The news this morning is about the death of Christopher Reeve, but my web browsing over coffee has lead me to an article about Jacques Derrida’s death at the age of 74 over the weekend. Apparently, he has had cancer of the pancreas since 2003. The “Yahoo News” web site tries to sum up Derrida’s work in two paragraphs:
Derrida’s prolific writings, criticised by some as obscure and nihilist, argue that in literature — but also in fields such as art, music, architecture — there are multiple meanings not necessarily intended or even understood by the creator of the work.
“To ‘deconstruct’ is to take an idea, institution or value and understand its mechanisms by removing the cement that makes it up,” one critic has said.
Ah, yeah, okay. If it were just that simple….
Anyway, rest in peace, Jackie.