This paper will be published in Derrida Today, Volume 18 in 2025. It confronts Sartre and Derrida’s interpretations of Genet. It argues that it is incorrect to assume that Sartre applies Hegelian logic to Genet, while Derrida frees him from it. Both contend that Genet’s writing is antithetical to absolute idealism, albeit in different ways. To elucidate this variation, I examine, in particular, Derrida’s interpretation of Genet’s signature. According to Derrida, Genet does not resist dialectics because he is a pederast, thief or traitor, as Sartre claims, but rather because of the way he places his signature on everything he writes. However, my analysis of Derrida’s attempt to sign Genet’s text indicates that it constitutes a subtle critique of Genet. Drawing on some often-overlooked analyses by Derrida, I suggest that even Genet’s writing may not be able to escape dialectics because no signature is absolutely singular.

This is a pre-publication version of the article, which will be published in Derrida Today, Volume 18, 2025. The final version will be available on the journal’s website. This preprint is shared in accordance with the Green Open Access policy of Edinburgh University Press, allowing authors to deposit a pre-publication version on their personal or departmental webpage and in their institutional repository.

Ramón Mistral’s Derrida Today Confirmation Certificate template .pdf