This research project participates in the genre of Performance art. It explores performativity in relation to Emmanuel Levinas' formulation of two interlacing modes of language, the ethical saying and the ontological, political said. The saying is of my originary, ethical relation to the other person that constitutes me, whereas the said is the mode of 'content', knowledge, and ontology. The project suggests that at least two registers of performativity pertain to the saying. One is in Simon Critchley's description of the saying as performative, prior to any decision to perform. In regard to another meaning of performativity, I propose that a political signification of art may be what Levinas calls a "reduction" of the said that 'performs' a showing of the saying. To perform a showing of the saying, would, in a Levinasian engagement, be to make apparent the ultimate interruption by ethics of ontology and politics, thus pointing to a constitutive non-closure of the political like that theorized by Jacques Derrida and by Critchley. Such a non-closure of the political is tentatively linked with critiques of Nicolas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics such as Claire Bishop's which draw on Jacques Lacan's notion of the subject. Performances explore the notion of the "reduction" of ontology resourced by Derrida's formulation of Levinas' later writing style as involving a sériature; serial and heterogeneous interruptions of the said1. The project has unfolded in a series of performance pieces, and will conclude with a final performance in March 2007. This exegesis articulates the major provocations for the project, contextualises the project with regard to selected art practices, and documents and discusses the major performance pieces.

An analysis of Ernest Buckler's novel The Mountain and the Valley using Jacques Derrida's theoretical perspectives on the nature of writing as supplement. David Canaan is a writer who dreams of writing the perfect novel: his failed dream reveals that writing cannot capture perfection or presence.

This research project participates in the genre of Performance art. It explores performativity in relation to Emmanuel Levinas' formulation of two interlacing modes of language, the ethical saying and the ontological, political said. The saying is of my originary, ethical relation to the other person that constitutes me, whereas the said is the mode of 'content', knowledge, and ontology. The project suggests that at least two registers of performativity pertain to the saying. One is in Simon Critchley's description of the saying as performative, prior to any decision to perform. In regard to another meaning of performativity, I propose that a political signification of art may be what Levinas calls a "reduction" of the said that 'performs' a showing of the saying. To perform a showing of the saying, would, in a Levinasian engagement, be to make apparent the ultimate interruption by ethics of ontology and politics, thus pointing to a constitutive non-closure of the political like that theorized by Jacques Derrida and by Critchley. Such a non-closure of the political is tentatively linked with critiques of Nicolas Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics such as Claire Bishop's which draw on Jacques Lacan's notion of the subject. Performances explore the notion of the "reduction" of ontology resourced by Derrida's formulation of Levinas' later writing style as involving a sériature; serial and heterogeneous interruptions of the said1. The project has unfolded in a series of performance pieces, and will conclude with a final performance in March 2007. This exegesis articulates the major provocations for the project, contextualises the project with regard to selected art practices, and documents and discusses the major performance pieces.

Thèse (M.A.)--Université Laval, 2008. / Bibliogr. : f. 131-132. Publié aussi en version électronique dans la Collection Mémoires et thèses électroniques.

A obra de Roy Wagner trata de um problema candente para a antropologia: a relação com a diferença. A partir do regime de leitura desenvolvido por Jacques Derrida, pretendo seguir os movimentos do texto de Wagner com o objetivo de compreender sua proposta de antropologia e articulá-la ao universo epistemológico mais amplo da disciplina. O texto wagneriano será, assim, articulado ao texto-contexto da antropologia, considerado como um conjunto de linhas de força em tensão e distensão. Na análise da obra de Wagner será privilegiada a relação entre proposta teórica e análise empírica por ser este um aspecto central para a antropologia e também um ponto de ruptura frequente nos textos da disciplina. De modo a estabelecer a mediação entre esses dois níveis, relacionarei em um primeiro momento a ideia de diálogo, no plano de interação em campo, ao conceito de dialética, no plano teórico. Em seguida, acompanharei o movimento de desconstrução e reposição conceitual realizado pelo autor para os conceitos de grupo e cultura com o objetivo de pensar o estatuto da nomeação em seus textos e relacioná-lo à concepção da diferença como alteridade em antropologia. / The work of Roy Wagner deals with a core issue in anthropology, that of the relation to difference. Based on the regime of reading developed by Jacques Derrida, I intend to follow the moves of Wagners text with the purpose of understanding his proposal for anthropology and articulating it to the disciplines broader epistemological universe. Wagners text will thus be articulated to the text-context of anthropology, considered as a set of lines of strength in tension and distension. In the analysis of Wagners work, the relationship between theoretical stance and empirical analysis will be privileged because this is a central aspect to anthropology and frequently the point at which the disciplines texts break. In order to mediate between these two levels, I will first relate the idea of dialogue at the level of field interaction to the concept of dialectic at the theoretical level. I will then follow the movement of conceptual deconstruction and reestablishment carried out by the author for the concepts of group and culture with the purpose of considering the status of nomination in his texts and relating it to anthropologys conception of difference as alterity.

