DerridaandDifferance,ed.Wood&Bernasconi,Warwick:ParousiaPress 1985,p.15 "LettertoaJapaneseFriend" 10July1983 DearProfessorIzutsu, AtourlastmeetingIpromisedyousomeschematicandpreliminary reflectionsontheword"deconstruction".Whatwediscussedwere prolegomenatoapossibletranslationofthiswordintoJapanese,onewhich wouldatleasttrytoavoid,ifpossible,anegativedeterminationofits significationsorconnotations.Thequestionwouldbethereforewhat deconstructionisnot,orratheroughtnottobe.Iunderlinethesewords "possible"and"ought".

t;.Forifthedifficultiesoftranslationcanbeanticipated (andthequestionofdeconstructionisalsothroughandthroughthequestionof translation,andofthelanguageofconcepts,oftheconceptualcorpusofso called"western"metaphysics),oneshouldnotbeginbynaivelybelievingthat theword"deconstruction"correspondsinFrenchtosomeclearandunivocal signification.Thereisalreadyin"my"languageaserious[sombre]problemof translationbetweenwhathereortherecanbeenvisagedfortheword,andthe usageitself,thereservesoftheword.Anditisalreadyclearthatevenin French,thingschangefromonecontexttoanother.MoresointheGerman, English,andespeciallyAmericancontexts,wherethesamewordisalready attachedtoverydifferentconnotations,inflections,andemotionaloraffective values.Theiranalysiswouldbeinterestingandwarrantsastudyofitsown. WhenIchosetheword,orwhenitimposeditselfonmeIthinkitwasin*Of Grammatology*Ilittlethoughtitwouldbecreditedwithsuchacentralrole inthediscoursethatinterestedmeatthetime.AmongotherthingsIwishedto translateandadapttomyownendstheHeidggerianwordDestruktionor Abbau.Eachsignifiedinthiscontextanoperationbearingonthestructureor traditionalarchitectureofthefundamentalconceptsofontologyorofWestern metaphysics.ButinFrench"destruction"tooobviouslyimpliedanannihilation oranegativereductionmuchcloserperhapstoNietzschean"demolition"than totheHeideggerianinterpretationortothetypeofreadingthatIproposed.So Iruledthatout.Irememberhavinglookedtoseeiftheword"deconstruction" (whichcametomeitseemedquitespontaneously)wasgoodFrench.Ifoundit intheLittr.Thegrammatical,linguistic,orrhetoricalsenses[portees]were foundboundupwitha"mechanical"sense[portee"machinique"].This associationappearedveryfortunate,andfortunatelyadaptedtowhatIwanted atleasttosuggest.PerhapsIcouldcitesomeoftheentriesfromtheLittr. "Deconstruction:actionofdeconstructing.Grammaticalterm.Disarranging theconstructionofwordsinasentence.'Ofdeconstruction,commonwayof sayingconstruction',Lemare,Delamanired'apprendreleslangues,ch.17,in *CoursdelangueLatine*.Deconstruire:1.Todisassemblethepartsofa whole.Todeconstructamachinetotransportitelsewhere.2.Grammatical term...Todeconstructverse,renderingit,bythesuppressionofmeter,

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similartoprose.Absolutely.('Inthesystemofprenotional sentences,onealso startswithtranslationandoneofitsadvantagesisneverneedingto deconstruct,'Lemare,ibid.)3.Sedeconstruire[todeconstructitself]...tolose itsconstruction.'Modernscholarshiphasshownusthatinaregionofthe timelessEast,alanguagereachingitsownstateofperfectionisdeconstructed [s'estdeconstruite]andalteredfromwithinitselfaccordingtothesinglelawof change,naturaltothehumanmind,'Villemain,*PrefaceduDictionairede l'Academie*." NaturallyitwillbenecessarytotranslateallofthisintoJapanesebutthatonly postponestheproblem.Itgoeswithoutsayingthatifallthesignifications enumeratedbytheLittrinterestedmebecauseoftheiraffinitywithwhatI "meant"[voulaisdire],theyconcerned,metaphorically,sotosay,onlymodels orregionsofmeaningandnotthetotalityofwhatdeconstructionaspirestoat itsmostambitious.Thisisnotlimitedtoalinguisticogrammaticalmodel,let aloneamechanicalmodel.Thesemodelsthemselvesoughttobesubmittedtoa deconstructivequestioning.Itistruethenthatthese"models"havebeen behindanumberofmisunderstandingsabouttheconceptandwordof "deconstruction"becauseofthetemptationtoreduceittothesemodels. Itmustalsobesaidthatthewordwasrarelyusedandwaslargelyunknownin France.Ithadtobereconstructedinsomeway,anditsusevaluehadbeen determinedbythediscoursethatwasthenbeingattemptedaroundandonthe basisof*OfGrammatology*.ItistothisvaluethatIamnowgoingtotryto givesomeprecisionandnotsomeprimitivemeaningoretymologysheltered fromoroutsideofanycontextualstrategy. Afewmorewordsonthesubjectof"thecontext".Atthattimestructuralism wasdominant."Deconstruction"seemedtobegoinginthesamedirection sincethewordsignifiedacertainattentiontostructures(whichthemselves wereneithersimplyideas,norforms,norsyntheses,norsystems).To deconstructwasalsoastructuralistgestureorinanycaseagesturethat assumedacertainneedforthestructuralistproblematic.Butitwasalsoan antistructuralistgesture,anditsfortunerestsinpartonthisambiguity. Structuresweretobeundone,decomposed,desedimented(alltypesof structures,linguistic,"logocentric","phonocentric"structuralismbeing especiallyatthattimedominatedbylinguisticmodelsandbyasocalled structurallinguisticsthatwasalsocalledSaussuriansocioinstitutional, political,cultural,andaboveallandfromthestartphilosophical.) Thisiswhy,especiallyintheUnitedStates,themotifofdeconstructionhas beenassociatedwith"poststructuralism"(awordunknowninFranceuntilits "return"fromtheStates).Buttheundoing,decomposing,anddesedimenting ofstructures,inacertainsensemorehistoricalthanthestructuralist movementitcalledintoquestion,wasnotanegativeoperation.Ratherthan

