Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Methuen young books (1982), Edition: 1st, Paperback, 157 pages
Description
Deconstruction: Theory and Practice has been acclaimed as by far the most readable, concise and authoritative guide to this topic. Without oversimplifying or glossing over the challenges, Norris makes deconstruction more accessible to the reader. The volume focuses on the works of Jacques Derrida which caused this seismic shift in critical thought, as well as the work of North American critics Paul de Man, Geoffrey Hartman, J. Hillis Miller and Harold Bloom. In this third, revised edition, Norris builds on his 1991 Afterword with an entirely new Postscript, reflecting upon recent critical debate. The Postscript includes an extensive list of recommended reading, complementing what was already one of the most useful bibliographies available.
User reviews
LibraryThing member lukeasrodgers
Published in the heyday of the American reception of deconstruction, Norris' book is a good, if somewhat dated (before Derrida's "ethical/political turn"), introduction to deconstruction, with an emphasis on its role in 20th century evolution of literary theory and criticism. Norris provides a
Much of the book is dedicated to providing an overview of the American reception of Derrida's work and its relation to main trends in American literary theory and criticism, specifically structuralism, New Criticism, and Marxist criticism. Norris clearly has his favourites among Derrida's American heirs: Paul de Man is repeatedly lauded for his rigour, while certain others come in for some minor censure for going too far into the sort of rhapsodic flights of imagination and whimsy that deconstruction can sometimes be taken to legitimate. But his criticism and praise avoid both fawning and the histrionics that deconstruction has sometimes inspired in its detractors.
If you are looking for a philosophical introduction to Derrida's work, this is not it, but that is clearly not its aim.
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lucid, sympathetic and mostly accurate, if occasionally (and he admits as much) simplifying, account of Derrida's work up to that point, including a bit on his relation to Heidegger and Husserl. Much of the book is dedicated to providing an overview of the American reception of Derrida's work and its relation to main trends in American literary theory and criticism, specifically structuralism, New Criticism, and Marxist criticism. Norris clearly has his favourites among Derrida's American heirs: Paul de Man is repeatedly lauded for his rigour, while certain others come in for some minor censure for going too far into the sort of rhapsodic flights of imagination and whimsy that deconstruction can sometimes be taken to legitimate. But his criticism and praise avoid both fawning and the histrionics that deconstruction has sometimes inspired in its detractors.
If you are looking for a philosophical introduction to Derrida's work, this is not it, but that is clearly not its aim.
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Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1982
1991 [rev. ed.]
Physical description
157 p.; 7.56 inches
ISBN
0416320708 / 9780416320701