JACQUES DERRIDA
STRUCTURE, SIGN AND PLAY
MASTER EXAM NOTES
UPPSC / NET / MA Complete Study Guide
Easy Language + Detailed Explanation + Exam Focus
1. BASIC FACTS
Full Title:
Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences
Author:
Jacques Derrida — French philosopher and founder of Deconstruction.
Date:
• Delivered as lecture: 1966
• Published: 1967
Presented At:
Johns Hopkins University conference: “The Languages of Criticism and the Sciences of Man.”
Why Important?
This essay marks the beginning of Post-structuralism and attacks Structuralism.
2. WHAT IS STRUCTURALISM?
Structuralism believed that everything in the world works through structures. Examples: • language
• myths • literature • society Structuralists believed meaning comes from stable systems.
Easy Example:
Traffic lights work through structure: Red = stop
Green = go
Meaning exists because structure remains stable.
3. DERRIDA’S REVOLUTION
Derrida questions the idea of stable structures. His biggest claim: There is NO fixed center.
Traditional philosophy believed every structure had a center: • God • Truth • Reason • Origin
Derrida destroys this certainty.
4. THE CENTER
According to traditional philosophy: the center controls structure and gives stability.
But Derrida says: “The center is not the center.”
Meaning: the center itself changes and becomes unstable.
5. PLAY
MOST IMPORTANT CONCEPT.
When there is no fixed center, meaning begins to move freely.
This movement is called: PLAY
Easy Example:
Different people interpret “freedom” differently.
Meaning never stays fixed.
6. DECENTERING
Meaning: removal of fixed foundations.
Western philosophy depended on: • truth • God • reason • certainty
Derrida questions all these foundations.
7. SIGNIFIER & SIGNIFIED
Derived from Saussure.
Signifier: word/sound/image
Signified: idea or concept
Example:
“Tree” → signifier
Idea of tree → signified
Derrida says: meaning never becomes final.
8. DIFFÉRANCE (VERY IMPORTANT)
Special Derridean term.
It means: 1. Difference
2. Deferral
Meaning keeps shifting endlessly.
Easy Example:
To understand one word, you need another word.
That word depends on another.
Meaning never fully arrives.
9. BINARY OPPOSITIONS
Western thought works through oppositions: • speech / writing
• nature / culture
• truth / error
• man / woman
Usually one side is treated as superior.
Derrida questions these hierarchies.
10. NATURE VS CULTURE
Derrida analyzes Lévi-Strauss.
Traditional view: Nature and culture are separate.
Derrida gives example of incest taboo: • universal like nature
• social rule like culture
Therefore: binary opposition collapses.
11. BRICOLAGE
Meaning: using already available materials.
Derrida says: all thinkers borrow concepts from earlier systems.
Nobody creates totally original systems.
12. DECONSTRUCTION
MOST IMPORTANT THEORY.
Deconstruction: • questions fixed meaning
• exposes contradictions
• shows instability inside texts
Important: Deconstruction does NOT destroy texts.
It reveals hidden tensions inside them.
13. METAPHYSICS OF PRESENCE
Western philosophy always preferred: • certainty • presence • fixed identity
Derrida questions this entire tradition.
14. FREE PLAY OF SIGNIFIERS
Since no final meaning exists: signifiers move endlessly.
Interpretation never ends.
15. IMPORTANT KEYWORDS
• Deconstruction
• Différance
• Center
• Play
• Decentering
• Binary Opposition
• Logocentrism
• Metaphysics of Presence
• Signifier
• Signified
• Free Play
• Bricolage
16. MOST IMPORTANT QUOTATIONS
“The center is not the center.”
“The absence of the transcendental signified extends the domain and play of signification infinitely.”
“Free play.”
17. WHY THIS ESSAY IS IMPORTANT
Because it: • begins Post-structuralism
• attacks Structuralism
• changes literary criticism forever
• introduces Deconstruction
• rejects fixed truth and certainty
18. READY-MADE LONG ANSWER CONCLUSION
Derrida’s essay challenges the traditional belief that structures possess fixed centers and stable
meanings. Through concepts like play, différance, decentering, and deconstruction, Derrida shows
that meaning is always unstable and endlessly shifting. The essay marks the transition from
Structuralism to Post-structuralism and revolutionized modern literary theory.
EXAM STRATEGY:
Focus MOST on: Center, Play, Différance, Binary Opposition, and Deconstruction. These are
repeatedly asked in MA, NET, SET, and UPPSC examinations.