Jacques%20Derrida%20Student%20Edition

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Jacques DerridaStudent Edition

• Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the
  Human Sciences
• Edited by Dr. Kay Picart and Brett Ader

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Early Derrida

• Born 1930 in Algiers (French colony in N. Africa)
• Born into Jewish family
• Experienced cultural marginalization
• Expelled from first school because his presence
  exceeded the allowed amount of Jewish students.
• Left second school because of anti-Semitic
  hostilities

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1966 John Hopkins colloquium

• The purpose of this colloquium was to introduce
  Structuralism
• Structuralism promised to provide such fields as
  anthropology and literary criticism with a
  scientific basis of study
• Presenting his paper last, Derrida put all of
  Structuralism into doubt.

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What is Structuralism?

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Levi-Strauss

• He named structuralism
• He applied structuralism to his anthropological
  work.
• He sought in his works to create a grammar of
  myths based on his analysis of Nambikwara in S.
  America
• He believed his research would reveal a structure
  for myths related to all cultures

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What are some of Derridas criticisms of
structuralism?

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What is deconstruction?

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Why, for Derrida, are binaries problematic?

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Deconstructing Plato

• Plato condemns imitation
• Yet, he himself is speaking through the voice of
  Socrates
• Therefore, Plato is an imitator

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Dance and Play of Differences

• If Plato is an imitator, then his work is
  unreliable
• If Platos work is unreliable, then imitation is
  an acceptable means of literary expression
• Therefore, if imitation is acceptable then
  Platos work is reliable
• And the cycle begins again

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Question

• In your opinion, how successfully could
  Deconstruction be used for any political agenda?

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Works Cited

• Derrida, Jacques. Structure, Sign, and Play in
  the Discourse of the Human Sciences. Critical
  Theory Since Plato Edited by Hazard Adams 1992
  Heinle Heinle
• Powell, Jim. Derrida for Beginners Dansbury, CT
  Writers and Readers 1997
• Palmer, Donald. Structuralism and Post
  Structuralism for Beginners Dansbury, CT
  Writers and Readers 1997