Circumfession, Jacques Derrida

How is Derrida to be read when his texts are so replete with associations and allusions?  My purpose here is to offer a direct and transparent reading rather than either a laborious academic tome or pseudo-Derridean treatise. Departing from my standard practice, I am thus proposing a commentary upon his Circonfession, paralleling each of its chapters with a type of interpretation and philosophy of my own, in dialogue with his text

Circonfession is one of the few Derridean texts that offers a narrative—even if one that is broken, disassembled, scattered between the sparks and ruptures, hidden like a horse pulled in four directions at one and the same time. Even if a target text can be ascertained in most of his writings, the comparison is in the reverse direction: rather than deconstructing a target text, the latter is the text he creates in relation to his body. The difference between the two is vast. The distinctiveness of Circonfession lies in the fact that the deconstruction of Derrida’s Jewish identity occurs in the process of an expanding disclosure of North African constructions, tiny or larger slivers that gradually join together into a jigsaw puzzle.

Focusing on the Jewish Derrida, post-Algerian and pre-“oriental jew” in Israel.

I would like to read him compering him both to a French philosopher and to a traditional rabbi born in Algeria, in light of the rich ritual mosaic that arises from his memoirs (which I shall compare with the literature of the leaders and responsa of Algerian rabbis,), prominent Israeli thinkers (e.g., Collette Aboulker-Muscat) and the indigenous situation in Algeria—from Camus to Fanon. I also hope to evince how contemporary Israeli writers from the second and third generation of immigrants, in particular Emmanuel Pinto (Tinitus) and Sami Berdugo (That is to Say) build on his work. In short, my brief is to engage with Derrida the Mediterranean Jew.

Haviva Pedaya is a philosopher, researcher of Judaism, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Hasidism, and is engaged in writing essays in critical theory and cultural criticism. She is also a creator in theater, music and poetry. She regularly conducts academic series and evenings of poetry and culture. She regularly writes essays and articles that garner much interest in the public sphere. Besides her academic work in the Department of the History of Israel and her role as the Head of the J.R. Elaychar Center for Studies in Sephardi Heritage at Ben Gurion University, she is a lecturer and teaches in many institutes and at various events around the country and receives many invitations to write and teach.

Pedaya is deeply involved in the liturgical revolution and has been a pioneer in this field since 2003, including cultural events, music and poetry, and was a pioneer of the liturgical resurgence in the Israeli sphere.