Hegel on a Carrousel: Universality and the Politics of Translation in the Work of Judith Butler

Abstract

The purpose of this article is twofold. First, it aims to confront Hegel's ideas on the interaction between universality, particularity and singularity with those of Butler and to show that Butler's universal is dynamic and infinitely selfrenewing. Second, it aims to engage with Butler's politics of translation and to demonstrate how a Levinasian perspective on Hegelian dialectics changes the functioning of the universal. In relation to this claim, the article will also demonstrate how the structural failure in translation and performativity allows for the constant circulation of the universal and, as a consequence, brings about social and political transformation.

Navigating the Void: Subjectivity and Contemporary Critical Theory

“…reading, which sees the development of consciousness as "neither static nor teleological" and one "that knows no closure" (Butler 1999, x;2000b, 172-174; see also Janicka 2013;Stark 2014). Furthermore, the Hegelian subject is described as exemplifying "a critical mobility" (Butler 1999, xiv) and "is an ek-static one, a subject who constantly finds itself outside itself" (Butler 1999, xv).…”

“…As Janicka (2013) helpfully explains: "This risk, introduced by the intrinsic failure of repetition, is constitutive of the very mechanism of renewal. In other words, there is no translation without contamination" (367).…”