From the passivity to the just temporality of the disaster in Maurice Blanchot

Abstract

Starting from the 70s and especially in The Writing of the disaster, the term “passive” gains a considerable importance in the thought of Maurice Blanchot. Following the trail of this notion that points to a breakdown of the traditional determination of the subject, we shall see at first how it is clarified and delimited with respect to other notions previously employed: the notion of rejection, core in his political thought, as well as to the unconscious and to a temporality that even giving space for certain alterations remains easily reversible in the continuity of the experienced. In a second stage, we examine the link between passivity and the notion of disaster, which will lead us to an analysis of a certain temporality that will call into question the figure of the advent while at the same time will imply a reflection on the responsibility and the justice. In this way, we intend to show the relevance of this notion as one of the key elements to understand the philosophical development of this author.