Sounding the Abyss

"Motivated by an interest in the long-standing divisions between analytic and Continental philosophy, author Roger V. Bell Jr. engages in an extensive reading of Cavell's work from the position of his differences with Derrida. Bell investigates Cavell's and Derrida's development within the American philosophical scene as he critiques Cavell's of American inheritance."

"This refiguring of Cavell's notion of inheritance is then brought alongside important features of Derrida's deconstruction and the question of its reception in America. By extending Cavell's thought in this manner - through its meeting with Derrida - broader concerns are opened up with regard to both philosophers' work. In Derrida's case, deconstruction - especially its American reception - gets situated in the emerging post-poststructuralist rubrics of film theory, cultural criticism, postcolonialism, and multiculturalism."--Jacket.