This strange institution called performativity: Jacques Derrida, the anarchy of literature, and the counterinstitution of democracy

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between performativity and literature in the philosophy of Jacques Derrida. It argues that the performativity of literature, which consists in the structural perversion of the force of language, underlies democratic forms of dissidence such as strike and protest. In this sense, protecting that strange institution called literature is crucial for safeguarding democracy and deconstructing the principle of sovereignty. The anarchy of force unleashed by literature constitutes a disruptive element of sovereignty, conceived as “self-performative”.

El objetivo de este estudio es analizar la relación entre performatividad y literatura en la filosofía de Jacques Derrida. Sostiene que la performatividad de la literatura, que consiste en la perversión estructural de la fuerza del lenguaje, subyace a formas democráticas de disidencia como la huelga y la protesta. En este sentido, proteger esa extraña institución llamada literatura es crucial para salvaguardar la democracia y deconstruir el principio de soberanía. La anarquía de fuerza desatada por la literatura constituye un elemento disruptivo de la soberanía, concebida como "autoperformativa".