Some Notes on Derrida's “Istanbul Letter”

Authors : Türkan Gözütok

Pages : 48-58

View : 78 | Download : 23

Publication Date : 2024-07-26

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In this study, the deconstructionist reading of Jacques Derrida (Algeria 1930-Paris 2004), one of the prominent representatives of poststructuralist thought, and his views on the Turkish Alphabet Reform process are examined based on his \"Letter from Istanbul.\" Postmodernist thought emerged in the West as a reaction to Enlightenment philosophy and positivist epistemology. Derrida developed a reading practice called \"deconstruction,\" aimed at questioning European metaphysics and unraveling the deep structure of texts. In the \"Letter from Istanbul,\" Derrida invites Turks to question Western thought through the lens of the Turkish Alphabet Reform. This questioning initiates a journey for Turks to seek their \"lost\" alphabets and languages in history. Although Derrida deconstructed the thinkers who have guided Western thought since antiquity, as well as all sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity, he maintained a distance from the Quran and Turkish-Islamic texts. While Derrida opens up discussions on the Turkish language and alphabet within the Turkish modernization process, addressing the historical problems of the Turkish language through the dichotomy of speech and writing, his approach to the Turkish language, Atatürk, and the alphabet reform also contains certain orientalist discourses.
Keywords : Derrida, yapısöküm, Türk harf inkılabı

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