Broken tablets : Levinas, Derrida and the literary afterlife of religion / Sarah Hammerschlag ; cover design, Lisa Hamm.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Over thirty years, Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida conversed across texts about the interrelation of philosophy, religion and literature. In Broken Tablets , Sarah Hammerschlag traces that conversation and argues for its political significance, highlighting the role that Judaism played in their relationship.

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CHOICE Review

Although the complicated relationship between Emmanuel Levinas and Jacques Derrida has been widely discussed, the historical and cultural context in which that relationship developed has not been appreciated deeply enough. Hammerschlag (religion and literature, Univ. of Chicago Divinity School) goes to great lengths to remedy this situation. Combining intellectual history and religious studies, this book is not merely descriptive but also offers a constructive account of the particular way in which Derrida's fidelity to Levinas amounts to a particular sort of betrayal. Suggesting that Levinas and Derrida relate differently to Judaism (as religion and literature, respectively), Hammerschlag argues that, in the work of these thinkers, the relationship between religion and literature itself gets critically reconceived and destabilized. Impressively sweeping in its presentation, this book is clearly written and quite readable, though it does assume significant historical and philosophical background. Ultimately, whether or not one is convinced by Hammerschlag's argument about the relationship between these two thinkers, or her particular theoretical approach to religion and literature as critical categories, this book is necessary reading for anyone wishing to understand the sociocultural landscape of 20th-century European philosophy. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --J. Aaron Simmons, Furman University