The Cambridge Introduction to Jacques Derrida

Abstract

Few thinkers of the latter half of the twentieth century have so profoundly and radically transformed our understanding of writing and literature as Jacques Derrida (1930–2004). Derridian deconstruction remains one of the most powerful intellectual movements of the present century, and Derrida's own innovative writings on literature and philosophy are crucially relevant for any understanding of the future of literature and literary criticism today. Derrida's own manner of writing is complex and challenging and has often been misrepresented or misunderstood. In this book, Leslie Hill provides an accessible introduction to Derrida's writings on literature which presupposes no prior knowledge of Derrida's work. He explores in detail Derrida's relationship to literary theory and criticism, and offers close readings of some of Derrida's best known essays. This introduction will help those coming to Derrida's work for the first time, and suggests further directions to take in studying this hugely influential thinker.

How like a (Fig) Leaf

“…Drawing not simply upon Sigmund Freud's incidental assertion of this link, but on Derrida, he identifies it as both endemic to "cultural history" and even "all textuality". 16 On the right hand column of Derrida's most extravagant formal experiment, Glas, engaging Jean Genet and the homoerotic poetics of The Thief's Journal, Derrida conjures the sporting of a "vegetable fetish". Juicily doubling their metonym, a cluster of grapes hangs on the crotch of the criminal, Stilitano, with whom Genet is in love.…”

Democracy and Justice

“…For many, sufficient evidence is furnished by the infamous phrase, il n'y a pas de hors-texte, rendered in English as 'there is nothing outside of the text'. 8 By way of dispelling the myth, Hill offers that the phrase, which first appeared in Of Grammatology (in 1967 in French, and 1976 in English), is not only mistranslated, but also key to Derrida's fundamental argument that everything is affected by 'différance, iterability, and the trace as non-present remainder' 9 in other words, that everything can be deconstructed. I'm inclined to think this does little to convince critics that deconstruction is anything but nihilist, post-modernist drivel.…”

“…22 Such comportment (in this case, to philosophical texts) is precisely what deconstruction demands -'on the one hand a rigorous, demanding, critical, but affirmative commitment to the legacy of the past, and on the other an equally exacting commitment to what the legacy of the past suppressed, remained unassimilated by it, and belonged perpetually to the future'. 23 Equally, it speaks to the affirmative and creative nature of deconstruction, on which Derrida unwaveringly insisted when deconstruction was presented as destructive and annihilative.…”

Subjective and Objective Needs Analysis of French Course: The case of diploma hospitality students

“…"Good relationships cannot be maintained without good quality communication between visitor and host. This applies particularly to verbal communication which, in tourism.... [3,4], providing a service in the language of the visitor is one way that tourism companies can gain an edge over their competitors' [5]. This demonstrates a willingness to help, and visitors appreciate the fact that someone has made the effort to learn their language, whatever their level of fluency.…”