Abstract

In his hauntology or 'ghost theory', Derrida both subscribes to and rejects Marx's famous exposition on commodities fetishism. He subscribes to Marx's analysis of the world of merchandise as a shadowy world which covers up how exactly society produces this merchandise. His rejection pertains to the invariant structure typical of all discussions of fetishism. This structure, in which the fetish is determined as a substitute for the real item, presupposes a determinable distinction between substitute and the real item. It will be shown that Marx's concept of fetish does indeed rest on this presupposition, because it assumes that the utility value of the commodity can be dissociated fromits market value. Derrida's hauntology wants to retain the critical dimension of Marx'sexposition on fetishism, without incorporating its intrinsic ontology.