The Concept of Phantasm in the Work of Derrida

The article offers a reconstruction of Derrida’s concept of phantasm with a stress on the discussion of the phantasm in Glas (1974) and his final seminar (2002 – 2003). I argue that the main characteristic of the phantasm is that it is placed on both sides of a border or a frontier. In this, it produces the believe that one can stand on both sides of a divide while remaining on one of them. In this way, phantasm becomes a phantasm of power, an illusion for pure auto-affectivity. Yet, the phantasm also disrupts the illusion of mastery and opens the way to the other in an unpredictable manner, becoming an event that cannot be simply opposed to reality or truth.