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Saussure described writing as a sign system separate from speech itself,
with typography being one aspect of the broader picture. He saw speech as the original, natural
medium for language, defining writing as a system of signs which represent speech. He was
infuriated by the opacity and inconsistency of writing and felt that the alphabet had violated
the purity of the original, natural, spoken language and was an inadequate form of communication.
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Derrida introduced his post-structuralist concepts to the United States in 1966.
Post-structuralism, or as it is also referred to, deconstruction involves the examination of texts
in terms of language and ideas of which they are composed. It refers to the breaking down of an idea,
a word, or value in order to understand how interpretation is based on these parts rather than their
actual meaning. Deconstruction brings into question the entire typographic vocabulary, the orientation
of the page, and whether type itself should do more than perform its basic historical function of being
readable.22 |
