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Introduction to Deconstruction & Jacques Derrida (1930-2004)

Updated: Aug 9

With the concept of deconstruction which was introduced by Derrida we mean rather a loosely defined set of approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning.


Jacques Derrida argued that Western thought is incorrectly built on hierarchical oppositions and that the primary goal of deconstruction is to dismantle this structure and reconstruct it into a new, more usable framework by revisiting its historical phases of meaning.


Language inherently carries traces of inconsistency and slippage, and no analytical method holds superiority in the face of these contradictions. Therefore, interpretation is more of a free space resembling a game rather than a strict analysis. According to Derrida, the world is a text with multiple meanings. Truth is not found behind or within the text but in the reader's interpretation.

Derrida opposed the privileging of speech and presence in Western philosophy, a stance known as logocentrism. Logocentrism, a term coined by the German philosopher Ludwig Klages in the early 1900s, refers to the tradition in Western science and philosophy that regards words and language as the fundamental expressions of an external reality.

Some concepts:

Contrary to structuralism's unity of signifier and signified, deconstruction involves a shift from the signified to the signifier. "Trace" refers to the indicators left unintentionally by the author on the text, reflecting their own thought structure. "Difference" (différance) implies the constant change within the context of meaning, as it refers to both the function seen by the signified and the images in our cognitive schema. "Deferral" indicates the continuous postponement of meaning, as a final and definitive understanding cannot be achieved due to this differentiation. "Erasure" means that the meaning of any term or signifier is not clear to us in texts written with deconstruction techniques. Since speech requires existence, it brings the self to the forefront; Derrida is opposed to egocentrism.


DrKyr.

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