Severed Ties 1972–1973 255
Rey. Jean-Noël Vuarnet had initially been approached, but said
no – for reasons that, we may surmise, were more personal than
theoretical.
The work was often diffi cult and sometimes unhelpfully mimetic,
but it did help to reinforce Derrida’s stature. The author of Margins
of Philosophy was admittedly rather on the sidelines, but he could
not be ignored. The critiques to which his work had just been
subjected were a direct consequence.