Differance (Derrida)

From my understanding, Derrida is making a point that people won’t fully grasp a word unless the speaker adds more terms to clarify that speaker’s idea. In a word’s single form there will always remain a difference from that word and the word with additional information. In other words, ideas are only different because of word usage. As far as the “e” and the “a” in the “difference” of his theory, I wasn't totally sure what he was trying to achieve. He says that “difference is not, does not exist, and is not any sort of being-present” (282). Then he goes on to say that “difference”, which is not a theory, represents us as concepts (286). Here, maybe Derrida is stating that since language is something that we've shaped and built upon, there are some inconsistencies. Thus, there are going to be some effects that hinder us from fully connecting our ideas effectively.

Is this fully what he means by “difference”? Though I may be wrong, I think he is also saying that people are always testing the limits of language which has “always constrained us” (285).

 Work Cited Derrida, Jacques. "Differance." Literary Theory: An Anthology, Second Edition. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden, MA: Wiley/Blackwell, 2004. 278-28.