Episode 11: Thinking Under Erasure - The Therapeutic Usefulness of Jacques Derrida’s Grammatology

In this episode, I dig into the French postmodern philosopher Jacques Derrida's use of sous rature typography. The practice of writing under erasure, or with an 'x' through a word or phrase, has an interesting connection with modern theoretical orientations to psychological trauma.

When you read a word under erasure, you are prompted to consider what the word does not mean or what it does not symbolize. You may begin to think about antonyms, origins, associations, or what was there before the symbol was used. It also has a way of lifting the word off the page, reminding you that the words, strings of words, and gaps between words are just symbols of your deeper richer inner world. This is the psychological exercise of deconstruction and can lead to insights into the meta-connotations of the word as it functions in your social or inner world.

#philosophy #psychology #postmodernism #psychoanalysis #traumatology #mentalhealth #counseling #psychotherapy #poststructuralism