Trace is a term that occupies an important place in Jacques Derrida‘s grammatology. The trace also the inscription in the grammatology of Derrida has the same meaning as the sign in the semiology of Saussure or in the semiotics of Charles S. Peirce.
If an object never leaves a trace of itself, it could never be known nor could it serve as a sign of anything.
In this sense, without a visible, tangible, or otherwise perceptible sign or trace, the semiosis would not be possible. What is more, it would not be possible without space, as well. If, for example, none of the words on this page were separated from each other, there would be only colored spots, but not words (graphic signs).
If something could be fully and eternally present, it would not need its trace. Since it will always be here, it does not need to leave a message that it is here or that it will be somewhere. After all, these messages are what the traces convey.
If one sees a human footprint in front of one’s apartment, it will be easy for one to conclude that someone has been there before. In the same way, as we decide it will rain when we see clouds.
That is, the clue is related to what is not available – the things that are no longer here or are not yet here. According to Derrida, it is related to what is never in principle present. There is an ancient, powerful, persistent dream that the traces we find in the texts of the primordial and of men can bring us face to face with otherness, where the Self and the other are fully represented to each other, the dream of traces as a ladder that we can use to climb a hill and, after climbing it, kick the ladder.
If such a presence is possible, signs or traces are not necessary. At some point, we will be able to ignore them. We will be able to see face to face, without the mediation of any signs, God orNature, or any other names that we might use to denote that which is absolute (i.e., fully and forever present).
Derrida’s deconstructivism illuminates traces, spaces, differences, and so on. as a way for us to wake up from this ancient, powerful and persistent dream.
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