derrida, levi-strauss, and reassemblage

In The Violence of the Letter, Derrida critiques the ethnocentrism present in The Writing Lesson of Levi-Strauss. Derrida writes, "On the other hand- it is the other side of the same gesture-if Levi-Strauss constantly recognizes the pertinence of the division between peoples with and peoples without writing, this division is effaced by him from the moment that one might ethnocentrically wish to make it play a role in the reflection on history and on the respective values of cultures" (121). By saying that the Nambikwara could not write, only "draw lines" is critiqued when Derrida states "Is not ethnocentrism always betrayed by the haste with which it is satisfied by certain translations or certain domestic equivalents?" (123). It is not that the Nambikwara cannot "write," it is just that their form of "writing" is devalued based on an ethnocentric viewpoint brought by an anthropologist.

This tied into Trinh T. Minh-ha's film Reassemblage in the fact that Minh-ha's goal was not to "speak about" the Senegalese women, but rather to "speak nearby." It turns the tradition of ethnography and ethnocentrism on its head by not privilging one culture over another, even unintentionally. Minh-ha attempts to show the "facts" as they are, and not place value judgements on them. This "speaking nearby" is something that Levi-Strauss does not do, and something that Derrida calls him out on.