Derrida, << dehr REE duh, >> Jacques (1930-2004), a French philosopher, is considered the founder of the deconstruction movement. His work has influenced the fields of literary criticism, philosophy, law, art, theology, and political science.
Derrida said that, throughout history, philosophers had tried to answer profound questions by setting up precise definitions for terms, constructing solidly logical arguments, and building systems of ideas. They treated language as a mere tool that communicated ideas without interference or distortion. But Derrida stated that in language, especially written language, we mean more than we intend to say.
Derrida looked closely at the metaphors, key terms, examples, seemingly incidental remarks, footnotes, and similar features of thinkers’ actual language. He traced the implications of these features as they appeared in specific texts. Derrida found that these implications connected into patterns that tangled up or contradicted the neat definitions and arguments the philosophers thought they were making. This process of showing how the actual words of the text tangle and “undo” its intended meaning has come to be called deconstruction.
Derrida’s writings take the form of close and often witty and playful readings of texts, usually by philosophers. His most famous book is Of Grammatology (1967). Derrida was born on July 15, 1930, in Algiers, Algeria. He died on Oct. 8, 2004.
