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Contents
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Support for the translationwas provided
by the French Ministry of Culture
Original ly publ ished n French as :
for The Insttlnt of Ml Death'tn r994, Maurice Blanchot, L'instantde ma mort,
by Fata Morgana
O Fata Morgana 1994.
Reproducedby permissionof FataMorgana.
TH E INSTANT OF MY DEATH
MauriceBlanchot
DEMEURE: FICTION AN D TESTIMONY
Jacques errida
Reading beyond he beginning";
or , On th eVenom n Letters:
Postscript nd "LiterarySupplement"
Notes
r)
in
.sntF vr,
L,'
r998,Jacques
for Demeure: Fiction and Tistimony,
Derrida, Demeure:Maurice Blanchot,
ro4
II I
r3$,by Edit ions Gali lde
@ 1998,Edi t ionsGal i lde.
StanfordUniversiry Press
Stanford,Cal i fornia
@ zooo by the Board of Tiusteesof the
Leland Stanford Junior University
Printed in the United Statesof America
CtP data appearat the end ofthe book
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TH E INSTANT
OF MY DEATH
Maurice Blanchot
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S Linstant de ma mort
Je un souvtENs 'u n jeunehomme homme en -
core eune-emp€chd de mouri r par a mort m€me-et
peut-6tre 'erreurde I' injustice.
Le s All ids avaient rdussi ) prendre pied su r le sol
frangais. es Allemands,ddj) vaincus, uttaient en vain
avecun e nuti le ferocitd.
Dans une grandemaison (l e ChAteau'disait-on),on
frappa la porte plut6t timidement. Je saisqu e le jeune
homme vint ouvrir ) de s h6tes qu i sansdoute deman-
daientsecours.
Cette ois,hurlement: Tousdehors."
Un lieutenantnazi,dansun frangais onteusement or-
mal, fi t sortir d'abord es personneses plus Agdes, uis
deux eunes emmes.
"Dehors,dehors."Cette ois, l hurlait.Le eunehomme
ne cherchaitpourtant pas fuir, mais avangaitentement'd'une manibrepresque acerdotale.e l ieutenant e sec-
oua, ui montra de sdouil les, esballes' l y avaiteu mani-
festement ombat, e sol dtait un sol guerrier.
Le lieutenants'dtrangla ans un langage izarre,et met-
2
S The Instantof My Death
I REMEMSERyoung man-a ma n sti l l young-pre-
vented rorn dying by death tself-and perhaps he error
of injustice.
Th e All ies ha d succeededn getting a foothold on
French oil.The Germans,already anquished,werestrug-gling n vain with uselesserocity.
In a argehouse th e Chiteau, it wascalled), omeone
knockedat the door rather imidly. I know that the young
ma n came o open th e door to guestswh o were presum-
ablyasking or help.
This tirne,a howl: "Everyone utside."
A Nazi ieutenant, n shameful ly ormal French,made
th e oldestpeopleexit first, an d then rw o young women.
"Outsids, outside."This time, he wa s howling. The
youllg m?.n, however,did not tr y to flee but advanced
slowly, n an almost priestly manner. Th elieutenant
shookhinr, showedhim the casings, ullets; herehad ob-
viouslybeen fighting; the soil was a war soil.
The lieutenant choked n abizarre anguage.And put-
ting th e casings,he bullets,a grenade nder th e noseof
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L'instantde ma mort
tant sous e ne zde I'homme ddj) moins eune (o n viei l l i t
vi te) les douil les, es balles,un e grenade, ri a distincte-
ment: "Voil) ) quoi vous6tesparvenu."
Le nazimi t en rang se shommes pour atteindre, elon
les bgles,a cible humaine.Le jeunehomme dit: "Faites
au moins rentrer ma famil le." Soit: a tante (9 4 ans),sa
mdreplus eune,sascur et sabelle-scur,un long et lent
cortbge, i lencieux, omme si tout dtaitddj) accompli.
Je sais-le sais-je-que celuiqu e visaient dj i le sAlle-
mands,n'attendantplus que I'ordre inal, dprouvaalorsun
sentimentde ldgbretd xtraordinaire, ne sortede bdati-
tude (rien d'heureux ependant),-al ldgresseouveraine?
La rencontre e a mort et de a mort?
A sa place, e ne chercherai as analyser e sentiment
de ldgbretd. l dtait peut-€tre rour ) coup invincible.
Mort-immortel. Peut-€tre 'extase. lut6t le sentiment
de compassion our I'humanitdsouffrante,e bonheurde
n'€trepa s mmortel ni dternel.Ddsormais, l fut l id i lamort, par une amitid subreptice.
