Admiration of Nelson Mandela, or The Laws of Reflection

Abstract

A translation of Jacques Derrida's “Admiration de Nelson Mandela, ou Les lois de la réflexion,” first published in Pour Nelson Mandela (Paris: Gallimard, 1986), a collection of essays, fiction, and poetry conceived of and edited by Derrida and Mustapha Tlili, and later in Psyché: Inventions de l’autre, II (Paris: Galilée, 1987–2003), is given. In part a tribute to the iconic leader of the struggle against apartheid, “Admiration of Nelson Mandela” also presents a sustained analysis of Nelson Mandela's thought and practice through close readings of his speeches and writings, notably the statements that Mandela delivered in his own defense during his trial of 1962 and the Rivonia trial of 1963–64. In addition, “Admiration of Nelson Mandela” represents a significant articulation within the series of reflections that Derrida devoted throughout his career to questions of law and justice, ethics and politics, and democracy. The present translation includes a translator's introduction which situates the essay within this broader constellation of writings and elaborates a number of the problems and concepts central to Derrida's approach to legal theory.