Divergent Convergent: Ricoeur, Derrida, and Metaphor

Abstract

This paper analyzes the exchange between Ricoeur and Derrida concerning metaphor. I argue that the exchange is not a ＂missed encounter,＂ as Eftichis Pirovolakis has suggested, but exemplifies a hermeneutic situation in which theoretical divergence is supplemented by a practical convergence. Rather than a mere exegesis of the exchange between Ricoeur and Derrida, I emphasize the practical implications for the interpretation of poetic metaphors. To be more specific, I emphasize the case of Paul Celan's poem ＂Blume＂ and the semantic density of the central metaphor. Although Ricoeur and Derrida diverge in strictly theoretical terms, their theoretical positions-when translated into practical terms-establish different but convergent paradigms for the interpretation of poetic metaphors.