Jacques Derrida (Routledge Critical Thinkers) 1st Edition by Nicholas Royle (PDF)

Description

There are few figures more important in literary and critical theory than Jacques Derrida. Whether lauded or condemned, his writing has had far-reaching ramifications, and his work on deconstruction cannot be ignored. This volume introduces students of literature and cultural studies to Derrida’s enormously influential texts, covering such topics as: deconstruction, text and difference; literature and freedom; law, justice and the ‘democracy to come’; drugs, secrets and gifts. Nicholas Royle’s unique book, written in an innovative and original style, is an outstanding introduction to the methods and significance of Jacques Derrida.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Well written. I think Derrida is interesting but not amazingly interesting (like Lacan). But again, Royle wrote this well.

⭐Nicholas Royle’s text on Jacques Derrida is part of a recent series put out by the Routledge Press, designed under the general editorial direction of Robert Eaglestone (Royal Holloway, University of London), to explore the most recent and exciting ideas in intellectual development during the past century or so. To this end, figures such as Martin Heidegger, Sigmund Freud, Friedrich Nietzsche, Paul Ricoeur, and other influential thinkers in critical thought are highlighted in the series, planned to include at least 21 volumes in all.Royle’s text, following the pattern of the others, includes background information on Derrida and its significance, the key ideas and sources, and Derrida’s continuing impact on other thinkers. As the series preface indicates, no critical thinker arises in a vacuum, so the context, influences and broader cultural environment are all important as a part of the study, something with which Derrida might agree.Why is Derrida included in this series? It is hard to come up with a more wide-ranging and influential thinker in the twentieth century than Jacques Derrida. While starting out in the literary field as a primary focus, his thought and intellectual influence has extended far beyond to almost every academic field. Particularly in the areas of philosophy, politics, law, theology, sociology, psychology and science, Derrida’s influence will continue to be significant for a number of reasons.Royle’s text is very interesting, as I knew it would be from the start, but one of the truly surprising aspects of this text was that it was fun to read. From the very first page, when I saw that the first comment on the text was from Derrida himself, I knew that inside there would be creativity and humour, pieces of interest and insight. Derrida’s comment, with which I completely agree, is that this text is ‘Excellent, strong, clear and original.’ One might consider it ironic that in a text dealing essentially with an overview of another’s thought, there would be little room for originality. However, this is to miss a great deal of what Derrida tries to say, and something that one gets out of this text. All things are new and renewed; even the re-hash of old thoughts becomes unique and original.I did not know it at the time I began reading, but the book is designed so that each chapter can be a stand-alone essay, peripherally related to each other, but not dependent upon any particular order of reading. I say this because I started near the end of the book. There is a chapter entitled ‘Poetry Break’ – being an erstwhile poet of sorts, this was automatically of interest. But when I noticed that Royle had selected Coleridge’s ‘Kubla Kahn’ as the example. This is one of my favourite poems, and the application of Derrida’s principles opened up interesting insights. One key insight (if I am permitted to use that phrase, as Royle argues that the idea of key insights is a foreign concept for Derrida) has to do with the unreadability of the poem – how can we tell what it means? It goes beyond reason, certainly, and is hardly just a drug-induced reverie. It contains a gift and an element of poetry difficult to discern, an infinite and unknowable element that nonetheless speaks to us in unique ways.Part of the problem of putting Derrida into a series like this is that the series requires the identification of key ideas. Royle states that there is few things less like Derrida’s thought than to attempt to organise his ideas into a string of ‘key ideas’. Here the humour is introduced again – one feature of the Routledge texts is to have key idea and explication boxes, separated out from the rest of the text. That doesn’t happen much in this volume, as Royle tries to remain clear of putting ‘Jacque in the Box’. The only such pull-text box asks the question, ‘What is a box?’ and proceeds to deconstruct and destroy the idea of using this as a working principle in the book.Ah, there, I’ve said it. If there is a key idea to be identified in Derrida’s work, it is Deconstruction. This is perhaps what Derrida is destined to be known for, the relentless pursuit of deconstructing everything in his path. Derrida himself doesn’t care much for the word, but the underlying purpose is crucial. Deconstruction works from the principle that everything is divisible, and that there is value in shaking things up, a sort of seismic communication theory. This leads to the ideas of text, supplement, differance, and even monsters.Monsters, you say? Surely a lot of modern and postmodern thought is monstrous, in a number of ways. Derrida would say yes! The monstrous is always around us – Shelley’s Frankenstein is not simply a monster tale, but is also a moral and political lesson. We can apply the idea of the monstrous to the future – it is something unknown, and therefore frightening; monsters cease to be monsters once they are domesticated, once they are known. Derrida believes that much of religious faith is based upon the monstrous – Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, Jesus on the cross, these are monstrous things, that once they become known and transformed in new ways, cease their monstrosity. Of course, some of the ways in which these have been domesticated becomes once again monstrous.As do the other volumes in this series, Royle concludes with an annotated bibliography of works by Derrida, works on Derrida, interview transcripts (Royle mentions a number of times that Derrida is known for talking as much as writing), and a listing of the top ten initial suggestions for those who want an accessible introduction to Derrida’s work.Intriguing and unexpectedly humourous, this is one of the better books I’ve read in a very long time.