A ce t nstant,brusque etour au monde,dclata e bruit
considdrable 'une proche batai l le. Le s camarades u
maquisvoulaientporter secours celui qu'i lssavaient n
danger. e ieutenant 'dloigna our se endre ompte.Le s
Allemands restaienten ordre,pr6ts ) demeurerainsi dans
une mmobil i td qu i arr6tait e temps.
Mais voici qu e I'un d'eux s'approcha t dit d'une voix
ferme: "Nous, pas al lemands, usses," t, dans une sorte
de rire: "armdeVlassov," t i l lui fi t signede disparaitre.
Jecrois qu'i l s'dloigna, oujours
danse
sentimenrdeldgbretd, u point qtr' i l se errouvadans un bois dloignd,
nommd "Bois des bruybres," i l i l demeuraabritdpa r es
arbresqu'i l connaissait ien. C'est dans e bois dpaisqu e
tout ). coup, et aprbs ombien de temps, l retrouva e sens
du rdel.Partout,de s ncendies, ne suitede fe u continu,
The nstant of My Death
th e man already es syoung (one agesquickly), he dis-
tinctly shouted: This is what yo u havecome o. "
Th e Nazi placedhi s me n in a ro w in order to hit, ac -
cording to the rules, he human target.The young ma n
said, At leasthavemy family go inside."So it was: he
aunt (ninety-fouryears ld); his mother,younger;hi s sis-
ter and his sister-in-law; long,slow procession, i lent,as
if everything ad already ee ndone.
I know-do I know it-that the one at whom the Ger-
mans were alreadyaiming, awaiting bu t th e final order,
experiencedhe n a feelingof extraordinary ightness,a
sort of beatitude (nothing h"PPy,however)-5svglsign
elation? he encounter f deathwith death?
In his place, will not try to analyze.He was perhaps
suddenly nvincible. Dead-immortal. Perhaps cstasy.
Rather he feelingof compassionor sufferinghumanity,
th e happiness f not being mmortal or eternal.Hence-
forth, he wasbound to deathby a surreptitious riendship.At that instant,an abrupt return o the world, th e con-
siderablenoise of a nearby battle exploded.Comrades
from the mxluis wanted to bring help to one they knew
to be in danger.The lieutenantmoved away o assesshe
situation.Th e Germansstayed n order,prepared o re -
main thus n a n immobil i ty that arrestedime.
Then one of them approached nd said n a firm voice,
"\7e'reno t Germans,Russians," nd ,with a sortof laugh,
"Vlassovarmy," and made a sign fo r him to disappear.
I think he moved away,sti l l with th e feelingof l ight-
nTS, unti l he Found imself n a distant orest, amed he
"Bois de sbruybres,"wherehe remained heltered y trees
he knew well. In the dense forest suddenly, after how
much time, he rediscovered senseof the real. Every-
where ires,a continuous succession f fires;al l the farms
were burning. A li ttle later,he learned ha t threeyoung
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L'instant de ma mort
toutes es ermesbrfilaient. Un peu plus tard, l apprit que
trois jeunesgens, il s de fermiers,bien dtrangers tout
combat, et qu i n'avaientpour tort qu e leur jeunesse,
avaientdtd abattus.
M€me leschevaux onflds, ur a route,dans eschamps,
attestaientune guerrequi avait durd. E,n dalitd,combien
de temps s'dtait-ildcould?Quand le ieutenantdtait revenu
et qu'i l s'dtait endu compte de la disparitiondu jeune
chAtelain, ourquoi la colbre, a rage,ne I'avaient-elles as
poussd br0ler le Chiteau (immobile et majestueux)?
C'est qu e c'dtait e Chiteau. Su r la fagade tait inscrite,
comme un souvenir ndestructible,a datede r8o7. Etait-
il assez ultivd pour savoire\re c'dtait I'annde ameusede
Idna, orsqueNapoldon,sur son petit chevalgris, passait
sous es en€tres e Hegelqu i reconnuten lu i "l '6.me u
monde," ainsiqu'i l l 'dcrivit un ami?Mensonge t vdritd,
car,comme Hegel 'dcrivit ) un autre ami, les Frangais il-
lbrent et saccagbrent a demeure.Mais Hegel savait dis-
tinguer 'empiriqueet I'essentiel. n cetteannde y44,lel ieutenant nazieu t pour le ChAteau e respect u la con-
siddration ue les ermesne suscitaient as .Pourtanton
fouilla partout. On prit quelqueargent;dansune pibcesd-
parle, "l a chambrehaute," e ieutenant rouva despapiers
et une sorte d'dpaismanuscrit-qui contenaitpeut-etre
des plans de guerre.Enfin il partit. Tout brirlait, sauf e
ChAteau.LesSeigneurs vaientdtd dpargnds.
