Of Grammatology – Jacques Derrida (1967)

“Of Grammatology (French: De la grammatologie) is a 1967 book by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, in which the author discusses writers such as Claude Lévi-Strauss, Ferdinand de Saussure, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Étienne Condillac, Louis Hjelmslev, Martin Heidegger, Edmund Husserl, Roman Jakobson, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, André Leroi-Gourhan, and William Warburton. The book has been called a foundational text for deconstructive criticism. … Derrida argues that throughout the Western philosophical tradition, writing has been considered as merely a derivative form of speech, and thus as a ‘fall’ from the ‘full presence’ of speech. In the course of the work he deconstructs this position as it appears in the work of several writers, showing the myriad aporias and ellipses to which this leads them. Derrida does not claim to be giving a critique of the work of these thinkers, because he does not believe it possible to escape from operating with such oppositions. Nevertheless, he calls for a new science of ‘grammatology‘ that would relate to such questions in a new way. Of Grammatology introduced many of the concepts which Derrida would employ in later work, especially in relation to linguistics and writing. The book starts with a review of Saussure’s linguistic structuralism, as presented in the Course in General Linguistics. In particular, Derrida analyzes the concept of ‘sign‘, which for Saussure has the two separate components of sound and meaning. These components are also called signifier (signifiant) and signified (signifié).  Derrida quotes Saussure: ‘Language and writing are two distinct systems of signs; the second exists for the sole purpose of representing the first.’ Critiquing this relationship between speech and writing, Derrida suggests that written symbols are legitimate signifiers on their own—that they should not be considered as secondary or derivative relative to oral speech. Much of the second half of Of Grammatology is dedicated to a sustained reading of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and especially his Essay on the Origin of Languages. … Of Grammatology is one of three books which Derrida published in 1967, and which served to establish his reputation. The other two were La voix et le phénomène, translated as Speech and Phenomena, and L’écriture et la différence, translated as Writing and Difference. It has been called a foundational text for deconstructive criticism. …”
Wikipedia, amazon
W – Jacques Derrida
NY Times: Jacques Derrida – Mitchell Stephens (Jan. 23, 1994)
Open Culture: An Animated Introduction to French Philosopher Jacques Derrida (Video)