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The Shapeshifter. AI image     Introduction: The Alien as Deconstructive Figure Few images express the logic of deconstruction as vividly as the alien double, the being that looks human but is not. In countless science-fiction narratives, from Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) to more contemporary reworkings, the tension between resemblance and difference becomes the stage on which identity collapses. Derrida once remarked that deconstruction is “neither an analysis nor a critique, but a way of tracing what is already inscribed within” ( Positions , 1972). Likewise, the alien parasite does not destroy humanity from without; it exposes the fractures already latent within what we call the human. The smallest discrepancy — an absent emotion, a missing gesture, an imperceptible mark — becomes the point where the entire edifice of recognition unravels. What seemed marginal becomes central, and what appeared essential is shown to depend on its supplement. The Alien as Paras...

Trick or treat! AI image Introduction The figure of the undead has long fascinated literature and cinema, serving as a mirror for cultural anxieties and philosophical reflection. From Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) to contemporary films like 28 Days Later (2002) and Resident Evil (2002), the living dead challenges our understanding of life, death, and the boundaries in between. This article explores how such figures resonate with the thought of Jacques Derrida, particularly his notions of hauntology and spectrality , and with Sigmund Freud’s concept of the uncanny ( Das Unheimliche , 1919). By examining the intersection of horror cinema and philosophy, we can see how the undead enact a profound destabilization of categorical oppositions, revealing the philosophical and affective power of the uncanny. The Uncanny and the Living Dead Freud describes the uncanny as “that class of the frightening which leads back to what is known of old and long familiar” (Freud, 1919, p. 124...

The Sign in Language and Painting   Introduction Across his writings, Jacques Derrida relentlessly interrogated the metaphysical assumptions that underlie Western thought — the belief that meaning, truth, or being could be present to consciousness in its fullness. This critique begins with language, in the structure of the sign, and extends into the domains of art and perception. The present essay traces this movement from Of Grammatology (1967) to Mémoires d’aveugle: L’autoportrait et autres ruines (1990), showing how the logic of the sign and that of the portrait are structurally homologous. Both dismantle the metaphysical dream of presence by revealing that representation — whether linguistic or visual — is always a substitution, a writing of absence. The Metaphysics of the Sign In the chapter “The Signifier and Truth / The Written Being / The Being Written” of Of Grammatology , Derrida reexamines the philosophical heritage of the sign. From Aristotle through Augustine a...

The Deconstruction of Vision. AI image     Introduction: Seeing through the Blind In 1990, Jacques Derrida curated an exhibition at the Louvre, Mémoires d’aveugle: L’autoportrait et autres ruines , combining self-portraits with images of blindness to challenge conventional distinctions between seeing and not-seeing, presence and absence. The self-portrait, emblematic of self-knowledge and self-revelation, is juxtaposed with figures who cannot see, provoking reflection on the limits of representation. This tension—between visibility and invisibility—forms the axis of Derrida’s inquiry. Derrida’s text, inscribed on the walls and reproduced in the catalogue, weaves together themes of blindness, memory, and self-portraiture, positioning lack of vision not as a deficit but as a unique modality of insight. Through the inclusion of figures such as Homer, Borges, and Joyce, the exhibition illustrates how literary and artistic creation can emerge from worlds inaccessible to the eye...

Tâche. AI image Introduction In 1990, Jacques Derrida was invited by the Louvre to curate an exhibition as part of its Parti pris series, an initiative that paired thinkers from other fields with the museum’s vast archives. Derrida’s contribution, Mémoires d’aveugle: L’autoportrait et autres ruines ( Memoirs of the Blind: The Self-Portrait and Other Ruins ), explored themes of sight, self-portraiture, and blindness. The accompanying text, printed on the gallery walls, transformed the exhibition into a hybrid space where word and image intertwined. The project was neither purely philosophical nor strictly artistic, but rather a meditation on how the visible and the legible overlap and complicate one another. Among its many reflections, Derrida dwelled on the notion of tâche —the artist’s mark or touch. This simple gesture, the trace left by the hand, opens a deep reflection on creation, interpretation, and the production of meaning. Seen through a broader lens, the tâche can be r...

Memoirs of the Blind. AI image   Introduction Jacques Derrida’s philosophical project has long been associated with the dismantling of binary oppositions underpinning Western metaphysics: speech/writing, presence/absence, and sense/reference. In Mémoires d’aveugle: L’autoportrait et autres ruines (1990), Derrida extends this deconstructive inquiry to the field of visuality. Conceived initially as a text for an exhibition at the Louvre and later published as a richly illustrated book, the work questions the privilege traditionally accorded to sight and redefines the relationship between vision, memory, and representation. Derrida’s meditation on blindness, self-portraiture, and the ruin continues his exploration of the trace —the mark that both reveals and conceals, inscribes and effaces. Through the intertwined figures of the hand and the eye, Mémoires d’aveugle exposes the fragility of all acts of seeing, drawing, and knowing. From Text to Exhibition In 1990, the Louvre in...

Splitting . AI image   Cutting the House: The Gesture of Splitting When Gordon Matta-Clark received permission in 1974 to work on a condemned suburban house in Englewood, New Jersey, he did not decorate, preserve, or restore it—he cut it in half. The resulting work, Splitting , transformed an ordinary dwelling into an open wound. The gesture was simple yet profound: by slicing through the center and slightly lowering one section, Matta-Clark revealed the invisible scaffolding that sustained the structure. What had been the image of stability became a vision of fragility, a space simultaneously opened and undone. Born from the architectural debris of post-industrial America, Splitting occupies the uncertain ground between art and demolition. The house—typical, middle-class, anonymous—was already destined for destruction. Matta-Clark intervened before its erasure, turning loss into revelation. He shaved the foundation, sawed a vertical line through the entire building, and allow...

Signifier? AI image   Introduction Understanding the dynamics between the signifier and the signified, as expounded in Course in General Linguistics (CGL), forms a cornerstone of linguistic theory. Saussure’s depiction of the sign—represented through diagrams illustrating the intimate relation between signified and signifier—lays the foundation for his project. Lacan’s reinterpretation of these theories, however, especially his claims regarding the primacy of the signifier and the notion of pure signifiers , introduces a set of complexities that demand careful scrutiny. This article examines Lacan’s selective reading of Saussure, assessing its implications for linguistic theory and psychoanalytic thought alike. Understanding the Sign in Part One of the CGL In Part One of the CGL , General Principles , Chapter 1, §1 Sign, signification, signal [CGL] [97], Saussure presents his well-known diagram of the sign. Here, the signified rests atop the signifier within a circle divide...