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Introducing Derrida (Paperback)

by Jeff Collins (Author), Bill Mayblin (Illustrator) "The terms "life" and "death" from a BINARY OPPOSITION: a pair of contrasted terms, each of which depends on the other for its meaning ..." (more)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 176 pages
  • Publisher: Icon Books Ltd; New edition edition (1 Sep 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1840466669
  • ISBN-13: 978-1840466669
  • Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.5 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 139,773 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #24 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Philosophy > Schools of Thought > Deconstructionism

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Product Description

The Introducing series is renowned throughout the world for its ingenious combination of graphic illustration and intelligent, precise text by leading academics on some of the most challenging subjects around. This is an examination of one of the most famous philosophers of the 20th century.
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The terms "life" and "death" from a BINARY OPPOSITION: a pair of contrasted terms, each of which depends on the other for its meaning. Read the first page
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Smoothest route into thought of Derrida. Leading light of Introducing series., 15 Feb 2007
Regarding the Introducing series in general, before I get down to the specifics of the Derrida title... Even as a philosophy M.A., I was an admirer of these Introducing books. While they naturally appeal to the uninitiated reader, I think they can also be of some small use to academics --- as a gangplank leading to far more detailed texts! The great benefit of this series is that anyone can master the basics of a field-of-study or major thinker in a single day. These 176 mini-page books take just a long afternoon to read cover to cover. And most of it will sink in reasonably well after just one rushed sitting because of their radical ("comic strip") format. The very small morsels of text on each page are often mildly amusing or else employ some other device to aid their memorability. So these are often ideal way to prepare for a class on the subject or understand the basics of what is probably important about the subject before scanning the library for all the texts you will need for your essay. These books include fairly decent select bibliographies, which really help you to find serious texts if you feel you're ready to move onto the next step.

I should point out that of the many many books in the Introducing... series, they vary slightly in quality and usefulness. But I am happy to report that Introducing Derrida is one of the absolute best. Maybe the best of all (I haven't read every single title).

All the key ideas, devices, strategies and concepts associated with this allegedly "impossible" thinker are at a basic level, unpacked very well indeed. The book is adequately up to date, covering Derrida's writings way into the 1990s, not merely the c.1967 texts which initially brought him to widespread attention as a controversial sensation within academia, following his 1966 "Structure, Sign and Play" lecture at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

I should point out that while Introducing Derrida does occasionally reference some of his famous books where relevant, its emphasis is very much on conveying an understanding of the important points one needs to know about this man, rather than chronologically trawling through all the texts with which he and his publishers saturated the market. This is very much to its credit, making it immediately readable and useful time and time again.

In terms of both the text by Jeff Collins and the artwork by Bill Mayblin, this book is an especially bright star in this bold series from Icon Books. The graphics totally compliment the text and aid in its digestibility and comprehensibility at all times. In some of the other titles, it seems to be little more than background imagery. But in Introducing Derrida it is brilliant and essential. One gets the impression that on this title, the writer and the artist worked very closely together, making sure that every page was brought alive to the maximum extent by the harmony of their respective labours.

Derrida is held to be a difficult thinker to comprehend. But Introducing Derrida can make this brilliant and critically important thinker very palatable for those who have never attended university, while also being a valuable first nudge in the right direction for those who are already experienced academics.

If you get beyond this book with a thirst for really tackling Derrida, I recommend reading his major and early opuses in French. The English translations make less sense for these titles. His much smaller texts which are really just essays on applying his mindset to specific topics, mostly dating from the last decade or two of his life, are just fine in English. But the big '60s and '70s tomes should be read in French. His writing is beautiful and brilliant in his native language. As Derrida himself suggested: something will always be lost in translation. A huge thanks to Collins and Mayblin for "translating" the fundamentals of Derrida into a special format that will help countless readers get a foothold.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars interesting and challenging, 6 Feb 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Introducing Derrida (Introducing...) (Paperback)
I came into this book not knowing much about Derrida. And now that I've read this a couple of times... I'm still not entirely sure if I know him.

The introducing series is on the whole brilliant. Using, bold, exciting visual formats, and generally well written introductions to very complex and varied ideas, they're a must for those looking for introductions without the support framework of an entire academic course.

Introducing Derrida must have been one of the tougher challenges for the editors of the series. His theories call for an intuitive approach that may not always be easiy explained in a short, concise manner. The basics are brilliantly explained. Its the literary criticism that starts to lose me. (i.e. Derrida on James Joyce - this still confounds me. Not even repeated listening to Kate Bush's 'Sensual World' could help me here.) Other aspects of Derrida's "theories" of 'deconstruction' seemed (to me) somewhat more intuitive and easier to grasp. At least in this format.

On the whole, worth checking out. But dont expect a neat package that can easily encapsulate Derrida's ideas. Still, it did me move me into further 'adventures' with deconstruction.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Solid Introduction to a difficult philosopher., 22 Jun 2006
By A. I. Mackenzie "alimack" (Glasgow, Scotland.) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
The introducing books are normally good 'starters for 10'.
Derrida is one of the difficult post-modern philosophers, however as with all philosophers the central ideas are quite simple. So, ignore people who say that Derrrida (or anyone else) is too difficult to be summarised, it simply isn't true. Précis are always worth having, particularly for those who don't have the time or inclination to read the original text(s).

This book takes a couple of attempts to really understand it, but it reveals the difficulty of taking a particular reading of a text as definitive. It's also a useful primer on post modernism.
Although some Post Modern Philosophers are basically fakes (see Intellectual Impostures), Derrida isn't one of them. Worth a read.
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1.0 out of 5 stars Inadequate, buy Of Grammatology instead
What I suggest to anyone wanting to read Derrida is to read Derrida, these concise introductions do nothing but warp his message. Read more
Published on 5 Jan 2005 by J. L. Cronshaw

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