DANCING WITH DERRIDA - ANTI-ESSENTIALISM AND THE POLITICS OF FEMALE SUBJECTIVITY

This paper grapples with the crucial question of how to affirm the pos itioning of female subjectivity in light of contemporary critiques of the subject. This involves a critical engagement with Derrida's decons truction. First, I interrogate his use of metaphors of femininity and the figure of 'Woman', its inherent masculinism and its relation (if a ny) to 'real life' women. Then, drawing on the work of Gayatri Spivak and Diane Elam, I consider the political implications of deconstructio n's undecidability. I argue that a politics of indeterminancy does not necessarily preclude political action or ethical judgements but rathe r in fact demands them. Finally I consider issues of nominalism and fo rmalism. Engaging with the work of Linda Alcoff and Teresa de Lauretis I argue that deconstruction is not purely formalist. It provides us w ith a means to understanding the production of gendered subjectivity.