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French philosopher of language. Born in Algiers in 1930, Derrida inaugurated a new movement in critical theory, known as deconstruction , with his paper ‘Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of Human Sciences’ given in the USA in 1966. This paper and subsequent publications led him to international fame. He currently teaches at Yale University. Among his publications are: De la grammatologie (1967), L'Ecriture et la difference (1967), La Carte postale (1987) and De l'esprit (1987). Derrida's philosophy of language – as all poststructuralist thought – resists final definition. His initial work was derived from the linguistic theories of Ferdinand de Saussure, who argued that language was a ‘self-enclosed system’. Derrida began with Saussure's argument that the meaning of a word is the result of convention, and not of some ontological link between the word and what it signifies. From this, he argued that the final meaning of a word can never be determined, and that language is ultimately unable to convey truth. Every utterance is flawed. The impact of this philosophy has been considerable. In literary theory, the idea that language always avoids final meaning has been fruitful. Deconstruction has emphasized, in its own critical writing, the instability of language by extensive use of puns and statements open to several meanings. 1982 : On Deconstruction: Theory and ... log in or subscribe to read full text