After today’s class, write at least 250 words summarizing your reading and our lecture on Jacques Derrida’s “Linguistics and Grammatology.” Please include some background on Derrida and the translator of his article into English, Gayatri Spivak. Some topics covered include issues of translation, Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Logocentrism, diffĂ©rance, and deconstruction.
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Jacques Derrida âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ writing is not just something we can pick up but it is also something we learn when we were born. Writing is something important in our lives because we use it every day in our lives and that it makes it more permitted when they have things in writing. He also talks about sound and sense that makes us understand that we use our sensation to help us in life. He talks about Aristotle âSign of a signâ and this connects this with two other philosophers. The way linguistics and grammatology are interacting with these philosophers because they have a connection to each other and that helps us understand more about why writing isnât just something we need to understand and that there is so much more to learn about before all of these different technologies that had to happen in our time period. We tend to forget that writing things down can be more helpful than typing everything down because its more hands-on work and that makes us more connected to our writing and notes. When writing was also able to use one of our sensation, which would be felt and that, can help us feel different emotions when writing something sad, happy, etc. Being able to write helps us understand more about what is important and knowing that it just right in front of you and that technology is not always there because you would need access to the internet before typing anything down, but with a book and pen it is just right there and you wonât have a problem with anything.
Jacques Derrida âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ writing is about how we do not just wake up one day and know how to write. Itâs something important that we have to learn, itâs used every day. Itâs very important because itâs very useful for our everyday life. Writing has been around since centuries ago when people use to use marks to send messages and make conversation with others. When we didnât have technology we had to hand write everything, no matter what it was. Derrida made up a word called âarche-writingâ itâs French and an all-natural language that multiple things can be listed under it. A few things that can be listed under âarche-writingâ are: spoken language, writing, sign language, and marks (used centuries ago around the Egyptian times). So this shows that writing has been around for a long time and was something that was needed for many different things. People tend forget that technology wasnât always around and we were limited to just use writing. Writing stuff down is actually better than just typing it because it stays in your head and itâs always there. You cannot always rely on the internet because it may not always work. At least with writing you donât have to worry about your book not working or possibly your pencil/pen not working. From reading this writing it shows that itâs super important to learn the history of writing and speech. Especially since at one point thatâs all we had to rely on and our future generationâs need to learn this as well.
Jacques Derrida âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ writing is about how we do not just wake up one day and know how to write. Itâs something important that we have to learn, itâs used every day. Itâs very important because itâs very useful for our everyday life. Writing has been around since centuries ago when people use to use marks to send messages and make conversation with others. When we didnât have technology we had to hand write everything, no matter what it was. Derrida made up a word called âarche-writingâ itâs French and an all-natural language that multiple things can be listed under it. A few things that can be listed under âarche-writingâ are: spoken language, writing, sign language, and marks (used centuries ago around the Egyptian times). So this shows that writing has been around for a long time and was something that was needed for many different things. People tend forget that technology wasnât always around and we were limited to just use writing. Writing stuff down is actually better than just typing it because it stays in your head and itâs always there. You cannot always rely on the internet because it may not always work. At least with writing you donât have to worry about your book not working or possibly your pencil/pen not working. From reading this writing it shows that itâs super important to learn the history of writing and speech. Especially since at one point thatâs all we had to rely on and our future generationâs need to learn this as well.
The translated version of Jacques Derridaâs âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ encompasses more than lust the literal meaning of the title. It discusses philosophy from the point of view of someone who wanted to change perspective on the norm of speech and writing established by Plato. Derrida says that while Plato argues that in a hierarchy of forms, speech and language is above writing. He used the allegory of the cave in order to prove such a hierarchy exists. This is the ideal of occidental philosophy. Derrida disagrees and in order to change perspective, he developed a form of philosophical approach called de-construction. This approach explores the tensions and contradictions in a hierarchy established by someoneâs philosophy of a topic. He isnât trying to say Plato is wrong, and he isnât trying to establish his own hierarchy, rather, he says that it doesnât and shouldnât matter where speech and writing are in a metaphorical hierarchy, because both are equally important and ambiguous. In relation to his de-construction of Platoâs philosophy, Derrida coined the term DiffĂ©rance, meaning âdifference and deferral in meaning.â A certain word may have a âconcreteâ meaning, but other words may have definitions based on what it isnât. Therefore, the meaning of a word isnât fully present in us, as our own personal views may alter what we may define a word as. This isnât Derrida attempting to diminish Platoâs view, rather just give an alternate view on a philosophy which has been established as gospel for more than 2000 years. This is what Derrida establishes as to why speech isnât above writing, or vice versa.
