In Paul Celan's poem "Grönde Wölbung" (Great Incandescent Vault), Jacques Derrida found a line that largely permeates his entire oeuvre: "the world is gone, I have to carry you" (Die Welt ist fort. Ich muss dich tragen). Deconstruction has been, and is, above all, the work of mourning and the demand for inheritance that stem from the poet's words. Inheritance because Derrida's texts survive him twenty years after his death, ensuring that his readers receive this gift as a legacy that can only be preserved in one way: by being faithfully unfaithful. That is, by taking his words as a lever for one's own thinking, by venturing into unforeseen readings, by using his texts to pose questions about problems that even he did not foresee. There can be no readings that respect anything like the spirit of the philosopher's words because they cannot be read without incorporating them, thus making them something new each time. Different. That's why the work of mourning is impossible, a complete paradox. It is never completed, and yet it is impossible to stop carrying it once "the world is gone."

These conferences are presented, first and foremost, as a tribute to the figure and thought of Jacques Derrida on the 20th anniversary of his death. But they are also a testament to the fact that his work remains more alive and relevant than ever, as they will explore the possibilities offered by this “half-hearted,” unending mourning to address contemporary issues of a political and ethical nature, and which remind us that “writing,” the notion forever associated with Derrida, is above all the question we ask ourselves when someone disappears: how to survive now that “I have to take you with me”?

Program curated by Jordi Massó, Rubén Fasolino and Juan Evaristo Valls.

Program

Tuesday 19 noviembre

- Laura Llevadot: “Within the noise, a deathly silence”

- Javier Bassas Vila: “Political duels: Derrida vs. Rancière”

- José Luis Villacañas: “Derrida between Foucault and Husserl”

Wednesday November 20

- Juan Evaristo Valls Boix: "To Affirm Without Ceasing: Jacques Derrida and the Power of the Negative"

- Ana Carrasco-Conde“Play the grief: a philosophical analysis of György Ligeti’s Requiem”

Check in this link the Tomorrow's program for the 19th and 20th in the UCM's Graduation Hall.