Esta tese busca pensar o desfuncional latente em toda escritura, linguagem e vida: suas potências não dominadas, nem domináveis, pelo corte finalista, utilitarista, entre funcional e disfuncional, e o devir-poesia destes interditos quando revertidos em afirmação de possibilidades para além das determinadas pelos códigos fixados e modelos de composição existentes. As obras de Jacques Derrida e Gilles Deleuze (parte com Felix Guattari) são as referências centrais para a constituição deste pensamento, que constantemente se volta ao fazer poético. O trabalho, porém, é conduzido pela extravagante figura que ele livremente se cria do engenhoso fidalgo e cavaleiro Dom Quixote de la Mancha, por seu modo errante de atuar, sua andante poesia. Sua relação com a morte iminente; o papel da leitura em sua fantasia, cuja extensão se mostra incontornável a quem quer que se aproxime; sua irredutibilidade a qualquer juízo que se possa tentar de sua sanidade mental; sua constante construção de uma equívoca e fugidia identidade; e seu permanente e delirante improviso no teatro do mundo configuram uma escritura lúdica, inventiva, aberta, consciente de sua formação, de seu contexto e de seus percursos, o que possibilita a construção da noção de uma poética da existência, sugerida pelas especulações teóricas preliminares. / This thesis seeks to think the latent defunctional in every writing, as language and life: its potencies not dominated by the finalist and utilitarian cut between functional and dysfunctional, and the becoming-poetry of this interdicts when reversed in the affirmation of possibilities beyond those determined by fixed codes and existing composition models. The works of Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze (part with Felix Guattari) are the central references to the constitution of this thought, constantly turned to the poetic making. The work, however, is conducted by the extravagant figure that it freely creates of the ingenious gentleman and knight Don Quixote of la Mancha, by his errant acting mode, his walking poetry. His relationship with imminent death; the role of reading in his fantasy, which extension shows up inescapable to whoever gets close to it; his irreducibility to any judgment that could be tried on his mental sanity; his constant construction of an equivocal and elusive identity; and his permanent and delirious improvisation in the theatre of the world configure a ludic, inventive and open writing, aware of its formation, its context and its routes, which enables the construction of the notion of a poetics of existence, suggested by preliminary theoretical speculations.

Esta tese busca pensar o desfuncional latente em toda escritura, linguagem e vida: suas potências não dominadas, nem domináveis, pelo corte finalista, utilitarista, entre funcional e disfuncional, e o devir-poesia destes interditos quando revertidos em afirmação de possibilidades para além das determinadas pelos códigos fixados e modelos de composição existentes. As obras de Jacques Derrida e Gilles Deleuze (parte com Felix Guattari) são as referências centrais para a constituição deste pensamento, que constantemente se volta ao fazer poético. O trabalho, porém, é conduzido pela extravagante figura que ele livremente se cria do engenhoso fidalgo e cavaleiro Dom Quixote de la Mancha, por seu modo errante de atuar, sua andante poesia. Sua relação com a morte iminente; o papel da leitura em sua fantasia, cuja extensão se mostra incontornável a quem quer que se aproxime; sua irredutibilidade a qualquer juízo que se possa tentar de sua sanidade mental; sua constante construção de uma equívoca e fugidia identidade; e seu permanente e delirante improviso no teatro do mundo configuram uma escritura lúdica, inventiva, aberta, consciente de sua formação, de seu contexto e de seus percursos, o que possibilita a construção da noção de uma poética da existência, sugerida pelas especulações teóricas preliminares. / This thesis seeks to think the latent defunctional in every writing, as language and life: its potencies not dominated by the finalist and utilitarian cut between functional and dysfunctional, and the becoming-poetry of this interdicts when reversed in the affirmation of possibilities beyond those determined by fixed codes and existing composition models. The works of Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze (part with Felix Guattari) are the central references to the constitution of this thought, constantly turned to the poetic making. The work, however, is conducted by the extravagant figure that it freely creates of the ingenious gentleman and knight Don Quixote of la Mancha, by his errant acting mode, his walking poetry. His relationship with imminent death; the role of reading in his fantasy, which extension shows up inescapable to whoever gets close to it; his irreducibility to any judgment that could be tried on his mental sanity; his constant construction of an equivocal and elusive identity; and his permanent and delirious improvisation in the theatre of the world configure a ludic, inventive and open writing, aware of its formation, its context and its routes, which enables the construction of the notion of a poetics of existence, suggested by preliminary theoretical speculations.

