The Ear of the Other: Otobiography, Transference, Translation [Paperback]

Jacques Derrida (Author), Christie McDonald (Editor), Peggy Kamuf (Translator), Avital Ronell (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1988

"Originally published in French in 1982, this collection is a good representation of the range of Derrida's working styles."-South Atlantic Review "No writer has probed the riddle of the Other with more patience and insight than Jacques Derrida. . . . By rigorously interrogating the writings of major Western figures, Derrida not only forces a rethinking of the nature of reading and writing but calls into question basic as-sumptions about ourselves and our world. . . . The Ear of the Other will be especially useful to people who have little or no prior acquaintance with Derrida's work. . . . Through a careful reexamination of Nietzsche's autobiography Ecce Homo, Derrida elaborates some of the far-reaching implications of twentieth-century reinterpretations of human subjectivity."-Mark C. Taylor, Los Angeles Times Book Review. "Ably translated. . . . The long 'Roundtable on Autobiography' . . . is authentic philosophical discussion, illuminating not only the preceding lecture but Derrida's work as well."-Choice.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 190 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (December 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803265751
• ISBN-13: 978-0803265752
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,406 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jacques Derrida (1930-2004), was born in Algeria, has been called the most famous philosopher of our time. He was the author of a number of books, including Writing and Difference, which came to be seen as defining texts of postmodernist thought.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Derrida reads the subject, September 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ear of the Other: Otobiography, Transference, Translation (Paperback)

In the book's central essay, Derrida deftly reads a short piece by Nietzsche on the way to reading the subject in the context of autobiography, of words one says about oneself. Those words, of course, return only by way of the ear so that one can locate oneself as the hearing other--hence his essay's title, "Otobiographies." The essay raises again the questions of speech and the voice and of the individual in language--questions that run through all of Derrida's work--as it paves the way for his later writings on the name. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the question of subjectivity that has so engrossed twentieth century philosophy as Derrida's account of the subject and of the way the subject knows about and can speak about itself is original, insightful, and provocative. The volume also includes the transcripts of two roundtable discussions: one on autobiography and one on translation, where Derrida with unusual clarity articulates an accessible version of his thinking on language. Finally there is an interview entitled "Choreographies" in which the editor forces Derrida to consider again the issue of gender and the status of woman. This volume is an often-overlooked but fascinating part of Derrida's corpus that will intrigue both the specialist and someone coming to Derrida's writings for the first time.

4 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't be fooled indeed, January 1, 2004

By 

"puchamp" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ear of the Other: Otobiography, Transference, Translation (Paperback)

Don't be fooled by those claiming Derrida is the "other" of reason, 'Niemals noch hängte sich die Wahrheit an den Arm eines unbedingeten'. Coloured perspective and prejudice are also quite old 'cons'.
Double bind: Derrida defies metaphysics, yet of course inherently fails this attempt (we are all metaphysical beings). This is where conservative thinkers and bigots claim Derrida to be a con... I think not: Derrida tries to do, to think, to operate something different... indeed an "other" reason. Either you try to follow him, or you don't.

A criticism on this book is that Derrida focuses too much on 'microphilosophy'; indeed from a rigourous point of view autobiography is impossible... Différance, dissemination, archi-écriture, griffe, trace, etc...
Yet what Derrida (willfully?) forgets is that numerous autobiographies HAVE BEEN written. Of course he can reply that his point is exactly that those are not autiobiographies, but that is a superficial retort. In my opinion this doubleness, i daresay duality renders Derrida himself a metaphysicist (to continue in the terminology).
By (no doubt partly polemically) ruling out autobiography as such, and a priori (death of the author, etc.), Derrida implicitly contradicts a reality, instead of unveiling that reality.

Though this remains, together with 'Éperons' an excellent introduction into Derrida's unusually nuanced thought.

7 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This is really not a good book, January 27, 2000

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Andrew (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ear of the Other: Otobiography, Transference, Translation (Paperback)

It's a collection of transcriptions of conversations/debates on various subjects between Derrida and other scholars. Sometimes I laughed out loud at the ridiculous statements and non-sequiturs.