Abstract

Geneses, Genealogies, Genres and Genius: The Secrets of the Archive is the text of Jacques Derrida's keynote address at the inaugural conference of the Helene Cixous archive at the National Library in Paris. In it he responds to Dream I Tell You, using it to explore the nature of the literary archive and the production of literature. He argues that Cixous is the most important writer working within the French idiom today and so explores the notion of a female genius. As part of the iterative relationship between Cixous and Derrida this text puzzles the genealogy of deconstruction and considers the importance of the poetic and sexual difference to the entirety of Derrida's work.