My Take | What the Declaration of Independence can still tell us about the US today
- Two classic scholarly interpretations may offer us some clues and deep insights not only into this seminal document, but also the nature and state of contemporary politics
It’s often observed, correctly I think, that you can’t understand a society, culture or civilisation, without a serious attempt to understand the canonical texts on which it was founded and by whose existence and continuation it is justified. And there is, of course, the language of that culture. But not everyone is a linguist; thankfully, everyone can be a reader, even of translations.
Like everyone else, I have been disturbed by the growing rivalry between China and the United States. Now, there is even talk about war, which frankly deeply unsettle me. By virtue of birth and education, I have been inclined to study their respective literary canons, both for their intrinsic merits and for what light they may offer on our current dangerous predicament.
Here I offer two texts that are not well-known and yet provide rich interpretations of the Declaration of Independence and much else about the meaning(s) of life and of politics in general. The following won’t be an exhaustive discussion, but only an introduction or a citation, to give an idea of the power of their interpretations.
Politically and philosophically, Brann and Derrida are polar opposites. Her reading extols the Declaration. His reading, if I am not mistaken, nullifies it, quite literally by the end of the lecture. But what impresses me is what they have in common: a profound attention and instinct for details, from counting the number of words to breaking down phrases and sentences, to bring out the biggest picture.