Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida, With a New Introduction

by Jacques Derrida

This volume, now with a substantial new Introduction, represents one of the most lucid, compact and reliable introductions to Derrida and deconstruction available in any language.Responding to questions put to him at a roundtable held at Villanova University in 1994, Jacques Derrida leads the reader through an illuminating discussion of the central themes of deconstruction. Speaking in English and extemporaneously, Derrida takes up with unusual clarity and great eloquence such topics as the task of philosophy, the Greeks, justice, responsibility, the gift, community, and the messianic. Derrida refutes the charges of relativism that are often leveled at deconstruction by its critics and sets forth the profoundly affirmative and ethico-political thrust of his work.The roundtable is marked by an unusual clarity that continues into the second part of the book, in which one of Derrida’s most influential readers, John D. Caputo, elaborates upon Derrida’s comments and supplies material for further discussion. This edition also includes a substantial new Introduction by Caputo that discusses the original context of the book and traces the development of deconstruction since Derrida’s death in 2004, from the rise of new materialisms to return to religion.Long one of the most lucid and reliable introductions to Derrida and deconstruction available in any language, and an ideal volume for students, Deconstruction in a Nutshell will also prove illuminating for those already familiar with Derrida’s work.

Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2020

About the author

Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher best known for developing deconstruction, a method of critical analysis that questioned the stability of meaning in language, texts, and Western metaphysical thought. Born in Algeria, he studied at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, where he was influenced by philosophers such as Heidegger, Husserl, and Levinas. His groundbreaking works, including Of Grammatology (1967), Writing and Difference (1967), and Speech and Phenomena (1967), positioned him at the center of intellectual debates on language, meaning, and interpretation.
Derrida argued that Western philosophy was structured around binary oppositions—such as speech over writing, presence over absence, or reason over emotion—that falsely privileged one term over the other. He introduced the concept of différance, which suggests that meaning is constantly deferred and never fully present, destabilizing the idea of fixed truth. His work engaged with a wide range of disciplines, including literature, psychoanalysis, political theory, and law, challenging conventional ways of thinking and interpretation.
Throughout his career, Derrida continued to explore ethical and political questions, particularly in works such as Specters of Marx (1993) and The Politics of Friendship (1994), which addressed democracy, justice, and responsibility. He held academic positions at institutions such as the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and the University of California, Irvine, and remained an influential figure in both European and American intellectual circles. Despite criticism for his complex writing style and abstract concepts, Derrida’s ideas have left a lasting impact on contemporary philosophy, literary theory, and cultural criticism, reshaping the way meaning and language are understood in the modern world.

Reviews

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may sometimes prove fruitful to try the impossible. We can, after all, do nothing more than just that. It calls to us from beyond, a promise that haunts and entices, of redolence and inspiration spoken in the voices of the spectral and the messianic.

Deconstruction, if there is such a thing, is the experience of the im-possible, the event, the other. It is the Khora, the grand container that receives everything but itself contains nothing. It is God, but not one that exists, rather one that is.

There is God in the singular, the decision that breaks through undecidability, the response to the call, in the giving of a gift and in showing hospitality to the stranger.

All of these are nutshells, their cores exposed to give an image of deconstruction. However, they are ultimately empty. For deconstruction, if it has a shell, cannot be cracked, and that is why cracking it is the only thing that matters.

[Very · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most annoying thing i’ve read this year. So much unnecessary verbiage, repetitions, metaphors, long winded tangents, foreign words, never getting to the point, ugh half of the book are qualifications about what’s to come. 3 stars because after combing through half the book you finally get some vague idea on what deconstruction is (if it is)—he always finds the need to add that caveat lmao

[John Nash · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a nutshell: brilliant work.

Reading this kind of literature is hard yakka, but this really does lay out Derrida in an accessible(!) manner. For such a maligned thinker, it's great to see someone doing the hard work of taking Derrida seriously and graciously. More thinkers like this please!