French linguist Ferdinand de Saussure pointed out that language is not comprised of individual units, each inherent with meaning, but is a system of phonetic and semantic differences. For example, the word 'bed' is what is not meant by the words 'bad,' 'bid,' 'bud,' 'fed,' etc. Derrida relies heavily on this idea, and refers to it regularly with his famous French pun "differance."
Source
Are you sick of all this theory yet?
Return to Individual Theorists