Questioning Judaism Interviews by Elisabeth Weber [Hardcover]

In the wake of the Dreyfus affair and the Shoah, many French intellectuals have maintained rich and complex relationships with Judaism, beyond as well as within the religious dimension. Whether they approach it via history, philosophy, biblical studies or sociology, or following a personal itinerary, many contemporary intellectuals are deeply involved in Jewish culture.

Interviewed at length by Elisabeth Weber, this volume presents the meditations of seven well-known French thinkers on the special relations of their own intellectual pursuit to Judaism. As memory or as the place of circumfession (in Jacques Derrida's words), as the symbol of the unrepresentable (Jean-Fran?ois Lyotard) or as the witness, according to Emmanuel Levinas, to a biblical humanity, Judaism is continually engaged in renewing and displacing contemporary thought.

The volume includes interviews with: Pierre Vidal-Naquet, Jacques Derrida, Rita Thalmann, Emmanuel Levinas, L?on Poliakov, Jean-Fran?ois Lyotard, and Luc Rosenzweig.

This volume presents the meditations of seven well-known French thinkers on the special relations of their own intellectual pursuit to Judaism.Elisabeth Weber is Professor of German and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the editor ofJacques Derrida, Points . . . : Interviews 1974-1994(Stanford, 1995). ...this is a remarkable interview, conducted by one of Derrida's most conscientious and demanding readers. These interviews will challenge readers to examine their Jewish identity while taking a fresh look at history.