3. DECONSTRUCTION
“A method of critical analysis of philosophical and
literary language which emphasizes the internal
workings of language and conceptual systems, the
relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions
implicit in forms of expression.”
5. DECONSTRUCTION
HISTORY OF DECONSTRUCTION
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) and Fredrick Nietzsche (1844-
1900) were pioneers in deconstruction.
They began to question the objective truth of language.
This is also known as Poststructuralist, this criticism came
after Structuralism.
6. DECONSTRUCTION
FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE
Looked at language Diachronically.
He traced words over time looking for the changes in
sounds and meanings.
7. DECONSTRUCTION
RULES OF LANGUAGE
These rules of language were developed by Ferdinand de Saussure.
Langue - Language is made of a set of rules, known as this.
Parole - General rules of language applied by members of a
specific community.
Signs – He depicted language as a set of signs, that came in two
parts the Signifier and the Signified
8. DECONSTRUCTION
SIGNIFIED AND SIGNIFIER IN
DECONSTRUCTION
Signifier – The written and sound construction that makes up a word
Signified – The meaning of the word.
Deconstruction looks at the ambiguities in signifiers, and states that there
can be many different signified meanings for a single signifier
9. DECONSTRUCTION
BINARY OPPOSITIONS
The most important part of Deconstruction.
This literary criticism uses Binary Oppositions to look at what is
not in a story.
Of the two parts of binary oppositions, There is a dominant and a
oppressed or non-dominant.
10. DECONSTRUCTION
OTHERS INVOLVED
Roland Barthes(1915-1980) – French Theorist whom worked on the
development of structuralism and Deconstruction.
Vladamir Propp (1895-1970) – Russian scholar that worked on folk tales.
Jonathan Culler(1944-Today) – Worked at Cornell University; Worked
on Structuralism.
11. DECONSTRUCTION
IMPACT OF DECONSTRUCTION
Takes away from the text because you are looking for what's not
there.
Makes literature seem like ―Word Play
Humanists view it as a ―wedge between life and literature, Looks
for the Ideologies that are in our language.
12. DECONSTRUCTION
DECONSTRUCTION IN PRACTICE
In deconstruction the signified and the signifier are unstable, and
can take on multiple meanings.
We live in a logo centric world – We want to believe that
everything is grounded.
In Deconstruction, this is the opposite of the logo centric view.
13. DECONSTRUCTION
DECONSTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
In a Deconstructive analysis you are looking to reverse the
dominant and non-dominant binary oppositions. Giving the
privileged status to the oppressed of the two Binary opposites. Tries
to find blind spots in the literature. Derrida derived this method
because ―By deconstructing constraints, he tried to open new ways
of thinking and knowing.
15. DECONSTRUCTION
Usually symbolizing death so the opposite could be life.
This poem then could be talking about the Rebirth of humans in
religion.
Snow By Frederick Seidel Snow is what it does. “It falls and it stays
and it goes. It melts and it is here somewhere. We all will get there.”
Source: Poetry (September 2012).
16. DECONSTRUCTION
SIX LINES FOR LOUISE BOGAN
This poem almost deconstructs itself.
Notice that there are 2 parts to each sentence, making 4 in each line.
This poem tells of each opposite in itself.
Tamed
Love
Wildness
17. DECONSTRUCTION
Beloved Six Lines for Louise Bogan By Michael Collier
“All that has tamed me I have learned to love and lost that wildness that was
once beloved. All that was loved I’ve learned to tame and lost the beloved that
once was wild. All that is wild is tamed by love— and the beloved (wildness)
that once was loved.”
Source: Poetry (April 2012).
