Jacques Derrida, ‘Structure, sign and play’
19.05.05Filed Under: Theoryand tagged Deconstruction, Jacques Derrida, Sign
A brief piece on Derrida’s “Structure, Sign and Play“. It is the typical deconstructive move where he sets up what used to be taken for granted and then goes on to show that this, in itself, is ‘always already’ deconstructed. When JD says that the center is both inside and outside the structure, he is pointing out the paradox that the center must be outside the structure in order to give it authority, yet how can it give authority to something which it is not part of itself? Hence, it must be two places at once, ie. not a center.
The center limits play by creating the ‘rules’ of the game, and thus points out what cannot be stated, what it not part of the play/game. What Derrida usually does is point out the center/what is taken for granted during any operation and thus reveals the codes/rules of the game. I believe this is why he puts the interpretation quote by Montaigne as an epigraph; we need to consider the operation of critics as well as what is criticised.
When the center vanishes, that is when the presence of metaphysics is revealed to be missing by Nietzsche, Freud and Heidegger, then everything becomes discourse, everything becomes an operation of language, which has no presence. This is, according to JD, a good thing, as we can only talk about a particular area once it has been decentred: for instance feminism could only exist once we realised that male supremacy is a cultural given rather than a natural given, or racism could only be denounced once we realised that the white race is not physiologically better than any other. (356)
What is so wonderful about ‘Structure, Sign and Play’ is that JD uses Lévi-Strauss, one of those whose writings spawned structuralism, to point out these operations. He shows, through Lévi-Strauss’ quotes, that totalization is not possible, which was the great dream of structuralism. Instead, JD shows how the supplement adds something to the process: “The movement of signification adds something, which results in the fact that there is always more, but this addition is a floating one because it comes to perform a vicarious function, to supplement a lack on the part of the signified” (365-366). That means, as I see it, that to name an operation (ie. signify it) inevitably means interpreting the operation as well, and hence adding something. It is this inevitable operation of signifying/adding which opens the field of play.
Play, therefore, must come before presence and absence and as such Being must be conceived as the presence/absence of the possibility of play.
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January 3rd, 2006 at 2:18 am