Jacques Derrida, author of numerous, ground-breaking works on philosophy, literature, and aesthetic theory, has been at the centre of critical debates surrounding literary theories of deconstruction. In this critical study, the author provides an introduction to Derrida's thought. Champagne traces Derrida's intellectual formation for his early exchanges with Althusser, Hyppolite, and Foucault to his involvement with speech-act theory and the political engagement of feminist theory. Derrida is also known for his neologisms, and readers will find a helpful glossary to key terms.