This book is an examination of three major literary, critical and philosophical movements in European and Anglo-American literature. It aims to show their differences (often pointed out) and their similarities (never yet demonstrated) and to make accessible recent post-structuralist theory. In particular, it offers an introductory exposition of American pragmatism whose insights into language and philosophy are discussed in relation both to Coleridge and to Derrida, while Derrida's writings are related both to romanticism and pragmatism.