The Lost Speech

Abstract

Last night, at dinner, when you informed me that Julia Kristeva was not going to participate in our Presidential Forum because of health prob lems in her family, I must confess that, along with sadness at her ab sence, I found myself wondering whether this unfortunate circumstance might not allow me to save myself some embarrassment by reading out her speech instead of mine. But you had already asked someone else to do so, and I find myself, therefore, unable to cover for fact that I cannot deliver words I had prepared for today's plenary session. Something unexpected happened yesterday, unexpected and yet perhaps not surpris ing. Please believe me that this is not your typical the dog ate my home work excuse. This really happened. Yesterday, on my arrival from Latin America at Miami International Airport, at exactly 10:31 in morning, two agents from Department of Homeland Security impounded my speech on role of intellectual in twenty-first century. You might think that such things cannot happen in United States. And indeed, you have right to remain skeptical. In fact, that was one of points in my speech: that we have not only right but also obligation to remain skeptical. And rebellious. And vigilant. The only right we do not have is right to remain silent. But I am getting ahead of myself. The point is that batteries in my computer ran out al