Afformative, afformance, afformativity: The critique of performativity in Werner Hamacher’s work
Afformative, afformance, afformativity: The critique of performativity in Werner Hamacher’s work

Summary/Abstract: Werner Hamacher attempted to explore a dimension of language which he called the afformative. He defined it in opposition to performativity as well as to language’s communicative, representational domain. His concept of afformativity enables a critical view of the self-grounding power of language utterance by pointing out an abyss that always separates language from action and representation. These considerations are opening up a path for deconstructive thought opening a possibility to reflect on language, literature, politics and justice in a different way than that typical of the economics of performativity. This article aims to demonstrate how the concept of the afformative can be interpreted in relation to the context of Hamacher’s thought. The conclusion discusses the praxis of the humanities from the perspective of Hamacher’s œuvre.

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