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Grammatology is a scientific study of writing that examines the fundamental rules of writing systems to gain insight into the culture that created them. It explores the basic principles of writing systems and how they are used to convey meaning. Grammatology is of interest to philosophers, as written language is influenced by its history and cultural background.
Grammatology is the study of writing from a scientific point of view. It is not a judgment-based system, like critical writing, but instead studies the fundamental rules of how writing systems work. By understanding the components and structure of a writing system, grammatologists seek insight into the culture that created the system, how it was created, and how it might evolve over time.
It may seem difficult to consider writing as an object of scientific study. Most often, the art of writing is associated with creativity, individual style and personal means of expression. Yet at the heart of any written language are the properties that govern the use of the writing system. By studying grammatology, it becomes apparent that creative writers are to some extent interpretive artists, using the tools of the writing system to display their prowess. Rather than inventing written language, writers create variations and new rules for an established system.
Part of grammatology involves examining the basic principles upon which any writing system is built. For example, nearly all writing systems developed as visual representations of a spoken language. A written language must have a common set of symbols that correspond to a spoken sound. These symbols, typically called an alphabet, can represent a single sound, word, or concept, depending on the writing system. How the alphabet is used to combine letters into words, words into sentences, and sentences into larger concepts such as sentences and paragraphs is also an important area of study in grammatology.
While these concepts seem extremely basic, they can hold valuable clues about the composition and values of cultures. If a writing system relies on pictorial characters that can have different meanings in context, it can speak to a cultural value, such as an appreciation of subtlety. Some languages consider correct pronouns a vital element, while others may frequently remove pronouns from both spoken and written language. Either way, this may say something about the value of individuality in the history of language.
Grammatology may be a scientific study at heart, but it is a subject of considerable interest to philosophers as well. Deconstructionist author Jacques Derrida famously theorized that the historical and cultural backgrounds of written languages will affect the meaning of a concept and often re-interpret it as it is being written. Derrida’s book Of Grammatology suggests that written language is intrinsically influenced by its history and that an idea will mean different things when written in different languages.
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