Derrida Dictionary

The Derrida Dictionary is a comprehensive and accessible guide to the world of Jacques Derrida, the founder of deconstruction and one of the most important and influential European thinkers of the twentieth century. Meticulously researched and extensively cross-referenced, this unique book covers all his major works, ideas and influences and provides a firm grounding in the central themes of Derrida's thought. Students will discover a wealth of useful information, analysis and criticism. A-Z entries include clear definitions of all the key terms used in Derrida's writings and detailed synopses of his key works. The Dictionary also includes entries on Derrida's major philosophical influences and those he engaged with, such as Kant, Hegel, Husserl, Freud, Heidegger, Foucault, Lacan and Levinas. It covers everything that is essential to a sound understanding of Derrida's philosophy, offering clear and accessible explanations of often complex terminology. The Derrida Dictionary is the ideal resource for anyone reading or studying Derrida, deconstruction or modern European philosophy more generally.

'Simon Morgan Wortham's Dictionary is an indispensable tool for anyone entering or continuing to work in theory. For those of us who have been doing so for some time, the Dictionary serves as a reminder of how timely Derrida's work was and is: a Derrida Dictionary for today and very much for tomorrow.' Derrida Today--Sanford Lakoff, "Simon Morgan Wortham's dictionary is much more than a dictionary; it is, above all, a remarkable collection of short essays on Derrida's major works and concepts that will serve as valuable introductions to newcomers and useful reminders to those already familiar with Derrida's writings. Doing full justice to all periods and areas of Derrida's work, it succeeds in showing both his extraordinary range and the connections and continuities that link his various ventures in thought." - Derek Attridge, University of York, UK, "Simon Morgan Wortham's Derrida Dictionary is a spectacular intellectual accomplishment. He has amazing mastery of all Derrida's multitudinous writings (about seventy books, an immense number of articles and interviews). Perhaps the highest praise I can make of this extraordinary and extraordinarily valuable book is that each entry, rather than closing the door on a given Derridean topic, makes you want to go back and read or reread for yourself Archive Fever or Paper Machine or Without Alibi, and all the rest of those seventy books." - J. Hillis Miller, Distinguished Research Professor of Comparative Literature, University of California, Irvine, USA, author of For Derrida (Fordham, 2009), "This is no ordinary dictionary. Simon Morgan Wortham provides not only comprehensive, rigorously defined, and well-contextualised terms that cross-reference other terms and books across the corpus of Derrida's work, but in the process offers a lucid exposition of Derrida's work itself." - Nicole Anderson, Co-Editor/Founder Derrida Today journal, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

Simon Morgan Wortham is Professor of English at Kingston University London, UK. His previous publications include Counter-institutions: Jacques Derrida and the Question of the University (Fordham University Press, 2006) and Samuel Weber: Acts of Reading (Ashgate, 2003).