DERRIDA: THE SCENE OF WRITING., (THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS).

by Christopher Johnson

Jacques Derrida was famously asked a few years ago, by a newspaper journalist, to explain deconstruction "in a nutshell". Derrida's response, whether a wry smile or a volley of foul language (the latter unlikely as Derrida is, by all accounts, a very gracious man) is unrecorded but in all likelihood the reporter was left in little doubt as to the impossibility of such a task.

Our soundbite obsessed journalist friend might have been better advised to consult Christopher Johnson's excellent book. At just 55 pages this is about as close to a "nutshell" as he could hope to find. In by far the best "Derrida for beginners" book I've read, Johnson focuses on Derrida's critique of a text by Levi-Strauss in order to provide a clear, detailed, and thorough demonstration of what deconstruction is, how it works, and its implications for many of our most deeply held beliefs and assumptions regarding language, signification, consciousness and reality.

A book of this length cannot, of course, hope to provide a complete overview of Derrida's work, but the central idea - that the entire Western tradition of philosophy/metaphysics is based on fundamentally flawed and unsustainable principles (of "presence", moments of "originary truth" etc.) - is clearly explained. Much light is also shed on why Derrida himself is often difficult to read, especially in English translation.

Highly readable and fascinating throughout, this book is essential for anyone interested in understanding the thought of one of our world's most radical and original thinkers.

Genres: Philosophy, Essays

55 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Christopher Johnson, an independent verbal branding consultant, received his PhD in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, and has worked at Lexicon, one of the country's top naming firms. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Apparently the "Very Short Introduction" series book on Derrida is bad, and so was this "introduction". Really it was just filled with block quotes of Derrida. It would have been much more helpful to either simply summarize the main points of "Of Grammatology" and "Writing and Difference" than include lengthy quotes and barely explain them. Felt like a lazy paper done in college where you try to let the quotes speak for themselves... but joke's on you, it's fucking Derrida, who is denser than diamonds and foggier than the river styx. Glad I merely got this book at the library.

The cover is hella cool tho; in my edition, it is a very faint portrait photo of Derrida behind a black box with the title and author name. If you turn the book so it catches the light just right, Derrida dissolves into a gray mist. Paradoxically he's obscured by light, the very thing which should bring elucidation and clarity (much like how writing, whilst explicitly attempting to clarify and codify language, actually embeds implicit meanings, attitudes, etc. and possibly gets us farther from the truth... which is actually what Derrida was critiquing and [maybe?] opposing...). Either way I literally gave this book both its stars for the cover.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me two attempts to read this book because as an introductory text it's quite odd in that it focusses on Derrida's critique of another thinker (Levi-Strauss), but if you stick with it the reasons for this become apparent. The book contains chunks of text from Derrida's work which are sometimes comically semi-incomprehensible, sometimes quite profound. Thankfully Johnson steps in to explain the more neologism-laden passages, and I think I know what Derrida was talking about... maybe!

[Paul Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the professional philosopher, if there is such a thing.

[Minäpäminä · Rating 2 out of 5]

Paha arvioida tiivistä esitystä Derridasta, kun en Derridaa oikein ymmärrä, mikä oli tietysti syyni tarttua kirjaan. Se kertoi kuitenkin suunnilleen samoista asioista kuin muutkin: logosentrismi, differance, trace, jne. Ehkä pikkuhiljaa ymmärrän jotain. Johnson pyyhältää vimmattua vauhtia eteenpäin, mistä häntä ei voi syyttää - koska kirja on 55 sivuinen tiivistelmä 1900-luvun kenties vaikeaselkoisimman ajattelijan teorioista - mutta tekee sen suhteellisen kattavasti. Vasta lopussa tulee tunne, että kiirehdittiin mainitsemaan tämä ja tuokin, vaikka ei millään ehditty enää selittämään niitä. Dekonstruktiota havainnollistetaan pitkillä Derrida-lainauksilla, mikä toimii yllättävän hyvin. Yhteenvetona kirja on kuin: kevyt varpaan kastaminen Derrida-altaaseen, luulen.

[Jayson Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not comprehensive by any means. Short and sweet, and I think an informative intro to Derrida. The focus on Of Grammatology and the ideas and critiques expounded there by Derrida was odd but I think effective once the author extricated the main points of Derrida's thought within the text. I will want to read more of Derrida himself and perhaps another secondary source to further round out my understanding of deconstruction more generally since I think the amount of pages the author took might not have been enough.

[RoaringRatalouille · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mediocre overview of Derrida's philosophy. Two central issues: a) too specifically focused on 'Of Grammatology' and 'Writing and Difference'; and b) too many long quotes.

The writing style is alright. I would look for different places to start with Derrida, though.

[Eero Härmä · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vaikealukuinen tottemattomalle lukijalle, silti antoisa.

[Martin Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

i got a better idea of what structuralism is but Derrida's ideas of "difference and differance" (sic) remains a mystery to me.

[Louis Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely coherent but also complex. This was really tough to understand in many places but it breaks down Derrida’s feud with Strauss in good detail.