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Description:

The French have given us more than just croissants, French toast, and cafe au lait. They also gave us Jacques Derrida. Although you’re less likely to find him at your typical breakfast buffet.

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Transcript

00:00

Jacques Derrida<<deer-ee-da>>, a la Shmoop: Binary opposition, différance, and essentialism.

00:01

<<This video is done bobblehead style; narrator is Jacques Derrida (Fr. accent)>>

00:05

Hello, my American friends.

00:05

And yes, I do consider you my friends. Even if I am a little appalled at what you people

00:08

sometimes call... quiche. But... savory custard tarts aside...

00:10

...there are a number of other concepts we came up with over here in "la France"...

00:15

...that I worry you Americans do not quite grasp.

00:18

So I am here to clear things up. And not at all in a snooty, condescending way.

00:22

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jacques Deerida, and I am a philosopher.

00:27

What is that? What restaurant do I work at? Ah. You are hysterical.

00:28

Let's dive in, shall we?

00:29

First, let me talk to you for a moment about "binary opposition."

00:32

This is a term that was originally coined by the "structuralists"...

00:38

...a group of human sheep... if you will allow me to express an opinion... who feel that

00:44

everything should be studied in terms of big thematic systems.

00:48

In other words, they liked to examine concepts in terms of opposites, like old and new, rich

00:56

and poor, white and black... and so on.

01:00

And that's fine. But their idea of breaking everything in life down to two basic, opposite

01:06

elements... was just the tip of the iceberg.

01:08

They didn't go far enough with it. In fact, each of these binaries consists of a hierarchy...

01:15

...meaning that one is always better than the other.

01:18

New is better than old, rich is better than poor, white is better than...

01:24

...moving on, yes? Next up... "différance." This word is all

01:28

me. I made it up. Aren't I special? It is not the same as the word "difference"...

01:35

in fact, there is a difference. Er, hopefully, that was not too confusing.

01:41

The word "différance" refers to how a word's meaning can never be absolutely pinned down.

01:49

You can't define one word without using other words, which, in turn, would have to be defined,

01:53

by other words, et cetera. It is a vicious circle.

01:53

Différance extends to literature, too, which means that just when you think you have a

01:53

book figured out... you don't. There are endless meanings in every text,

01:54

and no one interpretation is better than another. Which is deconstruction, in a nutshell.

01:56

Finally, essentialism. Calling someone an "essentialist" is an insult.

01:57

Which is why I like the word so much. It's great to yell at people who cut you off

02:03

in traffic, even if it doesn't quite apply. An essentialist believes in an absolute universal

02:09

"essence" of things. He believes that the concepts we have assigned

02:13

words and definitions to... ...already existed, floating around in the

02:19

cosmos somewhere, before we came along and decided to name them.

02:24

For example, there was beauty, even before mankind looked around and said, "Bee-yoo-tiful!"

02:31

However, an essentialist may also believe things that are a little... narrow-minded.

02:38

Like believing that women are, by their nature, unreasonable or emotional, while men are reasonable

02:44

and intellectual. Of course, said essentialist has not had a

02:50

date in three years? Hm... a small connection, peut-être? <<puh-teh-truh>>

02:55

That is the end of our lesson for today. Hopefully, we have learned together, we have

02:59

laughed, shared a few tears, you know... the whole ball of wax.

03:03

And also, please... stop eating brie on Ritz crackers. It's a disgrace. Oh, mon dieu. <<moan-dyuh>>

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