The Derrida Dictionary

Book excerpt: 'Simon Morgan Wortham's Derrida Dictionary is a spectacular intellectual accomplishment. He has amazing mastery of all Derrida's multitudinous writings (about seventy books, an immense number of articles and interviews). Perhaps the highest praise I can make of this extraordinary and extraordinarily valuable book is that each entry, rather than closing the door on a given Derridean topic, makes you want to go back and read or reread for yourself Archive Fever of Paper Machine or Without Alibi, and all the rest of those seventy books.'-J. Hillis Miller, Distinguished Research Professor of Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine, USA "This is no ordinary dictionary. Simon Morgan Wortham provides not only comprehensive, rigorously defined, and well contextualised terms that cross-reference other terms and books across the corpus of Derrida's work, but in the process offers a lucid exposition of Derrida's work itself.'-Nicole Anderson, Co-Editor/Founder Derrida Today journal, Macquarie University, Australia The Derrida Dictionary is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the world of Jacques Derrida, the founder of deconstruction and one of the most influential European thinkers of the twentieth century. Meticulously researched and extensively cross-referenced, this unique book covers all his major works, ideas and influences. A-Z entries include clear definitions of all the key terms used in Derrida's writings and detailed synopses of his key works. The Dictionary includes entries on Derrida's major philosophical influences and those he engaged with, from Kant to Levinas. Offering clear and accessible explanations of often complex terminology, The Derrida Dictionary is the ideal resource for anyone reading Derrida, deconstruction or modern European philosophy.