Derrida, Jacques (1930- ), French philosopher,
whose work originated the school of deconstruction, a
strategy of analysis that
has been applied to literature, linguistics, philosophy, law and architecture.
In
1967 Derrida published three
books—Speech and Phenomena; Of Grammatology; and Writing and
Difference, which introduced
the deconstructive approach to reading texts. Derrida has resisted being
classified, and his later
works continue to redefine his thought.
Derrida was born in El-Biar,
Algeria. In 1952 he began studying philosophy at the École Normale
Supérieure in Paris,
where he later taught from 1965 to 1984. From 1960 to 1964, Derrida taught
at the
Sorbonne in Paris. Since the
early 1970s, he has divided much of his time between Paris and the
United States, where he has
taught at such universities as Johns Hopkins, Yale, and the University
of
California at Irvine. His
other works include Glas (1974) and The Post Card (1980).
Derrida's
work focuses on language. He contends that
the traditional, or metaphysical way of reading
makes a number of false assumptions
about the nature of texts. A traditional reader believes that
language is capable of expressing
ideas without changing them, that in the hierarchy of language writing
is secondary to speech, and
that the author of a text is the source of its meaning. Derrida's
deconstructive style of reading
subverts these assumptions and challenges the idea that a text has an
unchanging, unified meaning.
Western culture has tended to assume that speech is a clear and direct
way to communicate. Drawing
on psychoanalysis and linguistics, Derrida questions this assumption. As
a result, the author's intentions
in speaking cannot be unconditionally accepted. This multiplies the
number of legitimate interpretations
of a text.
Deconstruction shows the multiple
layers of meaning at work in language. By deconstructing the works
of previous scholars, Derrida
attempts to show that language is constantly shifting. Although Derrida's
thought is sometimes portrayed
by critics as destructive of philosophy, deconstruction can be better
understood as showing the
unavoidable tensions between the ideals of clarity and coherence that
govern philosophy and the
inevitable shortcomings that accompany its production.
http://www.connect.net/ron/derrida.html