Jacques Derrida, a French philosopher and father of deconstructionism, heavily influenced modern philosophy and literary criticism. His work had political ramifications on the French educational system. Derrida’s deconstructionist theories suggest that texts have multiple meanings, and no reading should be preferred over another. He published works on literary theater and studied Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and Paul Celan. Derrida was involved in social and political issues, including protests against the Vietnam War, South African apartheid, and the death penalty. He died in 2004 at 74.
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher considered the father of deconstructionism. Experts consider Derrida to be a seminal contributor to the fields of modern philosophy and literary criticism. Derrida heavily influenced the formation of deconstructive theater and his work had broad political ramifications on the French educational system.
The philosopher was born in 1930 into a Jewish family residing in Algeria. Rather than attend an all-Jewish school after Jews were expelled from public school, Jacques Derrida secretly stayed away from school for a year, reading philosophy and avidly playing soccer. Derrida eventually attended Harvard University and began teaching philosophy at the Sorbonne in France.
Jacques Derrida became fascinated with interpreting linguistics and began publishing works on literary theater in the 1960s. In 1967, Derrida published three books that would become the foundation of his international reputation, Of Grammatology, Writing and Difference, and Speech and Phenomena.
Derrida’s work, which would have been called deconstructionism, suggests that worlds have a multiplicity of meanings. Each individual comes to a text with personal experience and background which colors their interpretation, and therefore no reading of a text should be preferred over another. When expanded beyond the literature, deconstruction theory comes into direct conflict with all systems that judge some things to be right and others to be wrong. Jacques Derrida’s deconstructionist theories are said to have influenced the French student revolt of May 1968.
As his career as a writer, teacher, and lecturer continued, Jacques Derrida published large quantities of literary criticism, studying Heidegger, Kierkegaard, and Paul Celan, among others. His work is not universally admired, receiving severe criticism for perhaps being intentionally obtuse and difficult to understand. Other critics consider Derrida’s theories perilously close to anarchism, questioning the need or usefulness of any structured system, including government and the military.
Throughout his career, Jacques Derrida was intermittently involved in social and political issues. He has lectured and spoken on many hotly debated topics of the 20th century, including protests against the Vietnam War, South African apartheid and the death penalty. One of his last written works was an essay protesting the US invasion of Iraq in 2000.
By the time of Derrida’s death, he had received at least seven honorary degrees from leading American and European universities. Jacques Derrida was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003 and died in a Paris hospital in October 2004 at the age of 74. Although his professional life was believed to be filled with strained relationships with other writers, he has had a profound impact on the global theater and literary theater communities.
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