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18

Jacques Derrida: language against itself

7
terms
3
notes

his early critiques of Rousseau and Lévi-Strauss

Norris, C. (1982). Jacques Derrida: language against itself. In Norris, C. Deconstruction: Theory and Practice. Methuen, pp. 18-41

19

[...] Deconstruction in this, its most rigorous form acts as a constant reminder of the ways in which language deflects or complicates the philosopher's project. Above all, deconstruction works to undo the idea--according to Derrida, the ruling illusion of Western metaphysics--that reason can somehow dispense with language and arrive at a pure, self-authenticating truth or method. Though philosophy strives to efface its textual or 'written' character, the signs of that struggle are there to be read in its blind-spots of metaphor and other rhetorical strategies.

—p.19 by Christopher Norris 6 years, 6 months ago

[...] Deconstruction in this, its most rigorous form acts as a constant reminder of the ways in which language deflects or complicates the philosopher's project. Above all, deconstruction works to undo the idea--according to Derrida, the ruling illusion of Western metaphysics--that reason can somehow dispense with language and arrive at a pure, self-authenticating truth or method. Though philosophy strives to efface its textual or 'written' character, the signs of that struggle are there to be read in its blind-spots of metaphor and other rhetorical strategies.

—p.19 by Christopher Norris 6 years, 6 months ago
21

[...] Once alerted to the rhetorical nature of philosophic arguments, the critic is in a strong position to reverse the age-old prejudice against literature as a debased or merely deceptive form of language. It now becomes possible to argue--indeed, impossible to deny--that literary texts are less deluded than the discourse of philosophy, precisely because they implicitly acknowledge and exploit their own rhetorical status. Philosophy comes to seem, in de Man's work, 'an endless reflection on its own destruction at the hands of literature'.

—p.21 by Christopher Norris 6 years, 6 months ago

[...] Once alerted to the rhetorical nature of philosophic arguments, the critic is in a strong position to reverse the age-old prejudice against literature as a debased or merely deceptive form of language. It now becomes possible to argue--indeed, impossible to deny--that literary texts are less deluded than the discourse of philosophy, precisely because they implicitly acknowledge and exploit their own rhetorical status. Philosophy comes to seem, in de Man's work, 'an endless reflection on its own destruction at the hands of literature'.

—p.21 by Christopher Norris 6 years, 6 months ago

a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned arguments

22

what de Man calls the 'dialectical interplay' set up between text and interpreter

—p.22 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

what de Man calls the 'dialectical interplay' set up between text and interpreter

—p.22 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

(adjective) distinctive, capable of distinguishing; (of a mark or sign) serving to indicate different pronunciations of a letter above or below which it is written

25

Language is in this sense diacritical, or dependent on a structured economy of differences which allows a relatively small range of linguistic elements to signify a vast repertoire of negotiable meanings

—p.25 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

Language is in this sense diacritical, or dependent on a structured economy of differences which allows a relatively small range of linguistic elements to signify a vast repertoire of negotiable meanings

—p.25 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

(adjective) of, relating to, or dealing with phenomena (as of language or culture) as they occur or change over a period of time

25

the 'diachronic' methods of historical research and speculation which had dominated nineteenth-century linguistics

—p.25 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

the 'diachronic' methods of historical research and speculation which had dominated nineteenth-century linguistics

—p.25 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago
27

[...] Thus Barthes (drawing on Saussure) refers metaphorically to 'the speaking mass' in a context which purportedly invokes the totality of language, but which appeals even so to actual speakers and their speech as the source of that totality. Barthes may state, as a matter of principle, that language is at once the 'product and the instrument' of speech, that their relationship is always 'dialectical' and not to be reduced to any clear-cut priority. In practice, however, his theorizing leans upon metaphors which implicitly privilege individual speech above the system of meaning that sustains is.

Derrida's line of attack is to pick out such loaded metaphors and show how they work to support a whole powerful structure of presuppositions. [...]

this shit is wild

—p.27 by Christopher Norris 6 years, 6 months ago

[...] Thus Barthes (drawing on Saussure) refers metaphorically to 'the speaking mass' in a context which purportedly invokes the totality of language, but which appeals even so to actual speakers and their speech as the source of that totality. Barthes may state, as a matter of principle, that language is at once the 'product and the instrument' of speech, that their relationship is always 'dialectical' and not to be reduced to any clear-cut priority. In practice, however, his theorizing leans upon metaphors which implicitly privilege individual speech above the system of meaning that sustains is.

Derrida's line of attack is to pick out such loaded metaphors and show how they work to support a whole powerful structure of presuppositions. [...]

this shit is wild

—p.27 by Christopher Norris 6 years, 6 months ago

pertaining to or characteristic of the theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, especially the view that a language consists of a network of interrelated elements in contrast

30

It is not a question, he repeats, of rejecting the entire Saussurian project or denying its historical significance

Derrida's deconstructive reading of Saussre's speech-above-writing theory

—p.30 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

It is not a question, he repeats, of rejecting the entire Saussurian project or denying its historical significance

Derrida's deconstructive reading of Saussre's speech-above-writing theory

—p.30 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

coined by Jacques Derrida, blending difference and deferral (of meaning); central to deconstruction

32

Difference [...] remains suspended between the two French verbs 'to differ' and 'to defer', both of which contribute to its textual force but neither of which can fully capture its meaning

—p.32 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

Difference [...] remains suspended between the two French verbs 'to differ' and 'to defer', both of which contribute to its textual force but neither of which can fully capture its meaning

—p.32 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

of or in counterpoint

34

the harmonic or contrapuntal, which typified the supposed weakness and decadence of French tradition

Rousseau's music taste lol

—p.34 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

the harmonic or contrapuntal, which typified the supposed weakness and decadence of French tradition

Rousseau's music taste lol

—p.34 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy

36

The deadlocked prolixity of Rousseau's text is also a lesson

—p.36 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago

The deadlocked prolixity of Rousseau's text is also a lesson

—p.36 by Christopher Norris
notable
6 years, 6 months ago