The Identity of Literature: A Reply to Jacques Derrida

This is the first book of its kind which questions Jacques Derrida's view of literature, leveling all distinctions between literature and other disciplines. Setting forth those features of literature which mark it off from non-literature, the author argues that Derrida's deconstruction is enshrined in a flawed view of language. Pleading stridently for a twofold division of language, and drawing extensively on the philosophers and the linguists who support it, the author advances a fresh approach to literature, as well as other disciplines. This book is a defense of literature and, by implication, of logic and truth, in the age of deconstruction. [Subject: Literature, India Studies, Philosophy, Literary Studies, Literary Criticism]