Deconstruction, Sovereignty, and Singularity in the Feminine “enigma”. Crossings between Jacques Derrida and Luce Irigaray

Abstract

This paper aims to address a cross reading of Luce Irigaray and Jacques Derrida’s works regarding the question of sexual difference. This transaction will be carried out, firstly, around the axis of deconstruction, emphasizing the resistance to the power (sovereignty) principle and the question of singularity as gravitating points of the critique of the phallocentric order that both challenge. Then, we will study what can be called the material-sexual turn of deconstruction in Irigaray’s thought, the question of the feminine will be addressed in Freud's psychoanalysis for reconstruction, finally, the evaluation that both authors make of the Freudian proposal showing which aspects break with the tradition of western thought and, above all, concepts renew the commitment to the foundations of phallogocentrism.

Keywords

• irigaray
• derrida
• psicoanálisis
• soberanía
• singularidad