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During the 1980s Jacques Derrida wrote and published three incisive essays under the title Geschlecht, a German word for “generation” and “sexuality.” These essays focused on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger, taking up the rarely discussed issue of sexual difference in Heidegger’s thought. A fourth essay—actually the third in the series—was never completed and never published. In Phantoms of the Other, David Farrell Krell reconstructs this third Geschlecht on the basis of archival materials and puts it in the context of the entire series. Touching on the themes of sexual difference, poetics, politics, and criticism as practiced by Heidegger, Derrida’s unfinished third essay offers a penetrating critical analysis of Heidegger’s views on sexuality and Heidegger’s reading of the love poems of Georg Trakl, one of the greatest Expressionist poets of the German language, who died during the opening days of the First World War.
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Phantoms of the Other
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SUNY series in Contemporary Continental Philosophy ————— Dennis J. Schmidt, editor
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Phantoms of the Other Four Generations of Derrida’s Geschlecht
David Far r ell Kr ell
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The co ver s hows a det ail o f a p hotograph o f t hree o f t he Trakl c hildren t aken circa 1897. G eorg i s a t a ge 10, G retl a t a ge 5. The p hotograph i s in t he co llection o f t he Forschungsinstitut B renner-Archiv o f t he University o f I nnsbruck, w hich g enerously granted permission to reproduce it here. The concept for the cover design is by David Matthew Krell, of dmkdesign. Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 2015 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic t ape, m echanical, p hotocopying, r ecording, o r o therwise w ithout t he p rior permission in writing of the publisher. For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY www.sunypress.edu Production, Eileen Nizer Marketing, Anne M. Valentine Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Krell, David Farrell. Phantoms of the other : four generations of Derrida's Geschlecht / David Farrell Krell. pages cm. — (SUNY series in contemporary continental philosophy) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4384-5449-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4384-5451-1 (ebook) 1. Heidegger, Martin, 1889–1976. 2. National socialism and philosophy. 3. Poetry. 4. Derrida, Jacques. I. Title. B3279.H49K75 2014 193—dc23
2014007245 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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for Elena Sophia and Elias Dylan and their dream Does not the dream, all by itself, demonstrate that of which it is dreaming, which is there precisely to make us dream? —Jacques Derrida
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Contents
Preface
ix
Abbreviations of Works Cited Introduction
xiii 1
1. Geschlecht I: Sexual Difference, Ontological Difference
19
2. Geschlecht II: Heidegger’s Singular Hand
47
3. Of Spirit
69
4. Geschlecht IV: Heidegger’s Philopolemological Ear
107
5. Geschlecht III: A Truncated Typescript
131
6. Geschlecht III: The Phantom of the Other
171
7. The Magnetism of Georg and Gretl Trakl
223
Appendix A: Poems Discussed in the Present Volume
257
Appendix B: Poems Undiscussed
311
Index