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March 27, 2007
So…Postructuralism is the Structure of the Posts that are used to Structify Postism?
"For the signification 'sign' has always been comprehended and determined, in its sense, sign-of, signifier referring to a signified, signifier different from its signified" (355).
I wonder if Derrida knows how to write a sentence without using several forms of the same word within it - especially when the sentence is supposed to provide a definition for the word used in multiple forms. He is massively confusing very much as a result of this and I think this was one of the hardest essays to read. Also, each major concept presented seemed to be a contradiction. ("The center is not the center" (354) being the easiest example to understand and then there is that structuralism is all about deconstruction...agh! Where will the contradictions end?) So, basically, I feel as if postructuralism is an attempt to define the indefinable and it acknowledges that there is no single way to try to define it, and that we use signs and other stuff that has to do with the historical context of the language and the structure of the language to analyze it. Also, postructuralism seems to have a lot to do with things other than literature - instead with the world in general and how it is set up and where the systems of signs come from. It is weird and complex, but has the potential to be interesting and enlightening although at this point I am not sure my brain can handle it.
Posted by LorinSchumacher at March 27, 2007 12:42 AM
Comments
I like you line about defining the undefinable. Poststructuralism does seem to make a few stretches along the way.
Posted by: Dave Moio at March 28, 2007 12:17 PM