Jacques Derrida âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ gave us a brief example of the importance of writing in every society; due to the fact that it is frequently-used in our daily lives. Derrida has brought a discussion that writing is considered as merely a derivative form of speech; which means the presence of speech is the main reason for writing. Meaning in a way that speech comes before writing, which I agree to since there have been a lot of people who never knew how to write, yet still spoke. Another reason why I personally think that speech comes first is because these words we use to describe a thing such as a âtreeâ is formulated in our brain before it is in writing, and thus they are not names we see but instead are ideas in our brain as professor Ellis discussed in class. Platoâs allegory of the cave was a better understanding of the idea of how words are made-up in our brains before. Since these prisoners thought that shadows were ârealityâ but after they left the cave and saw the actual world, they begun to perceive reality differently. Therefore, words are made up of reflections of ideal forms as mentioned in the article âLanguage and writing are two distinct systems of signs; the second exists for the sole purpose of representing the firstâ (Saussure, page 130). It also shows how a word could mean something and how other definitions of what the word is not, could also help us understand it. For example, if we say a âdeskâ we know the desk is anything but a book, a door, a house âŠ.etc. Therefore, we ignore all these words which arenât âa deskâ
Summary of Jacques Derrida âLinguistics & Grammatologyâ
Derrida lived from 1930 – 2004 and was a French philosopher and public intellectual. His book âDe la Grammatologyâ upended thoughts on semiotics and literacy in his time. The book caught the attention of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, who was a young and rising postcolonial scholar, that translated the book into English.
In âLinguistics & Grammatologyâ, Derrida provokes discourse offering contrasting views to Saussureâs points in linguistics that label the âinversion of the natural relationship between speech and writingâ (p 135). Derrida looks at this relationship in terms of writing being âsensible matter and artificial exteriority: a âclothing.ââ The question he uses to open discourse on his subject matter is, âhas it ever been doubted that writing was the âclothingâ of speech?â By placing the âclothingâ that Saussure has established on the unassuming behavior of speech, instead of writing as âclothingâ of thought, Derrida opens a new way to study linguistics and grammar.
Taking from Platoâs âThe Allegory of the Cave,â the concepts of imagery, meaning, words and the their association to an individual, resonate in Derridaâs writing. The men chained inside the cave were presented with shadows, which meant something to them, and they associated words with the images of shadows. When outside, the words having already been established with meaning, their speech would have the clothing of how they spoke in the cave. Whereas, someone from the outside having the same thought process, and the same speech, could communicate to them that the shadow was what cast the imagery, and not the source of the meaning.
Derrida introduces deconstruction as a method to examine the philosophy and literary merit in linguistics. He used it by organizing the oppositions in the text into hierarchical tensions. By doing so, he was not proving one as primary, but that there was no primary and there could not be one symbol without the other. With this, he commented that in language the meaning is determined on how one âplays,â or uses the symbols in that form. Much like an piano, or instrument, is âplayedâ so does one âplayâ language to convey a message and illicit an association in the recipients mind. This phenomena in language and meaning was coined by Derrida as the term, âdifferance.â
Terms
Exigency – an urgent need or demand.
The tacos gave him exigency for the closest bathroom.
Ferdinand de Saussure – 1857- 1913 : one major influence on 20th century semiotics and linguistics
Jean Jacque Russeau – 1712 – 1778 : known for his theories on âsavagesâ being in an idealic state and civilization being naturally corrupt.
