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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deconstruction in a nutshell? Well, nearly....., March 15, 2002
This review is from: Derrida: The Great Philosophers (The Great Philosophers Series) (Paperback)
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 an essential buy for anyone interested in understanding the thought of one of our world's most radical and original thinkers. And it costs almost nothing. Buy it!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Derrida versus Levi- Strauss, August 23, 2008
The greatest part of this book consists in an explication of Derrida's opposition to the views Levi- Strauss presents of the Nambikwara . Strauss contends that Writing is the privilege of a powerful elite, that the period between the invention of Writing in the Neolithic and the expansion of science in the nineteenth century involved little in the way of real gain in Knowledge, the expansion of Knowledge came with an expansion of State Control. Derrida argues that Levi- Strauss uses the writing- lesson as a way of constructing an ideal image in innocence of the Nambikwara in order to show the corrupting effect of Writing. Derrida takes Levi- Strauss' lesson on writing and makes it in Johnson's words " into a lesson in thinking critically about the essence of writing and ' about the demarcations and categorizations that normally structure our perception and comprehension of the world."
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Crack the imposing shell of deconstruction..., August 26, 2007
This review is from: Derrida: The Great Philosophers (The Great Philosophers Series) (Paperback)
Derrida's thought remains as hard to crack as concrete, especially for newcomers or general readers. The slathered layers of misrepresentation and misunderstanding associated with 'deconstruction' don't help either. Some blithely excuse one of the twentieth century's most challenging theorists with a waft of 'political correctness.' Others' brains plop out in mental anguish after reading a few mega-Proustian sentences of "Writing and Difference" or "Dissemination." Beginners, or the mere curious, have had few avenues to break into Derrida's rich philosophy. Those looking for such a pinhole entry should stop banging their skulls and pick up this wonderful booklet (at 59 pages the term "book" seems almost generous - some electronic security cards have more girth). Written when Derrida still roamed among us, this tiny book places a large microscope over a minuscule, though fundamental, fraction of Derrida's thought. The focus throughout remains on deconstruction as delineated in the 1967 book "Of Grammatology." Here Derrida exercises a deep exegesis on a work by the structuralist anthropologist Lévi-Strauss. Long quotes from Derrida weave through the discussion, outright dominating some sections. These passages will seem opaque and abstruse for first time readers, but the discussion gives enough context for basic comprehension. Simple delineations of "logocentrism," the traditional bias of speech over writing, and the theory and structure of writing will open vast theoretical doors for newcomers. Derrida sees some historical biases in Lévi-Strauss' work and extracts the "Rousseauian myth" and "ethnocentrism" implicit in the text. By such means, along with a parallel in the linguistics of Saussure, he finds ethnocentrism within ethnography: a field whose primary goals include the obliteration of ethnocentrism. In a passage from "Writing and Difference," and quoted here, Derrida summarizes, "...whether he wants to or not (...) the ethnologist accepts into his discourse the premises of ethnocentrism at the very moment when he denounces them." Some ideas behind deconstruction become clearer as this example gets delineated. Some of the misconceptions behind deconstruction also get discussed. For one, the method doesn't necessarily aim to destroy a theory or a text with a knockout punch. It instead attempts to find cultural substratums beneath familiar texts (such as the western historical bias of 'logocentrism'). Non-obvious and deep hidden biases, unknown to authors and readers, pop to the surface. Regardless, some have nonetheless taken great offense at deconstruction and postmodern philosophy in general (into which 'deconstruction' often gets piled). Some have even accused Derrida of "not being able to tell a story." This short book may not quiet the skeptics but it does provide an excellent starting point for further exploration into one of the twentieth century's most controversial and celebrated theorists.
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