⭐Good God. Where does one begin? But to begin, does one have an “end” in mind? That is, in a “teleological” sense (from the Greek “teleos” meaning “end” and “logos” meaning “discourse”), when one begins (say, with a journey of a thousand miles beginning with the “first” “step”) does one not in fact imply, or even demand, an end? But what ends? Can there ever really be an “end”? And is not an “end” really a “death”? And if one ends (or dies, for, really, death is the ultimate end, unless of course one refuses to believe so), and one “knows” this (as much as anyone can be said to “know” anything, or, perhaps, nothing at all), what does it all mean? I mean, WHY BOTHER??? (And watch out for those quotation marks – even – or, especially – the “invisible” ones!)Indeed, gentle reader, what does it all “mean”? I picked up this book to try and understand what Derrida is all about, what deconstruction is all about. The Routledge Critical Thinkers series has as its mandate being an introduction to the “key ideas” of major critical thinkers. It spells out its mandate in detail in the introductory “Series Editor’s Preface” in each book. This is good. I like to see structure in a serious work, but I am always especially impressed at those few times when I actually see an author or an editor actually come out and spell out that structure and the book’s goals for us. The editor states the series’ purpose, and how it will go about accomplishing this. The series’ mandate includes discussing the thinker’s key ideas, context, evolution, etc. We are also told how the book will be structured, from the very beginning (“Why [thinker]”) to (“After [thinker]”) to the very end where we find the Index. But, in a warning (for all those savvy enough to catch it), the series editor tells us that the changes in “intellectual needs” and “education systems around the world” call for “new methods of presentation”. And the author of this entry in the Routledge Critical Thinkers series has done just that. He presents the “key ideas” of Derrida a la Derrida. In effect, the entire book is written as though it is a deconstruction of a book trying to explain Derrida and his ideas on deconstruction. The mirror is watching itself through another mirror!Understand? It’s why I started my review with that nonsensical, meandering, going-nowhere-because-I’m-too-busy-meditating-on-my-navel paragraph. It’s EXACTLY how this book goes on and on, and this represents the true genius of the author. THIS is why I gave this book Five Stars. The author has given us Derrida without us having been tricked or fooled into ever bothering to read this Eurosavage idiot’s “works”. From the definition on p. 24, “deconstruction” is “A strategy of critical analysis… directed towards exposing unquestioned metaphysical assumptions and internal contradictions in philosophical and literary language”. This is good. It sounds exactly like what I did during my A.P. English class in high school. But Derrida has taken this idea and driven it to its illogical navel-meditating extreme. Each reading of a literary work is a new reading, every word (whose definition is meditated upon, even to the point of finding words similar to it to compare it to) branches off and segues into innumerable other ideas that clash and collide and never get anywhere, for, if there were an “end” to get to, then what’s it all for? For Derrida, it never ends, and it can’t, because then this pretentious continental philosopher/poseur would one day be out of a job. (Yes, I know he passed away in 2004.) Every idea both contradicts and negates everything else, nothing ends up going anywhere, the deconstructionist remains mired in a never-ending whirlpool of ideas segueing off of one another. For Derrida, the journey IS the destination. AND IT NEVER ENDS. IT CAN’T! IT MUSN’T!!! PHILOSOPHER AS ROCK STAR!!!Kudos to the author for this work. He’s out-Derrida’ed Derrida (Derrida himself is quoted as stating that this book is “Excellent, strong, clear and original.” LMFAO!!!), and, in the process, spared countless truly intelligent individuals (mostly impressionable college students who don’t know better) the horror and self-esteem-destroying time and effort of trying to “understand” this Eurosavage lunatic’s “philosophy/critical analysis”. GOOD GOD, THE HORROR! John V. Karavitis

⭐Can I suggest that any potential buyer looks at the extracts that Amazon provides. I think they will supply a guide to the style of the book. For me, it is just too complicated. There are any number of references on each page. It is not a book for beginners. It declines to use the template structure for the series. The book begins with 11 pages of abbreviations (to Derrida texts), illustrating, for me, that it is not a book for novices. I think it is self-indulgent; I think the writer is an expert in Derrida and feels he wants to write in a style that is as difficult and fickle as Derrida himself. Hope to change my mind when I return to have another go at it, but I suspect I won’t. Sorry to be so negative.

⭐it is good

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