Nouveaux Philosophes to Estates General 1977–1979 303
Over the next few months, things did not get any easier – quite
the opposite. For Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe’s book The Subject of
Philosophy: Typographies 1, the typesetter made a mess of all the
Greek quotations, which meant that publication had to be deferred.
Nancy and Lacoue-Labarthe, who by force of circumstances could
help Derrida only from afar when it came to publishing matters,
wondered whether it was worth bothering about a series if they
had to work in such conditions.^10 Derrida, swamped by work and
tasks that were often unrewarding, said that he, too, was ‘tired,
disappointed, discouraged’. And also, unfortunately, completely
powerless. The problems that had arisen at Flammarion were, he
said, the same he had encountered at Seuil, Minuit, and the Presses
Universitaires de France. He wanted to talk about it in detail with
Lacoue-Labarthe and Nancy. With Kofman, it would unfortu-
nately be impossible. ‘She is for me, with me, more “diffi cult” (how
can I say it?) than ever. And this doesn’t help sort out our common
problems, of course. [.. .] I’m very tired at having to expend so
much energy, in such a repetitive and ineff ectual way.’^11
One thing was certain: Derrida refused to envisage their series being
transferred to another publisher. ‘Anywhere else, let’s not forget: it
would be [François] Wahl or [Jean] Piel: much worse in either case.’
The basic problem was one of economics: ‘La philo sophie en eff et’
published demanding books that sold few copies – they were miles
away from those which the public was now snapping up:
With The Testament of God [Bernard-Henri Lévy’s new work]
we wouldn’t have met with any delays, and not only because
there isn’t any Greek in that book, I suppose, but because
all the conditions of its production and ‘launch’ are, as you
know, diff erent. So long as we’re not writing for all the Poirot-
Delpechs* in the world and what they represent, we’ll be
fi ghting on in diffi cult, almost impossible conditions. [.. .]
Now, do we need to keep the series? This is clearly the ques-
tion you’re asking and, I have to say, I’ve been asking myself
the same question for a long time. Here, our analyses and our
plans do not inevitably or completely coincide. In any case,
everyone will need to make a choice and assume his or her
responsibilities. Personally, I’ve never had the least ‘motiva-
tion’ for organizing (even collectively) a series. The interest
which, very late in the day, drove me to this one was not, as you
know, a personal interest (you can see what I mean by that:
ease, comfort, power [.. .]). So, no personal interest, but on
the contrary – and at the cost of certain personal interests – let- Bertrand Poirot-Delpech was a conservative journalist, novelist, and Academician.
- Tr.