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Derrida's Deconstructive Terms
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Différance
Différance is a central concept in Derrida's deconstruction, referring to the non-linear, non-historical process by which language and meaning are generated. Derrida suggests that meaning emerges from the differences and deferrals inherent in language use.
Deconstruction
Deconstruction is both a strategy and a philosophy that critically analyzes the relationship between text and meaning. Derrida's deconstruction aims to reveal the inherent contradictions and instability in texts and to dismantle the traditional binaries upheld by Western metaphysics.
Binary Opposition
Binary opposition refers to pairs of related concepts or binaries that are traditionally seen as opposed and hierarchical in Western thought. Derrida's deconstruction works to show that these binaries are constructed and maintained by language and are neither natural nor stable.
Trace
The trace in Derrida's theory refers to the mark of the absence of a presence, an always already absent present. It represents the impossibility of stability in meaning or the presence of any 'pure' signifier that does not already contain within itself the trace of another signifier.
Logocentrism
Logocentrism is the term Derrida uses to criticize the Western philosophical tradition for privileging speech (logos) over writing, a tradition which assumes that meaning is immediately present to the mind without the need for representation or signs.
Phonocentrism
Phonocentrism is a dimension of logocentrism that specifically privileges speech over writing because of the former's perceived proximity to thought. Derrida argues that this belief is misguided since it overlooks the way that language is always mediated by signifiers.
Metaphysics of Presence
The metaphysics of presence is a concept in Derrida's critique of Western philosophy's focus on the search for a transcendent signified, or an ultimate meaning that exists independently of language and signs.
Supplement
The supplement is a foundational concept in Derrida's thought that refers to something that is neither a presence nor an absence and has the paradoxical ability to 'add' and 'replace'. It thus destabilizes the concept of original presence and challenges the valued distinctions in the hierarchy of binaries.
Freeplay
Freeplay refers to the interplay and movement of elements within a structure that lacks any ultimate center or fixed origin. For Derrida, freeplay is characteristic of the decentralized, non-hierarchical nature of language and meaning.
Dissemination
Dissemination is the concept that meanings in a text are not confined to binary oppositions or clear-cut definitions, but spread out, multiply, and resist resolution. Derrida uses this term to describe the scattering of meanings and how they cannot be fully fixed or recovered.
Iterability
Iterability refers to the necessary potential for repetition within signs. This concept elucidates how the meaning of a sign is not fixed in a given context but can be altered in its reiteration, thus undermining the idea of an intrinsic, stable meaning.
Aporetic
Aporetic is a term used to describe situations of undecidability, where a coherent interpretation is impossible. In Derrida's theory, aporias are present in texts where deconstruction reveals the impossibility of reconciling contradictory elements.
Aporia
Aporia refers to a state of puzzlement or doubt, especially one that is artificially created in a text when its inherent contradictions are exposed by deconstruction, emphasizing the uncertainty and indeterminacy in the endeavor of interpretation.
Erasure
Erasure (sous rature) is a graphical representation used by Derrida to indicate that a word is both inadequate and yet necessary. In writing, a word is crossed out to show its insufficiency but left legible to signal its indispensability for the discussion.
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