Derrida and fidelity to history

In the first part of this paper Hugh Rayment-Pickard challenges Mark Bevir's assumption that Derrida does not care about historical or other kinds of truth. A consideration of Derrida's early work on Husserl shows deconstruction to be a kind of skepsis or epoche launched in search of the truth. Yet deconstruction reveals the truth as ‘undecidable’, which means that Derrida's commitment to the truth must take the form of ‘faith’. The second part of the paper considers an example of definite intentional meaning given in Mark Bevir's Logic: Petrarch's ascent of Mont Ventoux. On examination, Petrach's motivation can be seen to be radically divided between secular and religious concerns, a split vividly illustrated in his imaginary dialogue with St Augustine: The Secret. Finally, Rayment-Pickard looks briefly at Derrida's own dialogue with St Augustine, ‘Circumfession’, which also argues that human intentions are irreducibly complex and plural.     

Alsace-Lorraine/Elsaß-Lothringen: destruction, revival and reconstruction in contested territory, 1939-1960

Alsace-Lorraine passed from French administration to German control for half a century after 1871, and again for the duration of World War II. Widespread material damage was inflicted in this contested territory in both world wars. The first wave of destruction in 1940 was inflicted by German forces, the second was caused by Allied bombers in 1944, and the final wave surrounded bitter fighting between German occupiers and American liberators in 1944-1945. Using archival sources and published accounts, this article examines the complex impact of destruction, very different in chronology from the more familiar story in Lower Normandy; the desperate challenge of coping with a wide range of emergencies that faced the reinstated French regime in the early years of peace; and the prolonged process of definitive reconstruction, which combined respect for traditional design with modern building techniques in some locations, such as the viticultural villages near Colmar, whilst adopting entirely modern approaches in other parts of Alsace-Lorraine.