Episteme
Article Title
Are All our Readings Misreadings?: Derrida, The Flickering A (A Look At Derrida On Interpretation)
Abstract
The author here guides us toward a sensible conceptualization of Derrida’s philosophical/literary impact on the world. First, Derrida’s demonstration concerning the a or e in differ(e/a)nce is meant to protest the silence in the universe, the insufficiency of language. He speaks of the term “difference” in linguistic terms; as disruption; and as the space between the two. He goes further than Nietzsche in his assault on Western metaphysics. The author then tells us why Derrida resists being identified and labeled, commenting next on how his playfulness relates to logic and negative theology—how he manages to communicate something that resembles conventional thinking. Following that, the discussion describes how comfortable Derrida appears to be in his own misreadings, but uncomfortable with misreadings of himself. Is this a fault of his theory or a matter of human nature, we might ask? Finally, the author reveals his final verdict: Derrida is not the way, but a sign that tells us there is no certain way.
Recommended Citation
Partain, Joseph
(1992)
"Are All our Readings Misreadings?: Derrida, The Flickering A (A Look At Derrida On Interpretation),"
Episteme: Vol. 3, Article 6.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.denison.edu/episteme/vol3/iss1/6