held academic positions at institutions such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of California, Irvine, and remained an influential figure in both European and American intellectual circles. Despite criticism for his complex writing style and abstract concepts, Derrida’s ideas have left a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and cultural criticism, reshaping the way meaning and language are understood in the modern world.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 14, 2022
The preface by Bennington and Chenoweth was nice, and I was able to understand a fair bit of it, so I started the main text, with its wacky two-parallel-columns layout (a fad of Derrida's for a couple of years and, in all seriousness, an interesting (de?)construction I can see the point of), brimming with enthusiasm and optimism.
That drained away fairly swiftly; but I take full responsibility.
I do wish JD hadn't felt the urge to be hard to make sense of quite so insistently. But in another, much, much longer life, I would gladly give this the year or two it would take me to thoroughly read the texts discussed (Condillac, Rousseau, Freud and a few others), and perhaps a bit of Foucault for implicit contemporary context (I got that from the preface), and to read each sentence as slowly and attentively as I'd need to, before starting again once I'd got that initial orientation - well, maybe five years, on reflection. In a much longer life; with the brief, guttering candle I'm holding, I think I'm regretfully done with it.
It is really, I'm confident, a five-star book, and the one I've docked it is just me being petulant.
Highly recommended (to leisured superbrains)!
That drained away fairly swiftly; but I take full responsibility.
I do wish JD hadn't felt the urge to be hard to make sense of quite so insistently. But in another, much, much longer life, I would gladly give this the year or two it would take me to thoroughly read the texts discussed (Condillac, Rousseau, Freud and a few others), and perhaps a bit of Foucault for implicit contemporary context (I got that from the preface), and to read each sentence as slowly and attentively as I'd need to, before starting again once I'd got that initial orientation - well, maybe five years, on reflection. In a much longer life; with the brief, guttering candle I'm holding, I think I'm regretfully done with it.
It is really, I'm confident, a five-star book, and the one I've docked it is just me being petulant.
Highly recommended (to leisured superbrains)!
Displaying 1 of 1 review