Page 108 - DENG501_LITERARY_CRITICISM_AND_THEORIES

Literary Criticism and Theories Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University

Notes Unit 9: Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the
Human Sciences’—Jacques Derrida: Critical Appreciation

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
9.1 Text—Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences
9.2 Critical Appreciation
9.3 Summary
9.4 Key-Words
9.5 Review Questions
9.6 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Understand Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.
• Examine Derrida’s essays critically.
Introduction

In his famous essay, 'Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences' which was
read at the John Hopkins International Colloquium on "The Language of Criticism and the Sciences
of Man" in October 1966, Derrida demonstrates how structuralism as represented by the
anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss which sets out as a criticism or rejection of science and
metaphysics can be read as embodying precisely those aspects of science and metaphysics which
it seeks to challenge. The essay concludes by saying, "There are thus two interpretations of
interpretation, of structure, of sign, of free play. The one seeks to decipher, dreams of deciphering,
a truth or an origin which is free from free play and from the order of the sign, and lives like an
exile the necessity of interpretation. The other, which is no longer turned toward the origin,
affirms free play and tries to pass beyond man and humanism." Thus, we have two diametrically
opposite interpretations of structuralism, and we are unable to decide which the 'right' one is. This
'aporia' between two interpretations is due to the force of 'difference' intrinsic to the structure of
language. The force of 'difference' makes language characteristically 'centrifugal', that is moving
away from the center by 'scattering' of the philosophical system or by its 'dissemination' into
multiple and conflicting interpretations. Characteristically, Derrida in this essay notes that 'language
bears within itself, the necessity of its own critique'. The essay is considered as inauguration of
'poststructuralism' (going beyond structuralism) as a theoretical movement.
9.1 Text—Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the
Human Sciences

Derrida's "Structure", originally published in 1970, is justly labelled one of the more easily
comprehensible texts in his large body of work. In it, he discusses some of his basic notions of
post-structuralism and deconstruction, roughly explains the origin of the school of thought revolving
around these practices, and gives several concrete examples in support of his arguments. Compared
with other introductory essays by post-structuralist theorists, "Structure, Sign and Play in the
Discourse of the Human Sciences" remains one of the key texts of basic post-structuralist thought,
and appears to be a good introduction to Derrida's work.

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