Introduction

There is no question that Jacques Derrida (Algeria, 1939 - Paris, 2004) is more widely known in the United States than any other contemporary French philosopher. His philosophical ideas on phenomenology and structuralism have created a breach in the Western logocentric tradition. He is part of the poststructuralist movement.

Deconstructionist theory (L’écriture et la différence, 1967) is undoubtedly Derrida's greatest contribution to literary studies. Derrida's ideas became popular in the United States in the late sixties, following a seminar he gave that aroused unprecedented interest in the academic community. Structuralist thought has been systematically built on a binarism that Derrida takes great pains to deconstruct, so that rigid oppositions such as nature/culture and other/self are no longer tenable. The field of feminist studies has appropriated Derrida's deconstructionist theses with the aim of abolishing the apriorisms of patriarchy.

In addition to the polyvocal conception of the sign, we are indebted to Derrida for concepts such as arche-writing, the trace, closure and différance (De la grammatologie, 1967). These notions fit into a way of thinking that denies the existence of an absolute origin. From sign to sign, meaning is forever in flux.