One concept that really made a lot of sense to me that Derrida discussed in the reading was, Logocentrism and how logos equal words. He says that, “as human beings, we are locked into words, or name”( 115) Weather we want to believe it or not, it is true to say that our society basis’s everything off of words, names and logos. Our society determines what class an individual falls under based on the brand names and material he or she has/wears. For instance; when we see someone that wears Neiman Marcus clothes we write away make the stereotype of that individual to be wealthy and part of the higher class, where as an individual wearing clothes from Walmart we make the stereotype of he/she being a part of the lower class. This can be seen on what people wear and can also be seen in jewelry and different accessories people wear as well as what car he/she drives. For example, back at home where I live the police are known for pulling over people that drive beat up, not so nice cars. They make the stereotype obviously that these people are sketchy people and are up to no good. I think that this is horrible and is not fair! But again… they make stereotypes of these people based off of the car they are driving.
Althusser says that, “It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being which determines their consciousness” (Altuhsser) This connects to Derrida in how we make stereotypes of human’s and we are locked into words in name that we give them. This is because our society goes by certain ideologies. Even though we may not know why we follow them we continue to, because we do not know any better. As Lyotard would say, “we are living in a world of metanarratives.” He says that we all go by certain beliefs and values of how to live our lives.
I thought that this reading was different in how Derrida got across his message from any other reading we have had this year I think that Derrida can be connected to a lot of theorists we have learned and I look forward to class on Thursday to talk about Derrida and see how other people approached him and who they may have connected him to.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
You do a good job taking what he says and synthesizing it so that it makes sense to you, especially with the example you provide about clothing and pulling people over. It shows that you are connecting Derrida to the broader scheme of things regarding ideology and stereotypes (all the things we covered in 100). Keep making those connections and strengthening your blogs! :)
Post a Comment