Derrida Of Grammatology Study Guide
“Exergue”
Derrida reverses, or deconstructs the precedence of speech over writing. De Saussure favoured speech as the object of linguistic investigation; Derrida calls for grammatology as the study of writing. How does he describe grammatology?
Jacques Derrida, "The Exorbitant. Question of Method":
2. In order to understand Derrida's reference to Rousseau at the beginning of the section, you may click on this link for more context: http://research.uvsc.edu/albrecht-crane/3890/rouseau.pdf from Jonathan Culler's book Literary Theory: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford U Press, 1997).
3. Derrida ends his essay with the words, “a knowledge that is not a knowledge at all.” He thus uses a contradiction to make a point—he seems to say something nonsensical, or to reverse something. In order to identify a major tenet of deconstruction, as you read this essay, underline other phrases that also indicate the play of contradiction and paradox.
4. On page 1824, Derrida writes, “the play of substitution fills and marks a determined lack.” What does this mean?
5. Look at the last sentence of the first paragraph, page 1824; it is an “as if” construction. Rewrite it into a simpler sentence. What is Derrida saying?
6. What is Derrida saying in the top section on page 1825 about writing, systems of meaning, and reading?
7. What does Derrida mean with the phrase, “doubling the text,” page 1825?
8. So, can you say in your own words what Derrida means with the phrase, “there's nothing outside of the text” (p. 1825)?
9. On page 1826, Derrida mentions the concept of “trace.” What might it mean in the context of language proposed by Derrida?
10. Derrida writes on page 1826 about destroying “writing by the writing that is yet reading.” What does he mean?
11. On page 1827, Derrida talks about “the signified” and putting “it in question.” What might he mean?
12. Can you understand why Derrida calls his own analysis “exorbitant,” on page 1828?
13. A few lines later, Derrida uses the term “logocentrism.” What are the two parts of the word, and what do they in turn mean? Look up a definition or two of “logocentrism” and try to articulate why Derrida would be opposed to what that term connotes.
For some fun, try Postmodernist Generator http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/
Mikhail Bakhtin, Discourse in the Novel
What does Bakhtin believe have been some of the flaws in earlier approaches to the study of the novel and of artistic prose? (1190-1191)
Why does the novel require its own categories? (1191)
What is Bakhtin's definition of the novel? (1191-92) According to this definition, what kinds of novels would be preferred?
What are the five categories of "compositional-stylistic unities" within the novel? (1192)
How do these relate to one another? (1192-93)
What are the special properties of the novel? (1193)
What does he see as features of poetry? (1194)
How should we read a novel? (1194)
How does a drama differ from a novel? Why is it less suitable for a Bakhtinian analysis? (1195)
What is the effect of introducing the study of rhetoric into fictional analysis? (1196-97)
What does Bakhtin mean by a unitary language spoken by an individual? (1198-99) Does he approve of them? What opposes such languages? (1199)
What characteristics are present in each utterance? (1199)
What does Bakhtin have to say about the social purpose of poems? (1199-1200)
What is the nature and effect of heteroglossia? (1200)
Might there be political implications of his views on the importance of non-establishment languages?
What are some of the features of the dialogic? (1201)
How should we interpret the dialogic?
What novels does Bakhtin most admire? (1201) Are these choices significant?
Can Bakhtin's theories be applied to poetry? Which kinds of poetry would be most admired?
What are some merits of Bakhtin's approach? What may be some of its limits? To what forms of literature does it apply best?
"Discourse in Poetry and Discourse in the Novel"
What are some different types of discourse? (1201)
How should we interpret words? (1201-1202)
What is the purpose of the metaphor of artistic representation as a ray of light? (1203)
What does it mean to speak of the dialogism of the word? (1204)
What effect does the listener have on dialogue? (1205) What gives a work its "actual meaning"? (1205)
Why is an active understanding necessary for a text? (1206-1207)
What does an awareness of one's embeddedness in a particular language have on one's sense of one's (linguistic) self? (1208)
On what basis does Bakhtin criticize the creation of artificial, literary, poetic languages? (1210)
What are some differences to be recognized within social language? (1211-13)
What are some features of generic or professional languages? (1211-12)
What are some examples of the different speech of different generations and age groups? Of epochs?
What does it mean to say that each of these languages requires a different methodology? (1213,)
What does language express for the separate individual? (1214)
Can language always be assimilated? (1215)
Is literary language unifed? (1215)
What is the relationship of any individual to such systems? (1216)
What is the significance of the example of the peasant's languages? (1216-17)
What does Bakhtin believe is limiting about poetry? (1217)
What is Bakhtin's objection to poetic rhythm?! (1218)
For Bakhtin, where does the author reside among the many voices? (1218-19)
What is the process of artistic creation? (1219)
Does Bakhtin allow for the overlapping of genres? Are there genres which he omits or which do not fit his theories as well?
Might it be argued that Bakhtin holds too mimetic a view of speech as an internal component of fiction?
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