Of grammatology
by Jacques Derrida · first published 1976
22% recommend67% neutral11% critical
Jacques Derrida's revolutionary theories about deconstruction, phenomenology, psychoanalysis, and structuralism, first voiced in the 1960s, forever changed the face of European and American criticism. The ideas in De la grammatologie sparked lively debates in intellectual circles that included students of literature, philosophy, and the humanities, inspiring these students to ask questions of their disciplines that had previously been considered improper. Thirty years later, the immense influence of Derrida's work is still igniting controversy, thanks in part to Gayatri Spivak's translation, w
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…learning about the subject, here's a good place to start (in order): Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics http://books.google.com/books?id=B0eB8mvov6wC&printsec=f... Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology http://www.mohamedrabeea.com/books/book1_3997.pdf and, for fun... Jacques Derrida, Differànce http://hydra.humanities.uci.edu/derrida/diff.html
on “_why is a role, not a person” ↗I don't know about 'life-changing' but the best books I ever read were: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (Ludwig Wittgenstein) Being and Time (Martin Heidegger) Of Grammatology (Jacques Derrida) Writing and Difference (Jacques Derrida) Martian Timeslip (Philip K. Dick) Ringworld (Larry Niven) The Forever War (Joe Haldeman) The Metamorphosis (Franz…
on “Ask HN: What were your "life-changing" books?” ↗…been voted one of the worst academic writers several times to my knowledge (she was president of MLA for a term, too, if I'm not mistaken). Deleuze and Guatarri are famously incoherent, Derrida as well (Of Grammatology being famously translated by the famously vague Spivak), and personally I find Arendt incredibly difficult to follow. FWIW, a lot of these postmodern authors come from the Continental tradition's linguistic…
on “The Hyperreal” ↗I did read his comments back in '95, and I re-read the comments about Derrida now. (I am not particularly interested in Foucault, so I skipped his reading of him.) Chomsky claims to have found "Of Grammatology" full of "pathetic misreadings." Unfortunately, he doesn't take the time to outline what these might be-- and oddly enough, neither does anybody else, to my knowledge. I know of only one publication…
on “How to Deconstruct Almost Anything, by a Software Engineer” ↗I don't know why you'd say French writers in the mid-twentieth century wrote books without citing him. Of Grammatology, the ur-text of deconstruction, has 28 references for him in the index, and that's not including the introduction. He's a major influence on post-structuralism and is generally accepted as such.
on “How To Deconstruct Almost Anything (1993)” ↗…shape your ideology. I think the text to look at for N. is "On The Genealogy of Morals" and the text for Marx is "The German Ideology". Regarding the provenance of deconstruction. I'm not about to read "Of Grammatology" any time soon but you are the first person I've heard to assert the Heidegger should be given credit so you need to, you know, cite your source please.
on “How To Deconstruct Almost Anything (1993)” ↗Of Grammatology is probably one of the most impenetrable books ever written. I'm not sure I'd recommend any of these as starting points.
on “_why is a role, not a person” ↗hemmingwaymaker.com. Makes long sentences short. An online de-obfuscator and English to English translator. Helps me finally read Finnegan's Wake and Of Grammatology. slantrime.com. bends user provided words to make unlikely rhymes, with seed capital from slim shady.
on “Ask HN: What web services should exist that haven't been developed yet?” ↗…Plato's Pharmacy, which offers some brilliant observations on Phaedrus and the nature of writing (again, if you can plough your way through to them, etc.). I recommend this. I've never read his more famous Of Grammatology, and not sure I will now. 3. The quality of writing varies wildly from one author to another, even if we restrict to the most famous ones. Lacan is bullshit, pure and simple. Don't waste your time on…
on “Postmodernism disrobed by Richard Dawkins” ↗