Keys to reading

We have noted that in Derrida's work, texts and terms are impossible to separate. This means that the following entries on key terms will necessarily involve some consideration of texts in which Derrida introduces the terms and develops his thinking about them. The chapter introduces only ten terms, although many more could be included and considered as “key” (aporia, gram, iterability, pas, parergon, supplement, and so on). The ten terms we discuss belong to the overall weave of Derrida's work. The terms are not static or amenable to “dictionary” definition, as Derrida was inclined to modify them as he went along, or to cast them somewhat differently as the needs of a given analysis required. Remember that he was a close reader whose work developed in response to the work of others. Derrida did not stand back from tradition and generalize about it, and he was wary of terms (e.g., “the subject”) that were used in broad and homogenizing ways. To approach a selection of Derrida's key terms, then, it is to forsake generalizing in favor of close engagement with his texts, at least as much as that is possible in an introductory Key Thinkers book. It all begins with reading.

Deconstruction

As a participant in a 1994 roundtable discussion at Villanova University, Derrida was asked how what is called “deconstruction” relates to academic programs and academic institutions: is deconstruction “anti-institutional” and the enemy of universities?