Book Description
'I have but one language - yet that language is not mine.' This book intertwines theoretical reflection with historical and cultural particularity to enunciate, then analyse, this conundrum in terms of Derrida's own relationship to French. The book operates on three levels. At the first level, a theoretical inquiry investigates the relation between individuals and their 'own' language. At the second, Derrida testifies to aspects of his acculturation as an Algerian Jew with respect to language acquisition, schooling, citizenship, and the dynamics of cultural-political exclusion and inclusion. At the third level, the book is comparative, drawing on statements from a wide range of figures, including Khatibi, Rosenzweig, Scholem, Arendt, and Levinas. The book's argument touches on several issues relevant to the current debates on multiculturalism, including colonialism in schools, the exclusion of languages from serious critical consideration, the investment in an ideal of linguistic purity, and the problematics of translation.
