El texto como síntoma: una imagen de la escritura en Odiseas Elitis

Abstract

The text as a disease: leading metaphor up to Modernity of traditional criticism and poetry, which is opposed to interpretation or silence, respectively, as an antidote or medicine. More recently, along with this disease, the text as a symptom (sÚmptwma, sign or co-incidence), trace of a(n) (incurable) disease which takes us to other texts, other symptoms, in an endless process of diagnosis. With the help of some concepts from Jacques Derrida’s philosophy, it will be considered the possibility of a critique based on the idea of writing as a crossroads and not as a veil. The point of departure will be an image from the poem «The almond of the world» («To amÚgdalo tou kÒsmou») by Odysseas Elytis, which at the same time provides us, as we will see, with both an object and a tool for its study: a white writing on a black background, which not only evokes the quality of imprint on all signs, but other texts and other authors on its cleavage, specially scriptural and poetic reflections by Mallarmé and Surrealism.