Examples Of Deconstruction In Literature

[Klaudia Aricas]

Firstand foremost a poet, Alok Mishra is an author next. Apart from these credentials, he is founder & Editor-in-Chief of Ashvamegh, an international literary magazine and also the founder of BookBoys PR, a company which helps writers brand themselves and promote their books. On this blog, Alok mostly writes about literary topics which are helpful for literature students and their teachers. He also shares his poems; personal thoughts and book reviews.

Deconstruction is a complex concept that is used in various fields, including literature. This blog does an excellent job of explaining the meaning and theory of deconstruction with relevant examples.

When I studied literature many years ago I came to think of deconstruction as a viepoint for looking at the world. In simplistic terms it could be called pessimism. However I found Roland Barthes a revelation, perhaps because I had often been called a pessimist . Socially a pessimist is seen as someone always seeking the worst interpretation of life, finding the fault, pulling apart the rainbows that others construct. Deconstructionism for me, validated and gave approval to my instict to find the inconsistancy in life rather than be seduced by the charm of the harmonics of the perfect pattern the pleasure of unity. Yes, I understand beauty and the euphoria of perfection. But I also see in this world that we must deconstruct not just the text but the very reality we live if we are to see through the manipulations of advertising, politics , religion, any ideology the was is or might come into being. There are those in this world that try to construct dreams, paradise after death, perfect nations, success measured by material objects, musicians worshipped like gods. Then there are those who must see through the dream to the realty, give voice to the silences. In short make the ugly and inconsistent evident. Does art reflect reality or reality reflect art? Of course both occurs art is reality and studying art should teach us about life. The danger of deconstruction is destruction. Ultimately as human beings we must have structure . It is a revelation when we first realise that reality is all just put together in our own head. A construction, analagous to a novel just a story the mind has put together in first person. I don,t believe deconstruction theory is meant to destroy all other theories but to show us that all thinking including language is a construct suseptible to change and requiring accountability from those who would construct. Deconstruction is perhaps a game changer. Instead of looking for universal truths it simply says there are none. Everything is a construct and its reality rests totally on its credibility. Deconstruction is just a tool for testing that credibility. My encounter with deconstruction theory in my literature studies was enlightening and changed my world view.. It paradoxically presents itself as a way of viewing reality whilst undermining the very heart of reality, truth.. It replaces truth with belief. The difference being that truths have always been viewed as self evident while belief is up for scrutiny.Knowing that my universe, my reality is less solid than I previously believed is not frightening but freeing. Not such a pessimistic viewpoint afterall.

Hi Srivaani, thanks for the upvote! It pleases me knowing that my article could be your help. And your question is just about a small confusion. In fact, Post Structuralism is everything that occurred after the theory of Structuralism. And because the majority of attention was taken by Deconstruction, it is generally confused with Post Structuralism. Thanks!

The theory of deconstruction is important because it heavily influenced postmodern philosophy, intellectual thought, and literary criticism. It remains one of the most widely discussed theory in postmodernity."}},"@type":"Question","name":"What is an example of deconstruction?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"Deconstruction is a method of literary criticism. Famous literary works are studied using deconstructionism which helps to unearth new meanings from the text. ","@type":"Question","name":"What is the purpose of deconstruction?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"Deconstruction seeks to undertake close reading of a text to find meanings in parts of a text that are often overlooked.","@type":"Question","name":"What is the deconstruction theory in literature?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"Theory of deconstruction emphasises the lack of a definite or fixed meanings of a text.","@type":"Question","name":"What is deconstruction theory?","acceptedAnswer":"@type":"Answer","text":"Deconstruction is a critical approach that rejects the notion of definite and fixed meanings in any work of art. "]} #ab-fullscreen-popup display: none; Find study contentLearning Materials

Origins of deconstruction can be found in Derrida's books Writing and Difference (1967) and Of Grammatology (1967) and the lecture titled 'Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences' which Derrida gave at Johns Hopkins University in a 1966 symposium.

