Abstract

This paper considers the possibility of creating community within a nation haunted by colonial wars and racial enmity. It proposes that the creation of a community which fully recognised difference would require an acknowledgement of murderous deaths, and a consideration of the functioning of grief, the role of the spectre, and modes of friendship possible in the postcolonial context. Drawing on Nancy's reflection on community and Derrida's works of mourning and friendship, this paper investigates how murderous deaths, disavowal of difference, and racial enmity disfigure, subvert, and destroy community. The paper explores the possibility of refiguring community through a rethinking of friendship and mourning and an acknowledgement of the dead.