https://doi.org/10.21697/zk.2024.11.40
In the 1990s, the French philosopher considered to be the father of deconstructivism, Jacques Derrida, inspired by the opening of European borders, took up the subject of hospitality, dedicating to it a special seminar, the fruit of which are two extensive volumes entitled L’ hospitalité, which are, unfortunately, still not translated into Polish. To illustrate his views, Derrida used literary classics, mainly Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles. The author’s thesis is that in the most important work of Spanish theater, The Trickster of Seville and the Stone Guest, one can also find arguments fully attesting to Derrida’s philosophy of hospitality. The figure of Don Juan allows us to look at the guest from a broader perspective; it is not necessarily someone benevolent whom it is good to receive. It can also be a complete stranger about whose true intentions we may even have reasonable doubts. However, even in this case, absolute hospitality dictates that we offer them a warm welcome, for it is necessary to welcome a stranger who wishes perhaps to harm and sometimes even kill the host. This is precisely the situation that occurs between Don Juan and the Stone Guest, whose roles in the drama change and mutual hospitality is transformed into “hostility”, a concept created by Derrida, which allows him to give a surprising twist to his reflections on hospitality.
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