Jacques Derrida was a public intellectual (earned high degrees and wrote books, participates in public political debates, participates in society with their knowledge and is listened to). He was well known for- developed philosophical approach known as deconstruction. His famous translator Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, known to be a current a professor at Columbia University translated his work to english. Jacques Derrida wrote a very intriguing and important piece âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ that discussed the importance of writing and how we donât go a single say without it. Writing has been the key factor of communication and expressing yourself; it helps us learn and teach ideas and utilize language properly. This method of communication was considered the first type of technology. A french word created by Derrida called âarche-writingâmeans an all-natural language that multiple things can be listed under it. This word also signifies that writing has been around for many years. Some ideas associated with âarche-writingâ are verbally spoken language, physical writing, sign language, and symbols. Symbols and markings, which are important and were used in the past and is still currently used (i.e coding) as a way to communicate and express ideas/messages. He also gives importance to Platoâs Allegory of the Cave where the prisoners he mentions are forced to see what they are being shown (the shadows on the walls which they think are the real thing) They think the shadows are real because they do not think the forms casting them are real. Point: words are not the name of things we see but instead ideas in our minds. Basically meaning that our thoughts are separated from the real world, and what we think are not what is actually portrayed. The prisoners make up words based on the image they were presented when in the outside world the shadows already had a word made up for them.
In the translated version of Jacques Derridaâs âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Derrida challenges the idea of Platoâs hierarchy of thought, language and writing in occidental philosophy. Derrida talks about the hierarchy concerning writing and speech and how that speech creates the meaning of a written word, while writing shows the symbolized version of the word that has been spoken. When speaking, we create terms for a certain situation, object, etc. — and this gives the word a thoughtful process and or giving it many different meaning of the word when spoken other than when writing it. He also explains the importance of language (speech in particular) of how we depend on it and without it we wouldnât be able to communicate. Without speech there wouldnât be another form of communication. Derrida also developed a strategy called âdecompositionâ in which we break down and find contradiction certain ideas from texts. With this strategy we are able to see many aspect of language that is rather more important than writing. Though it is that true that writing is important for communication, all of these ideas and expressions that are written mostly comes from speech and language first which gives the word a meaning. Derrida also explains a key point of speech that writing isnât able to give. Take for example, diffĂ©rance, though it sounds the same as another word difference when pronounced, in writing we arenât able to express that other to explain and give the context of ideas towards the word.
In Jacques Derridaâs âLinguistics and Grammatology,â there are many points that incorporate speech not being privileged over writing. Many of the points made here was based on how an individual should engage and understand a personâs language as well as culture to really have a full understanding of others. Language is what defines us as people. This is important because there are many languages that are out there and it creates this cultural connection from those of the western world and those that come from other parts of the world. This internal monologue allows many of us to connect on a deeper level through spiritual, intellectual and emotional platforms which makes language such a valuable characteristic that we all have. There is an argument here that focuses on if speech came first or did writing come first. This is very interesting because I feel that for years since the beginning of time writing may have been created first because when looking at hieroglyphics, it shows a story of this era through a symbolical lens. Also, there was a Plato and Socrates reference where Plato states that words are not names of the things we see, but rather instead these are ideas in our minds. The premise on thought is separated from the real world because the purest interaction of our mind is our thought. The interactions we have with ourselves is an internal thing, as for the interaction with others that will continue to happen through in person communication or technology communications (e.g: text messages, emails, any form of electronic correspondence).
Writing is a form of style in which should be acknowledged as a science. Derrida explains in âLinguistics and Grammatologyâ how the idea of writing started in the very same field of science. âSpeech should not be privileged over writing.â I believe this quote means that, throughout our history, we can see how our speech is developed, but what has gradually changed over time significantly is our way of writing. Itâs a form of beautiful expression and not so many have the privilege to do this. Even though according to Derrida, it descended as âthe strictest notion of a general science of writing was born.â
After reading Jacques Derrida work I was pleased with the idea that he was a French writer and that we only had the privilege of reading his work thanks to great woman by the name of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak , whom was a feminist critic and translated the book in the mid 20âs only under the condition that she could write a near book length introduction on Derrida and his studies. Derrida had pinned the phase deconstruction on his ideology . Deconstruction was thought to be the taking of a said hierarchy and reconstructing it for its benefits . To be able to reconstruct something you would first have to take in apart in better efforts to understand how it runs from within. Derrida felt that this system of a hierarchy was something that was made up . He also believe that we should partake in the idea of ambiguity opening our minds to the fact that things , ideas or even concepts can have a double meaning ( based off perspective) . A question that arises in Derridas work is did speech come before writing or vice versa. Derrida himself wanted to focus on the fact that it did the order really matter much? Along came the allegory of the cane , where former prisoners where chained forward toward a wall where over time they naturally developed ideas and concepts to their understanding of the shadows that haunted their sentence. This brought us back to the argument full circle that our words was ideas in our mind and once we spoke them or wrote them or engaged them in any other way they were now considered steps removed from the actual reality of things how our mind processes it naturally with no over shadowing objectives to go by.
