RIP Jacques Derrida

[Otto]

Our debt to Derrida
Monday October 11, 2004 The Guardian

"(...) much criticism of Derrida's work was cheap anti-intellectualism or a
wilful distortion of his ideas. He should be remembered as a profound
thinker who made a lasting contribution to intellectual discourse.
(...)
Part of the problem for Derrida's critics is that they sought to hang upon
him all their fears of postmodernism and relativism. Much of this was
unfair, since he could not be held accountable for the journeys to the
wilder shores of theory by some of his supporters and fellow travellers.
What was important was that deconstruction held that no text was above
analysis or closed to alternative interpretation. It is no coincidence that
it came into vogue in the 1960s and 1970s, when many cultural and social
institutions were being challenged. As a result, Derrida became popular
among those willing to question the sterile idea of a "western canon" who
wanted to expand literary discourse so that writers such as Mary Elizabeth
Braddon could sit alongside the Brontes. Thanks to Derrida, many new voices
were heard."
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,6000,1324454,00.html