Structuralism was a broader philosophy and critical approach that emerged in the early 20th century. In literary theory, structuralism focused on the structural and linguistic aspects of a text rather than what it represented.

A sign is the basic unit of communication that refers to anything (word, image, or symbol) that carries a meaning. In structural linguistics, the sign is made of a 'signifier' and a 'signified'.

Metaphysics is a branch of physics that studies the nature of reality and the relationship between different aspects of life, such as knowledge, perception, identity, existence, and time.

Derridean deconstruction is sometimes described as bringing a literary approach to philosophy, a way of reading philosophical texts like literature, using methods of literary analysis. Irrespective of how accurate this view of deconstruction is, Derrida is now a prominent figure in literary analysis and criticism itself.

Bear in mind that the idea of deconstruction itself is open to interpretation, and scholars define it in different ways. In many cases, a definition of deconstruction is an approximation owing to the difficulty of comprehension of Derrida's writing.

Derrida intended the concept of diffrance to demonstrate the limits of phonocentrism. Derrida developed Saussure's concept of sign, only to open up new questions about the way meaning is created and the concept of difference itself. The term diffrance simultaneously refers to the difference and deferral of meaning. In fact, Derrida describes the concept as an infinite series in the chain of signification.

The term diffrance sounds exactly the same in French as diffrence. The two terms are indistinct in speech and can only be differentiated in writing. Thus, Derrida's term diffrance showcases the complexity of the relationship between speech and sound, and the concept of difference Saussurean linguistics is based on.

In every application in arts or culture, deconstruction symbolises the lack of inherent and definite meaning. It is not easy to present examples of deconstruction itself as it can only be presented as an analysis of texts.

Feminism adopted deconstruction to dismantle the cultural assumptions surrounding gender. Feminist writers used it to challenge the dominance and presumed superiority of the masculine. The binary opposition 'man/woman' is now commonly referred to as the gender binary and has been challenged by scholars of gender studies. Feminist literary criticism often uses the deconstructionist approach to analyse literary texts.

Deconstructivism is a form of contemporary architecture that started gaining popularity in the 1990s. Deconstructivist architecture defies conventional architecture to create buildings that disobey the rules of linearity and symmetry. Similar to Derrida's theory, deconstructivist architecture broke away from structuralism in architecture.

In gastronomy, chefs nowadays take a creative approach towards food by deconstructing classic dishes. This involves presenting a dish sometimes as an aggregate of its components based on their interpretation of a dish.

As we already mentioned, Derridean deconstruction created a fissure within the intellectual community. It was subjected to aggressive and hostile attacks from established academics and philosophers. Derrida was accused of being deliberately complex and perplexing. His theory was even criticised as misguiding young intellectuals and students.

Using deconstruction in literary analysis is complex and simple at the same time. When we read something, a poem, for example, we might sometimes be too quick to look at its form and structure. Does it rhyme? What kind of literary devices are used in the poem? What is the subject matter and theme?

When we do a deconstructionist analysis, we look for ideas and meanings that usually fall through the cracks. You read between the lines, knowing that the boundaries are not rigid and there is no one correct interpretation.

This might be a good exercise to help you understand the concept of deconstruction: re-read a book a while after you first read it. Did you notice anything new or come up with a different interpretation?

The theory of deconstruction is important because it heavily influenced postmodern philosophy, intellectual thought, and literary criticism. It remains one of the most widely discussed theory in postmodernity.

Deconstruction involves closely analyzing a text or idea to reveal these underlying binary pairs and the ways in which they are unstable and contradictory. It seeks to undermine the notion that language can provide objective meaning or truth by exposing the ways in which language undercuts its own meaning, privileges certain meanings, and contains hierarchies of meaning.

Deconstruction has been widely influential in literary and cultural studies, as well as in philosophy, and has been used to analyze a wide range of texts and ideas. It has also been the subject of much debate and criticism, with some arguing that it is overly skeptical or nihilistic in its approach to meaning and truth.

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