ChittyChittyBangBang 4/10

So, today realllllly helped me understand Derrida's concepts better. At first, I was a bit lost. Derrida's thoughts actually connect with several other authors’ we have studied thus far such as De Saussure, Macherey, and Barthes. We focused a lot in class today on the "differences" in language. In our logocentric world we are only left with differences. Words contain so many different meanings depending on the context and your set of signifiers. We talked about that a lot during our discussion of Hebdige that depending on your background and understandings, concepts or words might mean something completely different to you than the next person. Oral articulation is another variable of difference in words. Pronunciation and even your tone can completely change what you are trying to convey. In Chinese language for instance, tone is essential to creating difference in words. I agree with Dr. Rog that after studying this phenomenon it is amazing we can communicate with each other when everything we say and their meanings seem to contradict each other.

I liked the "telephone", or "rumors" as Dr. Rog refers to it as, exercise as well. Even though we are amazing and held the value of the statement all the way across the room. It was still an effective example of Derrida's concept. We are so far away from "the original" or "ur". Over time, erasure and differance has brought us so far away from the beginning text that we cannot go back. The original meaning and validity gets lost in culture the farther away it gets.

I thought the exercise with the dictionaries was funny. It is interesting to think that we rely on dictionaries to answer all our questions about words and their meanings. Although Dr. Rog proved that at the root of every word there is nothing but difference. Trying to find the definition of Cookie was an adventure, there were repetitions and contradictions and we didn't seem to really get anywhere. Although due to our common set of assumptions most of us know what a "cookie" is. I also found it interesting when Dr. Rog asked us all to pronounce "lead" and we all said a different pronunciation of it. It can mean different things but we don't know what it means without its context. I actually really like Derrida's concepts and am encouraged to re-read his article now.