Keesey: Chapter 6 Introduction We are Words
"For, as we have noted, the necessary condition for any meaningful utterance is that it be structured according to a system that is, in Derrida's phrase, 'always already' in place and quite independent of the speaker - already 'written,' on might say" (Keesey 347).
I found this section quite fascinating, only by having a set structure to work from can we have a structure to build on. Writing is only possible because we have a basis for it in speech, but speech is, at least in my own opinion, enhanced because we have writing. We as readers, writers, and speakers of our language, are simply biproducts of a system long ago set down. We work with this system because our brains are structured to do precisely that, play a part of this verbal/written system.
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Derek Tickle on Keesey: Chapter 6 Introduction We are Words: It is interesting what Derrida
It is interesting what Derrida said. In order to develop a work, then we must build upon a basis that is already in place.
I have not thought about speaking in this type of context before, but it makes sense. When born, we must learn English, or some language, from the basis that is already in place. In turn, then we learn to write based on our speaking and learned English skills.
It seems as though this "system" or "basis" is a pre-designed condition in order for people to learn the language. In other words, people need to have a structure in order to follow the steps and achieve success and a learned language.
But then I ask the question of "What if the structure was not in place?"
I think from this essay we can say that the structure is only in place because, as Derrida points out, we have to "turn a blind eye" to the fact that the structure which we see as base also needs a base in order to have been formed as well. It's a continuous circle that never ends when looking for the origin of the system.