<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This article undertakes a comparative study of Ingarden and Derrida in regards to literature. It is being shown that the former’s concepts of ‘spots of indeterminacy’ and ‘empty spots’ resemble the latter’s notions of ‘spacing’ and ‘blanks’. Yet, although they both share a background in Husserlian phenomenology, it is argued that their ideas can hardly be equated to one another. Moreover, Derrida seemed to have avoided any association with Ingarden. This is due to their fundamentally different take on the literary work. Whereas Ingarden mainly considered the ontological nature of literature, Derrida took into account the broader context of the world in which literature takes place. For Ingarden, Derrida would have strayed too far from the subject matter. For Derrida, Ingarden hardly understood its complexity and only examined a small fragment of the issue: the question what makes us grasp literature as such. To Ingarden, those aspects were essential. To Derrida, they were merely objective rules.</p>
</abstract>

This article undertakes a comparative study of Ingarden and Derrida in regards to literature. It is being shown that the former’s concepts of ‘spots of indeterminacy’ and ‘empty spots’ resemble the latter’s notions of ‘spacing’ and ‘blanks’. Yet, although they both share a background in Husserlian phenomenology, it is argued that their ideas can hardly be equated to one another. Moreover, Derrida seemed to have avoided any association with Ingarden. This is due to their fundamentally different take on the literary work. Whereas Ingarden mainly considered the ontological nature of literature, Derrida took into account the broader context of the world in which literature takes place. For Ingarden, Derrida would have strayed too far from the subject matter. For Derrida, Ingarden hardly understood its complexity and only examined a small fragment of the issue: the question what makes us grasp literature as such. To Ingarden, those aspects were essential. To Derrida, they were merely objective rules.

Ingarden and Derrida on empty space in literature

Phainomenon

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Ingarden and Derrida on empty space in literature"}

This article undertakes a comparative study of Ingarden and Derrida in regards to literature. It is being shown that the former’s concepts of ‘spots of...

Ingarden and Derrida on empty space in literature

Published Online: May 17, 2021

Page range: 197 - 208

Received: Aug 10, 2021

Accepted: Nov 27, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/phainomenon-2021-0019

Keywords
Ingarden, Derrida, literary text, empty spaces, essentialism

© 2021 Jonas Vanbrabant, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Ingarden and Derrida on empty space in literature

Published Online: May 17, 2021

Page range: 197 - 208

Received: Aug 10, 2021

Accepted: Nov 27, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/phainomenon-2021-0019

KeywordsIngarden, Derrida, literary text, empty spaces, essentialism

© 2021 Jonas Vanbrabant, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Ingarden, Derrida, literary text, empty spaces, essentialism