 Derrida"LettertoaJapaneseFriend" 3

destroying,itwasalsonecessarytounderstandhowan"ensemble"was constitutedandtoreconstructittothisend.However,thenegativeappearance wasandremainsmuchmoredifficulttoeffacethanissuggestedbythe grammaroftheword(de),eventhoughitcandesignateagenealogical restoration[remonter]ratherthanademolition.Thatiswhytheword,atleast onitsown,hasneverappearedsatisfactorytome(butwhatwordis),andmust alwaysbegirdedbyanentirediscourse.Itisdifficulttoeffectitafterward because,intheworkofdeconstruction,Ihavehadto,asIhavetohere, multiplythecautionaryindicatorsandputasideallthetraditional philosophicalconcepts,whilereaffirmingthenecessityofreturningtothem, atleastundererasure.Hence,thishasbeencalled,precipitately,atypeof negativetheology(thiswasneithertruenorfalsebutIshallnotenterintothe debatehere). Allthesame,andinspiteofappearances,deconstructionisneitherananalysis noracritiqueanditstranslationwouldhavetotakethatintoconsideration.It isnotananalysisinparticularbecausethedismantlingofastructureisnota regressiontowardasimpleelement,towardanindissolubleorigin.These values,likethatofanalysis,arethemselvesphilosophemessubjectto deconstruction.Nomoreisitacritique,inageneralsenseorinKantiansense. Theinstanceofkrineinorofkrisis(decision,choice,judgment,discernment) isitself,asisalltheapparatusoftranscendentalcritique,oneoftheessential "themes"or"objects"ofdeconstruction. Iwouldsaythesameaboutmethod.Deconstructionisnotamethodandcannot betranformedintoone.Especiallyifthetechnicalandprocedural significationsofthewordarestressed.Itistruethatincertaincircles (universityorcultural,especiallyintheUnitedStates)thetechnicaland methodological"metaphor"thatseemsnecessarilyattachedtotheveryword deconstructionhasbeenabletoseduceorleadastray.Hencethedebatethathas developedinthesecircles:Candeconstructionbecomeamethodologyfor readingandforinterpretation?Canitthusbeallowedtobereappropriated anddomesticatedbyacademicinstitutions? Itisnotenoughtosaythatdeconstructioncouldnotbereducedtosome methodologicalinstrumentalityortoasetofrulesandtransposable procedures.Norwillitdotoclaimthateachdeconstructive"event"remains singularor,inanycase,ascloseaspossibletosomethinglikeanidiomora signature.Itmustalsobemadeclearthatdeconstructionisnotevenanactor anoperation.Notonlybecausetherewouldbesomething"patient"or "passive"aboutit(asBlanchotsays,morepassivethanpassivity,thanthe passivitythatisopposedtoactivity).Notonlybecauseitdoesnotreturntoan individualorcollectivesubjectwhowouldtaketheinitiativeandapplyittoan object,atext,atheme,etc.

