Jacques Derrida

Jacques Derrida (July 15, 1930 – October 8, 2004) was an Algerian-born French literary critic and philosopher of Jewish descent, considered the first to develop "deconstruction" after it emerged in the work of Martin Heidegger.

Positioning Derrida's thought

Derrida had a significant impact on continental philosophy and on literary theory, particularly through his long-time association with the literary critic Paul de Man; though the reception of deconstruction in literary criticism is not universally agreed to be consonant with Derrida's work. Derrida also referenced analytic philosophy in his work, particularly the work of J. L. Austin.

Related Topics:
Continental philosophy - Literary theory - Literary critic - Paul de Man - Analytic philosophy - J. L. Austin

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His work is often associated with post-structuralism and postmodernism, but the latter association cannot be fully credited. Jean-François Lyotard, rather, is the closest link between deconstruction and postmodernism, proposing philosophical senses of the latter, which Derrida used primarily in lengthy dialogues that admit no easy conjunction between their work -- see for example Derrida's "Writing Proofs" and Lyotard's "Translator's Notes", Pli vol. 6. Even "within" deconstruction, figures such as Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe have characterized themselves as modernist rather than postmodern in tendency.

Related Topics:
Post-structuralism - Postmodernism - Jean-François Lyotard - Philippe Lacoue-Labarthe

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