What Is Différance?

Jacques Derrida's text was extremely tough to get through.  I was never able to substantially place my finger on a particular idea or concept.  I understood parts where he referred to significations (Locke) but his argument was very ambiguous and evasive. Derrida even says repeatedly throughout the text, "Differance is neither a word nor a concept" (Derrida 279). We function through language, which requires words and concepts.  Maybe this is why I was so confused.

Herrick's background on Derrida kept me from completely losing my mind.  In his conclusion, he sums up one of Derrida's beliefs saying, "Derrida may be correct that meanings are not fixed, and that constructing meanings involves an ongoing process of social negotiation (Herrick 256)."  It is this previous statement that will be the focus of this post.

Do all words/ideas have constructed meanings? And if so, were their meanings constructed through the process of social negotiation?

Animals are a good example to relate to.  A cow is a cow no matter what your interpretation of that animal is.  You cannot argue the fact that a cow is a milk-producing mammal.  Cows can have various characteristics but their biology remains the same.  Going back to Derrida's argument, is the word "cow" represented alone in its own identity or is it represented by its difference to all other words?  I think this question was one of the core topics in the Derrida reading.  There are exceptions to each side of the argument.  Some words are universally understood within a specific language/culture, therefore, some words do have fixed meanings.  The definitions or ideas surrounding a particular object will not always change with the times.  I point to the fact that many of the words we use today were used hundreds and even thousands of year ago and some withheld the same meanings.

Now, to try to further elaborate on social negotiation.  Negotiation brings up the assumption that there is something that is disagreeable among a group.  I connected social negotiation most closely with Locke's text.  He argues that words have their imperfections and abuses.  Even through social negotiation, some words' meanings will never be agreed upon.  This is because we form meaning through experience.  So at some point the ongoing process of social negotiation has to break down permanently.  Certain factors prevent words from being universally understood.

I look forward to discussion in class as I have more questions than answers after reading Derrida.

Works Cited

Derrida, Jacques. "Différance." Literary Theory: An Anthology, Second Edition. Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Malden, MA: Wiley/Blackwell, 2004. 278-288.

Herrick, James A. The History and Theory of Rhetoric: An Introduction, Third Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2005. Excerpts on "Contemporary Rhetoric" (222-240), "Derrida" (253-256), "Foucault" (246-252).