Accompaniments for a Title: For Werner Hamacher

In the position of a descriptive heading, a title accompanies a text by dominating its entire body. It should do so by stating what the text is about, exhibiting its subject matter, its theme, or essence. The title remains offshore and does not touch the land of the text. But the title of Blanchot's récit, Celui qui ne m'accompagnait pas—translated into German as Jener, der mich nicht begleitete, and, more problematically, in English as the one who was standing apart from me—perhaps suggests an even more complex relation to the text that it does not accompany, or to which it does not render...

In the position of a descriptive heading, a title accompanies a text by dominating its entire body. It should do so by stating what the text is about, exhibiting its subject matter, its theme, or essence. The title remains offshore and does not touch the land of the text. But the title of Blanchot's récit, Celui qui ne m'accompagnait pas—translated into German as Jener, der mich nicht begleitete, and, more problematically, in English as the one who was standing apart from me—perhaps suggests an even more complex relation to the text that it does not accompany, or to which it does not render any service. This chapter is an attempt at weaving together the abyssal meanings of the title, the one who was standing apart from me.