The dissident and the spectre: reading Havel with Derrida

Title:

The dissident and the spectre: reading Havel with Derrida

Creator:

Björk, Ulrika

Identifier:

https://cdk.lib.cas.cz/client/handle/uuid:1d00555b-3d13-458b-8c63-90644b5db910
uuid:1d00555b-3d13-458b-8c63-90644b5db910
doi:10.46854/fc.2021.4s105

Subject:

Havel, Derrida, dissident, spectre, ideology, post-democracy, and messianism

Type:

model:article and TEXT

Format:

bez média and svazek

Description:

In this paper I argue that there is an affinity between the ‘dissident’ in Havel’s essay “The Power of the Powerless” and the ‘spectre’ in Derrida’s readings of Marx. Both are manifestations of a specific modern temporality that Derrida calls “disjointed”, because it is haunted by a revolutionary force and claim for justice. Both also evoke the weak messianic power inherent in Walter Benjamin’s historiography and the spectral responsibility recognised by this power, that is, our responsibility for past and future generations. In post-totalitarian Czechoslovakia, the “nonpolitical” dissident community prefigured the renewal of moral experiences of responsibility and solidarity. In contemporary discussions of democracy, the figure of the spectre is a reminder of the significance of the Marxist legacy beyond its ideological doctrine.

Language:

Czech

Rights:

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
policy:public

Coverage:

105-121

Source:

Filosofický časopis | 2022 Volume:70 | Number:Special issue 1

Harvested from:

CDK

Metadata only:

false