Jacques Derrida Student Edition Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences Edited by: Dr. Kay Picart and Brett Ader A power point presentation by David and Keith

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? __________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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? ________________________________________________________________________

What is deconstruction? ______________________________________________________

Why, for Derrida, are binaries problematic? ______________________________________________________

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 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