Deconstruction

Deconstruction is defined as “a philosophical or critical method which asserts that meanings, metaphysical constructs, and hierarchical oppositions (as between key terms in a philosophical or literary work) are always rendered unstable by their dependence on ultimately arbitrary signifiers”.

Deconstruction is the method if finding ways to prove that there is instability within language, meaning and narrative. This is in complete opposition to the new critics who firmly believed that there is a single best reading. Overall, deconstructionists always focus on instability.

Key Terms

Differance

the ideal that we are constantly trying to differentiate different types of language from each other.

Binary Oppositions

two things that seem to be in opposition, but actually have things in common.

Ideology

the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group.

Ideology

a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture

Bricolage

construction (as of a sculpture or a structure of ideas) achieved by using whatever comes to hand

Undecidability

the ideal that texts are always undecidable, in direct opposition to new critics.

Jacques Derrida

Jaques Derrida is considered to be the father of deconstruction. His ideals and key terms are used when applying deconstruction to the reading of texts. He was born July 15, 1930 in El Biar, Algeria and died October 8, 2004 in Paris, France.

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Reflection

As mentioned previously, deconstruction can be applied to texts in a way that is in complete opposition to that of which the new critics believed. When reading texts, we can identify that there is no best reading and that there is no stability within the texts.

Another way of applying this to texts could be through undecidability and how determining the meaning of texts has it’s limitations. By using key terms like Binary Oppositions, we can also read in a way that further shows how much instability truly is within the text.

Overall, while this may not be a method that all people would love to use, it does offer a different perspective from other methods we have studied in the past. In addition, it forces us to critique the text more strongly that we may have otherwise.

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