September 23, 2003
Contact: George Yatchisin
(805) 893-3494
e-mail: yatchisin-g@ sa.ucsb.edu

Prominent French theorist Jacques Derrida
to lecture at UCSB Campbell Hall

Summary Facts:

• Jacques Derrida
• Vivre ‘ensemble’—Living ‘together’
• Derrida is one of the most influential thinkers of the last 40 years and a major proponent of the theory of Deconstruction
• The keynote lecture of the conference Irreconcilable Differences? Jacques Derrida and the Question of Religion
• Thursday, October 23
• 7:30 pm / UCSB Campbell Hall
• Free event
• Information: UCSB Arts & Lectures at 893-3535

Jacques Derrida, one of the most prominent and influential contemporary philosophers, will present the lecture Vivre ‘ensemble’—Living ‘together’ on Thursday, October 23 at 7:30 pm in UCSB Campbell Hall. This free event is the keynote talk of the conference Irreconcilable Differences? Jacques Derrida and the Question of Religion, which takes place at UCSB from October 23-25.

Jacques Derrida, Professor of Philosophy and Directeur d’Études at the École des Hautes Études en Science Sociales in Paris, has helped shape contemporary thought, so much so that his work has been the subject of more than 400 books. A major proponent of Deconstruction, Derrida argues that a text’s meanings can only be deciphered in a patient, multilayered process that takes into consideration its historical, cultural and political contexts. “Deconstruction” is a strategy of interpretation that focuses on the “play of signification” rather than on a presumably fixed meaning, a strategy that exposes surprising, overlooked structures within texts of all genres, including the most venerable ones of the Western philosophical tradition. “Paradoxes and neologisms abound in Derrida’s works,” to the point that “Derrida has been accused of being everything from an intellectual terrorist to a philosophical court jester. But it is precisely these kinds of categories that Derrida resists, i.e., sharp distinctions between being playful and being serious, being logical and being whimsical, and so on.” (from Derrida and Deconstruction by Bill Ramey.) There is little doubt Derrida would be discomfited by this press release’s simple attempt to explain an active, complex process that denies facile answers and “truths.”

Professor Derrida’s lecture will invite us to rethink what the seemingly innocuous phrase “living together” means. The best notions of “living together” are often associated with peace. However, even in the worst case (say, the “living together” of American occupation forces and Iraqis), one cannot opt to live not together. Derrida’s lecture will lead to unsettling and far-reaching reflections on proximity and distance, identity and difference, violence and forgiveness.

Since 1986 Derrida has been Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, French and Comparative Literature at UC Irvine. He also holds visiting professorships at New York University and the New School for Social Research. Derrida has been active and outspoken on issues such as South Africa’s apartheid, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the bloody civil war in his native Algeria, human rights abuses worldwide, French immigration laws and the death penalty.

Derrida’s profound impact on contemporary thought began in 1967 with the simultaneous publication of three major works (Speech and Phenomena, Writing and Difference and Of Grammatology). These books began to articulate his extensive and radical critique of Western metaphysics, which draws, in part, from the writings of Nietzsche, Freud, Heidegger, Marx and Levinas. Derrida has gone on to publish over 45 books that have been translated into over 22 languages worldwide. His work has been read and disseminated by a broad range of cultures and disciplines, profoundly influencing fields as varied and disparate as art, literature, law, ethics, music, history, architecture and fashion.

This lecture is the keynote event of Irreconcilable Differences? Jacques Derrida and the Question of Religion, an international conference convened by UCSB Professors Elisabeth Weber and Thomas A. Carlson. This will be the first major public conference to focus on Jacques Derrida’s work in relation to the question of religion and conflict in today’s world. The conference promises to be distinctive thanks both to the plurality of religious traditions examined and to the multiplicity of disciplinary approaches engaged. Held October 23-25 on the UCSB campus, all events are free and open to the public. For further information about the conference and a schedule of panels, see the conference website.

Courtesy of the UCSB Bookstore, books by Jacques Derrida will be available for purchase and signing at the lecture.

This lecture is an offering of the Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Endowed Symposia in Jewish Studies and is presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures, the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, Department of Religious Studies and Hillel. The Conference is hosted by the Department of Religious Studies and the Department of Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies and co-sponsored by the University of California Humanities Research Institute, the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, the Office of the Chancellor, the College of Letters and Science, the Comparative Literature Program, the UCSB Consortium for Literature, Theory and Culture, and the Departments of English, Spanish and Portuguese, and French and Italian.

For tickets or more information,
call UCSB Arts & Lectures at (805) 893-3535.

Editor: For photos, please call
George Yatchisin at (805) 893-3494.