Alors commengasansdoute pour le jeune homme le
tourment de l ' injustice.Plus d'extase;e sentimentqu'i l
n'dtait vivant que parceque,m6me aux yeux des Russes,lappartenait . une classe oble.
C'dtait cela, a guerre: a vie pour le s uns,pour le sau -
tres, a cruautdde 'assassinat.
Demeuraitcependent, u moment oir la fusilladen'dtait
plus qu'en attente, e sentimentde dgbretd ue e ne sau-
The nstant of My Death
rren, sons of farmers-truly strangers o al l combat,
whoseonly fault was heir youth-had beenslaughtered.
Even the bloated horses,on the road, in the fields,at -
tested o a war that had gone on. In reality,how much
time ha d elapsed? he n th e ieutenanr erurnedan d be -
came aware he young chatelainehad disappeared'why
<lid anger, age,not prompt him to burn down the Chi-
teau(immobile and majestic)? ecauset was he chateau.
on th e facadewa s inscribed, ik e an indestructible e-
minder, the date r8o7.twashe cultivatedenough o know
this wa s he famousyearof Jena,when Napoleon,on his
smallgrayhorse,passed nder he windows of Hegel,who
recognizedn him the "spirit of the world," ashe wrote to
a friend?Li e an d truth: fo r as Hegel wrote to another
friend, th e Frenchpil lagedan d ransacked is home. Bu t
Hegelknew ho w to distinguish he empiricalan d th e es -
,.r,iirl. In that year 1944, he Nazi lieutenanthad for the
chateau a respecr r consideration hat the farms did not
arouse.Everything was searched, owever.Some money
wa s taken; n a seParateoom' "the high chamber," he
lieutenant ound papersand a sort of thick manuscript-
which perhaps ontainedwar plans.Finallyhe eft. Every-
thing was burning, except he chiteau. The seigneurs ad
beenspared.
No doubt what then began or the young man was he
tormenr of injustice.No more ecstasy;he feeling ha t he
was only living because, ven n the eyesof the Russians,
he belonged o a nobleclass.
lThis wa s war: l i fe for some, or others, he cruelty ofassassination.
There remained,however,at th e moment when th e
shootingwa s no longerbu t to come, he feelingof l ight-
ness hat I would not know how to translate: reed rom
life? he infinite openingup ?Neither happiness, or un-
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L'instant de ma mort The Instant of Ml Death
rais traduire: l ibdr4,dela vie? 'infini qu i s'ouvre?Ni bon-
;;;" ni malheur. Ni l'absencede crainte et peut-6tre ddji
l. 0" , au-del ) . Je sais, ' imagine qu e ce sentiment in -
"""fyr"Ufe changeace qu i lui restaitd'existence'Comme si
; ;;r, hors de lui ne Pouvait ddsormaisque seheurter ) la
-"ra
en lui. "J e suisvivant' Non' tu es mort'"
happiness.No r th e absence f fbar an d perhapsalrea<iyth e stepbeyond. know I imagine ha t rhisunanalyzablefeeling hangedwhat there emai'ed fo r hi m of existence.As if th e deatho'rside of hi m could only he'cefbrth col-l idewith th e death n him. "l tl m alive.No , yolr ar edead.,'
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L'instant de ma mort
Plus ard, revenu Paris, l rencontraMalraux.Celui-ci
lr-ri aconta qu'i l avait dtd fait prisonnier (sans6tre re -
connu),qu'i l avait dussi . s'dchapper,out en perdantun
manuscrit. Ce n'dtaient ue de s dflexions ur 'art, aci les
) reconstituer,andis qu'un manuscritne saurait '6tre."Avec Paulhan, l fi t fairede s echerches ui ne pouvaient
qu e rester aines.
Qu'importe.Seuldemeure e sentimentde ldgdretd ui
es t a mort m€me ou, pour le dire plus prdcisdment,' in-
stant de ma mort ddsormaisouioursen nstance.
The nstant of'My Death
Later,having returned o Paris,he me t Malraux, wh o
said ha t he ha d been aken prisor-rerwithout beingrec-
ognized)an d that he had succeededn escaping,osinga
manuscript n t he process.lt wa sonly reflections n art,
easy oreconstitute, hereas manuscriptwould no t be."
\fi th Paulhan,he made inquirieswhich could only re -
main in vain.\Whatdoes t matter.Al l that remains s the feelingof
lightness hat is death tself or, to put it more precisely,he
instant of mv death henceforthalways n abeyance.