The Auto-deconstructive Image: of Vestigial Places

The deconstruction of Christianity is an ongoing project for Jean-Luc Nancy. Apart from La Déclosion (2005a), the book which contains the central texts he has written on this topic, themes and ideas pertaining to that project persistently appear in his earlier writings on visual art, where he places art at the heart of such deconstruction.1 For a clearer understanding of its multiple aspects, it is important to trace the way in which Nancy thinks the notions of image and representation, and shows their limits, in terms of their intricate relationship with their monotheist provenance. A key aspect of Nancy’s project as a whole consists in rethinking our secular condition with a view to a re-evaluation of the effects of its religious provenance on the basis of an emphatic engagement with the present. As Nancy notes: ‘a “provenance” [...] is never simply a past: it informs the present; it ceaselessly produces its own effects’ (Nancy, 2003: 38). The deconstruction of Christianity cannot take place in the form of a mere historical analysis. Bijdragen, International Journal in Philosophy and Theology 69(3), 321-336. doi: 10.2143/BIJ.69.3.2033146 © 2008 by Bijdragen, International Journal in Philosophy and Theology. All rights reserved.