Abstract

Explores Jean-Luc Nancy's innovative engagement with the deconstructive tradition and its implications for thinking religion
 

• Undertakes the first comprehensive book-length study of Nancy’s relationship to the deconstructive tradition, particularly the thinking of Derrida
• Engages with French sources that are unavailable in English, including texts such as ‘Catéchisme de persévérance’ and Signaux sensibles: Entretiens à propos des arts, radio interviews broadcast on Radio France and newspaper articles published in Libération
• Proposes new avenues for understanding the intersection between deconstruction and religion
• Lays out a novel approach to religion within secular modernity in which the boundaries between theology and philosophy are redrawn

In dialogue with Derridean deconstruction, this book highlights Nancy's distinctive figurative philosophical style which emerges as a transformative force, one that radicalises différance and draws out its creative potential. Through this generative logic, Nancy reconfigures how we conceptualise Christianity—not as an entity apart from philosophical reflection, but as intricately intertwined with it. Ashok Collins offers a bold new perspective on the 'turn to religion' within deconstruction, charting fresh pathways for debate and reflection far beyond its established boundaries.