[pt] Este trabalho se propõe a refletir sobre a maneira como o filósofo Jacques Derrida pensa o feminino e faz articulações entre o pensamento do feminino e a maneira como ele pensa a ética e a política. Estão em debate temas caros ao pensamento da desconstrução, como o questionamento da metafísica da presença e sua respectiva garantia de sentido; a suspensão, entre aspas, de todos os conceitos filosóficos, o tratamento do sexual, do identitário e do ontológico e suas relações com o tema da diferença; além das proposições do feminino como estrutura radical de acolhimento. Através de tais tematizações, o autor recoloca em novos termos tanto a ética, renomeada de hospitalidade incondicional, quanto a política, que passa a ser chamada de responsabilidade infinita. / [en] This work intends to reflect on how the philosopher Jacques Derrida thinks the feminine and makes links between the thoughts of the feminine and the way he thinks ethics and politics. Are in discussion topics important to deconstruction, as the questioning of the metaphysics of presence; the suspension in quotation marks, of all philosophical concepts, the treatment of sexual, the identity and ontological and its relationship to the theme of difference, beyond the propositions of the feminine as otherness. Through such discussions, the author brings back in terms of both new ethics, renamed unconditional hospitality, as the policy, which shall be called the infinite responsibility.

A obra de Roy Wagner trata de um problema candente para a antropologia: a relação com a diferença. A partir do regime de leitura desenvolvido por Jacques Derrida, pretendo seguir os movimentos do texto de Wagner com o objetivo de compreender sua proposta de antropologia e articulá-la ao universo epistemológico mais amplo da disciplina. O texto wagneriano será, assim, articulado ao texto-contexto da antropologia, considerado como um conjunto de linhas de força em tensão e distensão. Na análise da obra de Wagner será privilegiada a relação entre proposta teórica e análise empírica por ser este um aspecto central para a antropologia e também um ponto de ruptura frequente nos textos da disciplina. De modo a estabelecer a mediação entre esses dois níveis, relacionarei em um primeiro momento a ideia de diálogo, no plano de interação em campo, ao conceito de dialética, no plano teórico. Em seguida, acompanharei o movimento de desconstrução e reposição conceitual realizado pelo autor para os conceitos de grupo e cultura com o objetivo de pensar o estatuto da nomeação em seus textos e relacioná-lo à concepção da diferença como alteridade em antropologia. / The work of Roy Wagner deals with a core issue in anthropology, that of the relation to difference. Based on the regime of reading developed by Jacques Derrida, I intend to follow the moves of Wagners text with the purpose of understanding his proposal for anthropology and articulating it to the disciplines broader epistemological universe. Wagners text will thus be articulated to the text-context of anthropology, considered as a set of lines of strength in tension and distension. In the analysis of Wagners work, the relationship between theoretical stance and empirical analysis will be privileged because this is a central aspect to anthropology and frequently the point at which the disciplines texts break. In order to mediate between these two levels, I will first relate the idea of dialogue at the level of field interaction to the concept of dialectic at the theoretical level. I will then follow the movement of conceptual deconstruction and reestablishment carried out by the author for the concepts of group and culture with the purpose of considering the status of nomination in his texts and relating it to anthropologys conception of difference as alterity.

Cette thèse vise à questionner la place de la violence dans la déconstruction de Derrida. Nous avons suivi deux axes depuis lesquels nous avons fait une lecture de son œuvre dès les années soixante jusqu'à son dernier séminaire sur la souveraineté : la violence du langage et la violence à l'origine du droit. En montrant la violence intrinsèque à la loi et à toute légitimation du pouvoir, la déconstruction porte un soupçon à toute théorie de la justice basée sur un accord institutionnel. Mais auparavant, si la légitimation est un acte de langage, pour faire une critique de la violence, il faut donc comprendre la force performative dans la fondation des institutions et analyser la deconstructibilité du droit et l'indéconstructible de la justice. Ces réflexions, autour de la langue et de la loi, obligent à postuler la différance entre, d'une part l'institution du droit et la langue de la loi et, d'autre part, la promesse d'un temps de justice à partir de l'hospitalité inconditionnelle et de l'idiome. Nous voulons montrer comment la philosophie de Derrida répond tout au long de l'histoire de la déconstruction, à une exigence de justice qui demande d'analyser la violence du langage dans la structure juridico-politique. Ceci nous permettra d'aborder la dimension politique de la déconstruction et une injonction faite à la philosophie : ne pas « justifier » les violences par des explications. / Abstract: This thesis seeks to question the place of violence in Derrida's deconstruction. Two lines of thought were pursued which informed a reading of his work from the 1960s up until his final seminar on sovereignty: the violence of language and the violence at the origin of right. By displaying the intrinsic violence of the law and of all legitimation of power, deconstruction raises suspicion about any theory of justice based on institutional agreement. Beforehand, however, if this legitimation is an act of language, in order to be able to carry out a critique of violence, the performative force underlying institutions must be understood, and the deconstructibility of right and what cannot be deconstructed in justice must be analyzed. These reflections on language and the law lead us to postulate the différance between, on the one hand, the institution of right and the language of the law, and on the other, the promise of a time of justice on the basis of unconditional hospitality and the idiom. We aim to show how the philosophy of Derrida responds throughout the history of deconstruction to a demand for justice that insists on analyzing the violence in the juridico-political structure. This will allow us to address the political dimension of deconstruction as well as to examine an injunction laid on philosophy: not to "justify" violence by way of explanation.