Work of Mourning

Jacques Derrida is, in the words of the New York Times, "perhaps the world's most famous philosopher – if not the only famous philosopher". He often provokes controversy as soon as his name is mentioned. But he also inspires the respect that comes from an illustrious career, and, among many who were his colleagues and peers, he inspired friendship".The Work of Mourning" is a collection that honors those friendships in the wake of passing.

Gathered here are texts – letters of condolence, memorial essays, eulogies, funeral orations – written after the deaths of well-known figures: Roland Barthes, Paul de Man, Michel Foucault, Louis Althusser, Edmond Jabes, Louis Marin, Sarah Kofman, Gilles Deleuze, Emmanuel Levinas, Jean-Francois Lyotard, Max Loreau, Jean-Marie Benoist, Joseph Riddel, and Michel Serviere.

With his words, Derrida bears witness to the singularity of a friendship and to the absolute uniqueness of each relationship. In each case, he is acutely aware of the questions of tact, taste, and ethical responsibility involved in speaking of the dead – the risks of using the occasion for one's own purposes, political calculation, personal vendetta, and the expiation of guilt. More than a collection of memorial addresses, this volume sheds light not only on Derrida's relation to some of the most prominent French thinkers of the past quarter century but also on some of the most important themes of Derrida's entire oeuvre-mourning, the "gift of death", time, memory, and friendship itself.