Writing as Origin: Derrida, Nietzsche, Saussure and the Systemic Genesis of Meaning
Introduction In Of Grammatology , Derrida radically reinterprets the function of writing, not as a derivative of speech but as the foundational structure of meaning itself. Nowhere is this more clearly articulated than in the section The Written Being / The Being Written , where he draws heavily on Nietzsche to advance his deconstruction of logocentrism. Nietzsche's contribution is pivotal: he treats writing not as a secondary inscription of thought or truth, but as a constitutive act that generates meaning. Derrida encapsulates this when he observes: “Nietzsche has written what he has written. He has written that writing—and first of all his own—is not originarily subordinate to the logos and to truth.” (1) This position has profound linguistic and philosophical consequences. It implies that meaning does not derive from an external origin or metaphysical ground but is born within the very system of signs. Derrida’s formulation—“il n’y a pas de hors-texte,” or “there is no...