Avital Ronell - Major Works

Major Works

Ronell's major works include Dictations, The Telephone Book, Crack Wars, Stupidity and The Test Drive. The author's deconstructive approach is informed foremost by Derrida's techniques of reading closely. Yet, Ronell's voice markedly differs from what is often considered "deconstructive," by and large due to the fact that Ronell does not write according to any strict rules or norms of genre.

The Telephone Book begins with a sustained examination of Heidegger's involvement with the Nazi Party and proceeds through a history of the telephone in light of Heidegger's "call to being." Ronell demonstrates the complexity of "the call" and its presence throughout contemporary culture including technology, psychology and art. In The Telephone Book, Ronell rejects the authoritarian position of the author and instead refers to herself as the "operator" of the text. Her work in The Telephone Book set the stakes for what later would be called disability studies.

Crack Wars likens addiction to literature to drug addiction. Ronell avers that the work is a political gesture against the hysteria of the "racist" war on drugs. Beginning with an extensive survey of philosophical works on intoxication, including writings by Nietzsche, Baudelaire and Benjamin, Crack Wars then examines Heidegger's descriptions of want, wishing and "being towards." Much of the work that later referenced Crack Wars became the cornerstones of what is today known as addiction studies.

The Test Drive investigates the underlying logic of contemporary scientific discourses and their ethical and political implications. It does so by focusing on the idea of "the test" as a basis for discovering knowledge.