Derrida

by Christopher Norris

Jacques Derrida (born 1930) is undoubtedly the single most influential figure in current Anglo-American literary theory. Yet many scholars and students, not to mention general readers, would be hard put to give an account of Derrida's own writings. In this admirably clear and intelligent introduction, Christopher Norris demonstrates that Derrida's texts should be understood as belonging more to philosophy than to literature. Norris explains the significance of Derrida's writing on texts in the Western philosophical tradition, from Plato to Kant, Hegel, and Husserl, placing him squarely within that tradition. He also discusses some of the reasons for the massive institutional resistance that has so far prevented philosophers from engaging seriously with Derrida's work. This book will be welcomed by readers in search of an introduction to Derrida's work that neither underrates its difficulties nor invests his ideas with a kind of protective mystique.

Genres: Philosophy, Criticism, Biography, Theory, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 1987

About the author

As of 2007 he is Distinguished Research Professor in Philosophy at Cardiff University. He completed his PhD in English at University College London in 1975, while Sir Frank Kermode served as the Lord Northcliffe Professor of modern English literature there.

Until 1991 Norris taught in the Cardiff English Department. He has also held fellowships and visiting appointments at a number of institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, the City University of New York and Dartmouth College.

He is one of the world's leading scholars on deconstruction, particularly in the work of Jacques Derrida. He has written numerous books and papers on literary theory and continental philosophy. Norris is now considered a philosopher in his own right: 2003's Life After Theory reference required featured an interview with Norris, placing him alongside Derrida as a significant contemporary.

Reviews

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really digestible explication of Derrida's approach (especially what he has against the privileging of speech).

[Bernard English · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Who is more faithful to reason's call,' he [Derrida] asks, 'who hears it with a keener ear . . . the one who offers questions in return and tries to think through the possibility of that summons, or the one who does not want to hear any question about the principle of reason?'

If the reader takes this line of questioning seriously, he will enjoy this book and find it helpful. Readers will have to read Derrida's writings themselves to decide whether he should be dismissed as merely a "literary" gadfly as Ayer calls him or to take his approach seriously. Before picking up this book by Norris I've only read very dismissive things about him, by for example John Searle. This account is account by Norris portrays Derrida in a generally favorable light.

Especially intriguing is the apparent influence of Derrida's Jewish background on his writing. The rabbinical tradition and its endless interpretation of texts which themselves were thereby elevated to some kind of sacred texts contrasts sharply with the Christian identification of the "Word of god with the Logos" and an accompanying distrust of the written word. It certainly seems like a plausible explanation for some of the material quoted by Norris.

[Nathan David · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an introduction, this book approaches the significant ideas of Jacques Derrida. In doing so, the writing is often obtuse and not exactly clear in an explanatory manner. It has encouraged me to read Derrida first hand as I was interested by the concepts and quotes derived from Derrida (particularly relating to Of Grammatology). That being said, I don’t think the author does a very good job of making Derrida palatable to first time readers which appears to have been his intention. Being a philosophy student, I know of Derrida and those who he critiques (some in more depth than others). However, I think if someone didn’t have this kind of background knowledge or familiarity with difficult texts they would struggle to understand most paragraphs of this book.

[Rhiannon Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A useful overview of his key ideas.

[Talya · Rating 2 out of 5]

read for a class

the best I can say about this book is that it was sometimes comprehensible