Transcript Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse

Jacques Derrida
Student Edition
Structure, Sign, and Play in the
Discourse of the Human Sciences
Edited by: Dr. Kay Picart and Brett Ader
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
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.
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
What are some of Derrida’s 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
Dance and Play of Differences
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If Plato is an imitator, then
his work is unreliable
If Plato’s work is
unreliable, then imitation is
an acceptable means of
literary expression
Therefore, if imitation is
acceptable then Plato’s
work is reliable
And the cycle begins again
Question
► In
your opinion, how successfully could
Deconstruction be used for any political
agenda?
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