“[My questioning of norms] has not only been made possible by but is constantly in contact with very classical, rigorous, demanding discipline in writing, in ‘demonstrating,’ in rhetoric … The fact that I’ve been trained in and that I am at some level true to this classical teaching in rhetoric is essential … whether in the sense of the art of persuasion or in the sense of logical demonstration.”
Unlike Marx, Derrida would probably be more inclined to play with his label of “deconstructionist” rather than out-and-out deny it. But as Booth points out in The Rhetoric of Rhetoric, Derrida is just fine with being labeled a rhetorician.
“If you really understand Kenneth Burke, you don’t need Derrida as much.”
~ J. Hillis Miller, Interview, Criticism in Society, 1987