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Deconstructiontakesplace,itisaneventthatdoesnotawaitthedeliberation, consciousness,ororganizationofasubject,orevenofmodernity.It deconstructsitself.Itcanbedeconstructed.[asedeconstruit.]The"it"[a]is nothereanimpersonalthingthatisopposedtosomeegologicalsubjectivity.It isindeconstruction(theLittrsays,"todeconstructitself[sedeconstruire]... toloseitsconstruction").Andthe"se"of"sedeconstruire,"whichisnotthe reflexivityofanegoorofaconsciousness,bearsthewholeenigma.I recognize,mydearfriend,thatintryingtomakeawordclearersoastoassist itstranslation,Iamonlytherebyincreasingthedifficulties:"theimpossible taskofthetranslator"(Benjamin).Thistooismeantby"deconstructs". Ifdeconstructiontakesplaceeverywhereit[a]takesplace,wherethereis something(andisnotthereforelimitedtomeaningortothetextinthecurrent andbookishsenseoftheword),westillhavetothinkthroughwhatis happeninginourworld,inmodernity,atthetimewhendeconstructionis becomingamotif,withitsword,itsprivilegedthemes,itsmobilestrategy, etc.Ihavenosimpleandformalizableresponsetothisquestion.Allmyessays areattemptstohaveitoutwiththisformidablequestion.Theyaremodest symptomsofit,quiteasmuchastentativeinterpretations.Iwouldnoteven daretosay,followingaHeideggerianschema,thatweareinan"epoch"of beingindeconstruction,ofabeingindeconstructionthatwouldmanifestor dissimulateitselfatoneandthesametimeinother"epochs".Thisthoughtof "epochs"andespeciallythatofagatheringofthedestinyofbeingandofthe unityofitsdestinationoritsdispersions(Schicken,Geschick)willneverbe veryconvincing. TobeveryschematicIwouldsaythatthedifficultyofdefiningantherefore alsooftranslatingtheword"deconstruction"stemsfromthefactthatallthe predicates,allthedefiningconcepts,allthelexicalsignifications,andeventhe syntacticarticulations,whichseematonemomenttolendthemselvestothis definitionortothattranslation,arealsodeconstructedordeconstructible, directlyorotherwise,etc.Andthatgoesfortheworddeconstruction,asfor everyword.*OfGrammatology*questionedtheunity"word"andallthe privilegeswithwhichitwascredited,especiallyinitsnominalform.Itis thereforeonlyadiscourseorratherawritingthatcanmakeupforthe incapacityofthewordtobeequaltoa"thought".Allsentencesofthetype "deconstructionisX"or"deconstructionisnotX"apriorimissthepoint, whichistosaythattheyareatleastfalse.Asyouknow,oneoftheprincipal thingsatstakeinwhatiscalledinmytexts"deconstruction"ispreciselythe delimitingofontologyandaboveallofthethirdpersonpresentindicative:Sis P. Theword"deconstruction",likeallotherwords,acquiresitsvalueonlyfrom itsinscriptioninachainofpossiblesubstitutions,inwhatistooblithelycalled a"context".Forme,forwhatIhavetriedandstilltrytowrite,thewordhas

 Derrida"LettertoaJapaneseFriend" 5

interestonlywithinacertaincontext,whereitreplacesandletsitselfbe determinedbysuchotherwordsas"ecriture","trace","differance", "supplement","hymen","pharmakon","marge","entame","parergon",etc. Bydefinition,thelistcanneverbeclosed,andIhavecitedonlynames,which isinadequateanddoneonlyforreasonsofeconomy.InfactIshouldhave citedthesentencesandtheinterlinkingofsentenceswhichintheirturn determinethesenamesinsomeofmytexts. Whatdeconstructionisnot?everythingofcourse!Whatisdeconstruction? nothingofcourse!Idonotthink,forallthesereasons,thatitisagoodword [unbonmot].Itiscertainlynotelegant[beau].Ithasdefinitelybeenofservice inahighlydeterminedsituation.Inordertoknowwhathasbeenimposed uponitinachainofpossiblesubstitutions,despiteitsessentialimperfection, this"highlydeterminedsituation"willneedtobeanalyzedanddeconstructed. ThisisdifficultandIamnotgoingtodoithere.Onefinalwordtoconclude thisletter,whichisalreadytoolong.Idonotbelievethattranslationisa secondaryandderivedeventinrelationtoanoriginallanguageortext.Andas "deconstruction"isaword,asIhavejustsaid,thatisessentiallyreplaceablein achainofsubstitution,thenthatcanalsobedonefromonelanguageto another.Thechance,firstofallthechanceof(the)"deconstruction",wouldbe thatanotherword(thesamewordandanother)canbefoundinJapaneseto saythesamething(thesameandanother),tospeakofdeconstruction,andto leadelsewheretoitsbeingwrittenandtranscribed,inawordwhichwillalso bemorebeautiful.WhenIspeakofthiswritingoftheotherwhichwillbe morebeautiful,Iclearlyunderstandtranslationasinvolvingthesameriskand chanceasthepoem.Howtotranslate"poem"?a"poem"?... Withmybestwishes, JacquesDerrida