Deconstruction is a literary theory developed by Jacques Derrida that exposes cultural biases and challenges traditional interpretations of texts by revealing underlying assumptions and contradictions. It emphasizes that texts lack fixed meanings and encourages readers to analyze sentence structures and investigate biases to uncover new interpretations. Deconstruction aligns with socio-political critiques, particularly regarding sexual and racial politics, by advocating skepticism and alternative readings.

1. How to Deconstruct a Text?
Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique.
Do not naturalize what is not natural.
Deconstruction insists not that truth is illusory but that truth is institutional.

2. Introduction
▪ Deconstruction is a philosophical movement spearheaded by French thinker Jacques Derrida and other
critics during the 1960s.
▪ As a literary theory, it focuses on exposing cultural biases in all texts, whether a passage in a popular book
or the flashing script of a television ad.
▪ Readers engaged in deconstruction analyze words and sentences to identify inherent biases and call into
question commonplace interpretations of the text.
▪ While this may sound presumptuous or cynical on the front end, deconstruction isn’t about destroying
meaning. Rather, it’s about undermining ingrained assumptions to view things in a new light (Neuffer, “How
to Deconstruct aText.”).

3. Deconstruction as Literary Criticism
▪ Deconstruction, as applied in the criticism of literature, designates a theory and practice of
reading which questions and claims to "subvert" or "undermine" the assumption that the system
of language provides grounds that are adequate to establish the boundaries, the coherence or
unity, and the determinate meanings of a literary text.
▪ Typically, a deconstructive reading sets out to show that conflicting forces within the text itself
serve to dissipate the seeming definiteness of its structure and meanings into an indefinite array
of incompatible and undecidable possibilities (Barad, “Deconstruction and Derrida.”)

4. Paradox about paradox
▪ Deconstructionism, as applied to literary criticism, is a paradox about a paradox: It assumes that
all discourse, even all historical narrative, is essentially disguised self-revelatory messages.
▪ Being subjective, the text has no fixed meaning, so when we read, we are prone to misread.
▪ Deconstruction transformed everything into social commentary, easily making affinities with
sexual and racial politics, two other militant philosophies that challenge the sanctity of text.
▪ It presented itself as a supra-ideological mode of analysis, exposing the ideological aberrations
of others while seemingly possessing none itself (Bradbury, “Deconstructionism and Literature (Practice) |The ScholarWho Misread
History.”).

5. Oppose Prevailing Wisdom
▪ The first thing you’ll have to do is question the common meaning or prevailing theories of the text you're
deconstructing.
▪ When deconstructing, you need to start from a place of critical opposition.
▪ The only assumption you can make is that the meaning of the text is unstable and what others have told you
about it is based on their own assumptions.
▪ In other words, you need to be skeptical from the onset.
▪ Unhinge yourself from traditional interpretations and dig into the specifics of the text. Like a scientist on the
fringe of discovery, look for evidence to support alternative views (Neuffer, “How to Deconstruct aText.”).

6. Expose Cultural Bias
▪ Practitioners of the deconstructive method refer to cultural biases in texts in a number of lofty ways, calling them
"binaries“, "hierarchical oppositions" and “violent hierarchical”.
▪ To understand these interchangeable terms, remember that certain words and the concepts they represent are
often privileged, or emphasized more, than their opposite words and concepts -- rich over poor, male over female,
enlightened over ignorant.
▪ For instance, if a poet personifies everything in nature -- the sun, the moon, the sea -- as being male, you might
conclude that the text has a male bias. If a novelist portrays white European culture as “learned” and
“sophisticated” in contrast to other cultures of the world, you might suspect a Western, Euro-centric bias in the
text. It’s your job to root out these biases (Neuffer, “How to Deconstruct aText.”).

7. Analyze Sentence Structure
▪ One way to investigate underlying meaning of a text is to analyze sentence structure, specifically the
arrangement of subject and object.
▪ Ask yourself if a person or thing represented as an object in the text makes it subordinate to the subject in
some way.
▪ For instance, if a novel's male protagonist is always the initiator of action rather than the recipient -- “He took
her to the store; he bought her earrings; he found some food she would like” -- the recurrent sentence
structure may reinforce the protagonist’s power over the dependent character.
▪ Look for these patterns and determine if the points of view of other characters are limited to favor cultural bias
(Neuffer, “How to Deconstruct aText.”).

8. Play With Possible Meanings
▪ After you’ve analyzed the text for biases, see if your discoveries support a new interpretation.
▪ While many associate deconstruction with destruction of meaning, the opposite is true.
▪ According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Holland, (“Deconstruction | Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy.”), by assessing the biases of a given text -- the social and historical conventions that
helped produce it -- you’ve opened up the words and sentences to an infinite amount of possible,
if partial, readings. (Neuffer, “How to Deconstruct aText.”).

9. Examples
▪ Video on Deconstructive Reading of the Sonnet 18:
https://ed.ted.com/on/r9V6IJiO
▪ Deconstructive Reading of the Sonnet 18 – Presentation:
https://www.slideshare.net/dilipbarad/deconstructive-reading-of-
sonnet-shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summers-day
▪ Deconstructive interpretation of an image: School in Forest:
https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2017/01/education-system-school-in-
forest.html
▪ Deconstructive reading of ‘Waiting forGodot’:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279847921_Waiting_for_
Godot_A_Deconstructive_Study

10. References
▪ Akhter, Javed, Balochistan Quetta, and Balochistan Pakistan. “Waiting for Godot:A Deconstructive Study.” International
Journal of Research in SocialSciencesAnd Humanities Http://Www.Ijrssh.Com (IJRSSH) 2015,Vol. No. 5, Issue No. II, Apr-Jun
ISSN: 2249-4642 2 (July 1, 2015): 42–63.
▪ Barad, Dilip. “Deconstruction and Derrida.” Accessed August 28, 2021. https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2015/03/deconstruction-
and-derrida.html.
▪ ———. “Deconstructive Reading of Sonnet - Shall I CompareThee to a Summer’s….” 14:46:39 UTC.
https://www.slideshare.net/dilipbarad/deconstructive-reading-of-sonnet-shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summers-day.
▪ ———. “Symbols in Midnight’s Children.” 12:39:03 UTC. https://www.slideshare.net/dilipbarad/symbols-in-midnights-
children.
▪ ———. “Welcome: Education System: School in Forest.” Accessed August 28, 2021.
https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2017/01/education-system-school-in-forest.html.
▪ Bradbury, M. “Deconstructionism and Literature (Practice) |The ScholarWho Misread History.” KhanAcademy. Accessed
August 28, 2021. https://www.khanacademy.org/_render.
▪ Holland, Nancy. “Deconstruction | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.”Accessed August 28, 2021.
https://iep.utm.edu/deconst/.
▪ Neuffer, Scott. “How to Deconstruct aText.” Pen & the Pad. Accessed August 28, 2021.
https://penandthepad.com/deconstruct-text-2122472.html.