Deconstructionism

Morgan Bao, Atlas Qian, Chris Jung, Danial Zirvi

APPLE
Language structure

Sign = signifier + signified

Signs make up an image in a

person’s mind
- Depends on an
individual’s experiences
 The Proliferation of Meanings
Signs cannot be pinned down to any single experience such as one might have in
writing, reading, uttering, or hearing it.

Each signifier is defined by another chain of signifiers with no definitive end. Derrida
mentions that we take the trace left by these signifiers as meaning.

“iterability alters”: The insertion of text into different contexts results in different
meanings. The “play” highlights the shifting meanings and instability of language.

1. Think of an apple and then connect it with things it is associated with

2. Repeat this process indefinitely
“Apple”
Derrida’s Deconstruction
Introduced by Jacques Derrida in the late 1960s and became a major
influence in literary studies in the late 1970s.

● Poststructuralist approach: Critiques structuralism, challenging

the assumption that meanings are stable or universal.
● Argues that meanings in texts are unstable and conflicting.
● Reveals multiple meanings within texts, rather than showing them
as meaningless.
 What’s the Point?

● Note binary oppositions

● Opposites have a hierarchy
● Expose the complexities of language
● Show the limitations of traditional logic
Binary Oppositions

Good/Evil
Light/Dark

Are these opposites absolute? To what extent?

 Binary Oppositions

Binary: Social construct that every concept is

made up of two opposing parts

Binary opposition: Out of each pair of opposites,

one is privileged.
 Binary Oppositions: Conflicting and
Overlapping Meanings
Rather than destroying binary oppositions (e.g., good/evil, presence/absence),
deconstruction reveals them as nested oppositions.

● Each element in a binary pair is shown to be dependent on the other for its
meaning, undermining the idea of pure opposition.
● Hierarchical Structures: Deconstruction exposes how these binaries often
privilege one term over the other (e.g., privileging "presence" over "absence")
and attempts to unsettle this hierarchy.
● In doing so deconstruction finds that meanings in language are in a state of
constant flux due, always shifting and never fixed.
The Impact of Deconstructionism: Breaking
Down Ideologies
● Knowledge of the past is socially constructed, and written history exists within
current power structures
● Deconstructionist history was created in response to the traditionalists using
historical narrative to turn evidence into “facts”
○ Certain ideologies are embedded into text and are presented as objective
truths

● By identifying binary oppositions and overlapping meanings, deconstructionists

acknowledge what ideology the text promotes and the limitations of said
ideology
Deconstruction of Language
The author’s interpretation of their
text in itself is biased, and cannot be
trusted or relied on.
- Not only meaning

Language is overly ambiguous

- Infinite meanings -> infinite
interpretations
 Word Choice
Even with the most straightforward sentence, deconstruction urges to question more about
the sentence based on the tone and emphasize placed on words.

“Time flies like an arrow” -> Time moves quickly.

However the meanings can change based on what part is emphasized.

Time flies like an arrow:

Time flies like an arrow:

This example reflects the “slippery” quality of language as changing the tone
allows for multiple different interpretations.
Reading against the Grain
Dominant reading
● Most common and widely accepted
● Easiest interpretation for the reader to see
(most obvious)
Alternative reading
● Different from dominant readings but don’t
challenge it
Resistant readings
● Challenges dominant reading
● Explores less obvious meanings
In what way does your literary criticism
agree/disagree?
Différance
● Différance is Derrida’s combination of “to defer” and “to differ”
(difference and deferment)
● Meanings are deferred because understanding is always
postponed. Each signifier leads to another signifier in an endless
chain which takes time.
● Each part or signifier owes its existence to its difference from
other signifiers. We define something by understanding what it is
not.
○ An apple having the signifier sweet means that there must be
another signifier which relates to something not sweet.
Undecidability
● The reader’s interpretations are bound to the endless proliferation of meanings
in language.
○ The figure of a ghost seems to neither present nor absent, or alternatively
it is both present and absent at the same time.
● It is Derrida’s attempt to tackle dualism in its overarching conception that helps
define the transcendental signified.

Transcendental Signified is the idea of a fixed meaning that grounds all

understanding. However Derrida rejects this, arguing that meaning is unstable;
rather it is shaped by différance that reveals the impurity and instability of meaning.

In the game 20 questions you can derive the answer by asking what it is not.
Every idea and concept is derived from the différance.
Logocentrism
Derrida calls the Western philosophy of fixed, grounded principles logocentric.
● These concepts (logos) are placed at the center (centric) of understanding.

From a deconstructionist perspective, nothing is grounded in our ever evolving

world. Concepts like Plato’s Forms & Descartes’ Cogito defy this by remaining
unchanged. Being “out of play,” they attempt to explain a world they exist
outside of.

There is no ground, no center, as language disseminates and provides an infinite

amount of interpretations.
 Wholeness
The whole of a text exists prior to its parts; no matter how we
experience it, it remains as it is.

Fixation on the individual parts of a text neglects the

wholeness that forms foundation of the text. We must consider
ALL possible meanings in order acknowledge the full amount of
interpretations.

“To restrict oneself in any way whatsoever to any one part to the
exclusion of others is to fail to realize that the very existence of the
chosen part depends on those that have been excluded” (NUYEN 30).
Deconstruction Within Literary Discourse
● Doesn’t destroy texts — picks up parts and analyzes/finds things
that are overlooked by traditional readings
● Shows how texts often conflict themselves
○ Demonstrates undecidability of meaning

Example:
● The Great Gatsby’s condemnation of American decadence
in the 1920s is undermined by the text’s ambivalence
towards binary oppositions
○ Reveals internal contradictions
Discuss
again
 Major Theorists: Jacques Derrida
● Exposed the contradictions and assumptions that come from language,
texts, and systems of thought
● Emphasizes that the meaning of a particular object, or a particular word, is
never stable, but always in the process of change.

“Language is not the reliable tool of

communication, but rather a fluid
ambiguous domain of complex experience in
which ideologies program us without our
being aware of them.”

(1930 - 2004)
 Major Theorists: Harold Bloom

● Regards the development of Western

literature as a process of borrowing and
misreading
● Pioneered the Western literary canon
● Developed the theory of “anxiety of
influence,” emphasizing how writers
contend with the impact of their
predecessors
(1930 - 2019)
Major Theorists: Paul de Man

● Friend of Derrida, pioneer of

deconstructionism
● Challenged traditional analytical
practices in the 1960s
● Developed “rhetoric reading” in his
pursuit to address the relationship
between rhetoric and ideology

(1919 - 1983)
 Major Theorists: Luce Irigaray

● Delivered interdisciplinary critique

of philosophy, psychoanalysis, and
linguistics
● Introduced a feminist perspective
to these fields
○ Uncovered the absence of a
female subject position in
Western literature
(1930 - PRESENT)
Key Takeaways
● Meaning is not fixed
● Words gain meaning not from a fixed definition, but through their
relationship with other words (différence)
● Texts are inherently unstable, and their meaning depends on context
and the readers perspective
● Binary oppositions are socially constructed
● Infinite amount of interpretations—anti-Logocentrism

Deconstruction is not about destroying meaning, but about showing that

meaning is constructed & open to reinterpretation. It highlights the
complexities of language, encouraging critical thinking and humility.
Any Questions?