Derrida states âThe concept of writing should define the field of a science.â This stands true in my eyes, writing is the art of spoken language. After studying and researching his claims, Derrida came across many essays that neglected to tell the creation of or history of writing. Think about it, we have many scrolls, stone tablets, etc. in museums with etchings, hieroglyphics, and just plain cravings, while these objects may not be in perfect shape or in a language we might not understand but we do understand it representation just by looking at it. It picture has becoming a written piece of art. âSpeech should not be privileged over writingâ, another statement that I received from Derrida that speaks volumes to me. I believe they are formed to be complementary to one another. For example reciting a beautiful piece of poetry can be touching but putting those words into a written piece of art can be can it that much more emotional. Letâs consider the form, each pause would start a new line; the love and effort behind each stoke; the little doodles you can add to boost the effect; letâs not forget , just like the history of documents we see in the libraries, we can have a piece of your own history.
Jacques Derridaâs Linguistics & Grammartology explains the importance of the âhistoryâ of writing mainly because it is noticeably used in every society. Whether its English or Spanish or French or Portuguese. Well let’s get to the basics about Jacques Derrida. Derrida was born in 1930 and passed away in 2004. He was a well known french philosopher. He was best known for his philosophy of deconstruction. Even Though Derrida’s book was written in french, he did have a translator name Gayatri Chakravorty. She has translated his work into English. Gayatri teaches in Columbia. She is a philosopher and postcolonial colonel and also a feminist. Writing has played a very important role in our daily lives. Derrida explains to us a hierarchy that is to be followed. He says that speech is the basis of written words. Derrida really opens our eyes to the importance of language and writing. Where would we be without it? â Speech should not be privileged over writingâ. How can you interpret that? Well by saying speech and writing aren’t on different levels but in fact are as equal as each other. Derrida goes on to explain to us his version of Occidental Philosophy.Otherwise known as Western Philosophy. He says deconstruction if a form of philosophical , questions, the fundamental conceptual distinctions or oppositions. The Opposition of speech and writing. Last but not least Derrida says that writing is derivative.
Jacques Derrida “linguistics and Grammatology” is about how writing is not necessarily something we learn over time but something that’s naturally in us that we developed or that grows with us as we grow. He goes further to talk about how the sensation we get from our senses contribute to helping us understand our being and what goes around us which has some type of connection that help us developed the ability to write. Our emotions and feelings often time has great influence on how we write or what we write. Writing is such an important aspect and tool that makes our life so much easier as human being. We use it on a daily basis
Now days with the advancement of technology and how in a way it is so convenient, people tend to forget that writing stuff down the old fashion way has an impact on the brain when it comes to helping us remember stuff. We rely so much on the internet and technology, and it causes us to neglect the value of writing things down the old fashion way. it’s not guarantee that the internet and technologies will always be at our disposal so having that much reliance on it is not so smart. Derrida went further and disagree with Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” concepts by developing another philosophical approach called deconstruction. Plato’s argued that speech and language are above writing, Derrida disagree because he believed they’re on the same level of value. In this case I agree with Plato because I believe us being able to speak and form words already in our mind make our ability to write develop easier. A lot of time we might not know how to spell a word we’ve never seen, but being able to hear the sound of us saying it out loud will most likely help us write it down because our mind kind of form a word for us based on our continuous knowledge.
In this reading, Derrida disagrees with the philosopher J.L. Austin and his idea of locution, illocution, and perlocution. Austin said that to understand what is being said needs context but Derrida believes that communication and writing are connected. His 3 main idea were: 1. In the absence of an author, the writing still exists. For example. A blog conveys a message without the author. 2. Overall context does not construct the focal meaning of an idea. 3. The spacing between words invites an audience to interpret information through personal experiences and perspectives. Derrida also believes that ideas are born from signs because they characterized by what they are not instead of what they actually are. Since signs can be reiterated to form meaning , signs do not represent us after they are made simply because we change but signs remain the same. With time our understanding and experiences change leading to the context changing as well.