Dots. Vol. II

After the 1960s large parts of the academic discourse in North American universities, in the fields of philosophy and literature not least, were marked by a preoccupation with the implications of 'poststructuralism' in several versions. After Jacques Derrida's initial conference visit in the U.S. and at least until his death in 2004 his writings have, under the rubric of 'deconstruction,' played a key role in this development. A great many thinkers and critics have remarked upon this, just as Derrida's texts have led to an enormously rich and complex set of readings, commentaries, and further developments of 'deconstruction.' There is, however, very little existing research treating of this extended set of receptions as a movement with its own kinds of dynamics. This book offers a history of reception, reviewing a wide body of key critical publications so as to address and evaluate the reception of 'deconstruction' in the U.S. from 1966 to the onset of the 2000s. The book should be of interest to the numerous students and scholars across the human and social sciences who encounter the question of how 'deconstruction' came into presence and how it may be said to survive otherwise.