Deconstruction – A Strategy to Unmask “Too-Sedimented Ways of Thinking” ❤️

“Jacques Derrida: Language Against Itself”

by Christopher Norris

#deconstruction #deconstructionsimplified

Introduction: Christopher Norris is a distinguished Research Professor in Philosophy, and Emeritus Professor, at Cardiff University, Wales. He is a leading scholar on deconstruction and the work of Jacques Derrida.

in his book titled, Deconstruction: Theory and Practice, first published in 1982, emphasises that Jacques Derrida’s project is fundamentally a critique of Western philosophy and its “metaphysics of presence,” rather than just a set of reading strategies for literature.

This essay titled, “Jacques Derrida: Language Against Itself” taken from the book, argues that, language is not a stable, transparent tool for conveying fixed meaning or absolute truth, but rather a system that constantly undermines its own claim to stability and presence.

Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida was a French-Algerian philosopher born into a Jewish family in Algeria. He is most famous for developing the philosophy of deconstruction – a strategy to unmask “too-sedimented ways of thinking” by critically examining the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or binary oppositions, that are inherent in Western philosophy (e.g., speech/writing, nature/culture, presence/absence).

Logocentrism: The Search for a ‘Centre’

The term ‘logocentrism’ comes from the Greek word logos, meaning word, reason, or law. Derrida defines logocentrism as the desire for a transcendental signified or a fixed, external point of reference that guarantees meaning, truth, and certainty.

Logocentrism’s Roots: The Metaphysics of Presence [Origin over Copy]

Western philosophy, or what Derrida calls the ‘metaphysics of presence’ has historically privileged the idea that a speaker can be fully present to their own thought and thus represents a purer form of communication, thus typically prioritising speech over writing. This belief creates a fundamental hierarchy, or binary opposition, in language, like for eg. Speech vs Writing.

The Metaphysics of Presence

The metaphysics of presence is a tendency to structure all philosophical concepts as binary oppositions (e.g., good/evil, mind/body, nature/culture) and always privilege the term associated with presence, origin, and stability over the term associated with absence, deferral, and difference. 

In the speech/writing binary, speech is seen as present (the speaker and meaning are in the same place and time), while writing is seen as fundamentally defined by absence (the author is absent, the text can be misinterpreted, and the meaning is hence “deferred” until a later reading).

Derrida’s key term for Dismantling Presence: Différance

Derrida’s key term for dismantling presence is différance (a French neologism that plays on the words “to differ” and “to defer”). This concept argues that meaning is never fully present in a word because it is –

1. Deferred: The meaning of a word is always put off to a later time. To understand a word, you must refer to other words in the system (like looking up a word in the dictionary, only to find other words), creating an endless chain of signification with no ultimate, present anchor.

2. Different: A word’s meaning is established only through its difference from all other words. For example, the meaning of “cat” is not a “present” essence, but rather everything it is not (not a dog, not a bird, not a hat, etc.).

3. Meaning is Never Fixed: In Derrida’s view, the assumption of presence, certainty, and fixed truth is an illusion. Instead, language is characterised by an inherent instability where meaning is constantly in flux, provisional, and subject to reinterpretation because it is defined by the absence of other signs and the continual delay of a final signified.

Arch-writing as the Deconstructive Tool

Derrida introduces the concept of Arch-writing to argue that the characteristics traditionally assigned to writing are actually the very conditions that make speech and therefore language itself - possible. Arch-writing is the abstract, universal structure that must precede both speech and writing.

By demonstrating that speech already relies on these “written” properties to function, Arch-writing shatters the idea of speech as the pure, self-present origin.

If speech is already a form of writing, the binary collapses, and the metaphysical foundation that privileges “origin over copy” is destabilised. Arch-writing, therefore, is the original absence (difference, non-present trace) that precedes and makes possible the very concept of presence. (the logocentric “origin”). It allows Derrida to propose a general science of writing Grammatology that no longer subordinates the written word.

Conclusion

Deconstruction hence, can be seen as a liberative tool that reveals the hidden power structures and assumptions embedded in language, texts, and thought systems.

The deconstructive move is to first identify this hierarchy and then reverse it, showing how the privileged term is dependent on the marginalized one for its very meaning. This momentary reversal is a political practice that aims to subvert the original power structure. This opens up new possibilities for reinterpretation and contestation, which is essential for social change.