deconstruction (thing)

Deconstruction can refer to a school of literary criticism, i.e. deconstructionism. This school originates with the emergence of poststructuralism out of structuralism, mainly in the theories of Jacques Derrida. This is a reactionary theory, challenging structuralist schools in that it asserts that a text can have many different meanings, and that meaning is subjective.

The emergence I spoke of before actually refers to a very complex paradigm shift in metaphysics that occurred, generally speaking, in the late 1960's. There are of course forerunners to the theory, often seen in Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Altizer. These two philosophers, along with Derrida, challenged the belief that there is as objective reality. They believed that such a thing does not exist; the truth changes with the viewpoint. Specifically, Derrida objects to the Structuralist belief that there is a transcendental signified, "an external point of reference upon which one may build a concept of philosophy." In denying this view, one may look at Derrida as a Hume denying the Platonic view of Transcendental Objects.

Derrida's objection has much more ramifications than can be seen in the Structuralist school alone. He sees their method of thinking as something that is pervasive throughout Western metaphysics. He also thinks its wrong.

Derrida goes on to show that believing in a central origin of meaning results in a logic system that is built on binary oppositions. To explain how I will need to more clearly define what a Transcendental Signified actually is. Based in the Structuralist doctrine, that asserts language is a method of applying words, signifiers, to concepts, signifieds, "meaning is determined by the differences among the language signs." A transcendental signified is then a primary concept which allows other concepts to exist. For example, by believing in the concept of myself, I can believe in the concepts of other things, as they relate to me. Derrida condemns this idea, calling it logocentrism, "the belief that there is an ultimate reality or center of truth that can serve as a base for all our thoughts and actions." The existence of this, he argues, causes Western language to be a system of binary oppositions. By believing in myself, I must believe in my non self. By believing in sound, I must believe in silence. In this sense, me/not me are binary oppositions, as are sound/silence. Another example is writing and speech.

This is problematic because, to introduce another Derrida born vocabulary word, phonocentic thinking results; this is the attachment of superior and inferior qualities to binary oppositions. For example, that good is superior to evil, or that speech is superior to writing. Derrida condemns this "bad philosophy" and sums it all up with yet another term, the metaphysics of presence, or combination of bad Western thoughts like phonocentrism, logocentrism and so on.

What a deconstruction does then, is allow a reversing of the binary opposition to illuminate the superior and inferior qualities placed on them, to shake the ground of Western thought. Doing so should result in a revealing of thoughts, and extrapalation of meaning. A student of this school "deconstructs" the binary oppositions, thus the term, "deconstructor." For example, when one reverses the binary of reader and text, one finds that the meaning, thought to be coming from only the text, is now generated by the reader. This, Derrida argues, demonstrates the difference between a text and its meaning. The reader creates meaning while reading. And thus, one of the most beautiful things about Deconstruction is born; it demands tolerance for other interpretations of literature.

Deconstruction gave rise to several important American critics, such as Paul de Man, Haydon White, Geoffrey Hartman, J. Hillis Miller, and Barbara Johnson. It also helped create the other poststructuralist schools of New Historicism, and Postcolonial Theory.