Timelessness and Negativity in Awaiting Oblivion: Hegel and Blanchot in Dialogue KhatabRhonda 2017 As an instance of a disjoint temporality, Awaiting Oblivion resourcefully exploits its dislocatory flexibility (displacement is a feature of all language), to effect itself as a self-reflexive, self-engaging critique. It renders mute the voice of presence through its constant renunciation of its right to speak. Time in the récit functions as though it were “deranged and off its hinges” (WD 78).