Deconstruction Criticism
Deconstruction, a movement in literary criticism initiated by Jacques Derrida in the 1960s, challenges traditional notions of meaning and textual interpretation. Derrida's seminal works, including Of Grammatology and Writing and Difference, draw on diverse philosophical and linguistic theories from figures such as Heidegger, Saussure, and Freud. Introduced in the United States at a 1966 symposium, deconstruction became influential through Derrida's collaboration with thinkers like Lacan and Paul de Man.
The central tenet of deconstruction posits that textual meaning is inherently unstable and perpetually deferred, a concept embodied in Derrida's use of the term "différer." This dual notion of difference and deferral between signified and signifier compels critics to uncover contradictions within a text's internal logic, a process that can infinitely deconstruct itself. The approach critiques logocentrism, questioning language's capacity to convey absolute truth.
Deconstruction has sparked substantial debate, with critics like M. H. Abrams delivering powerful critiques against it, and others like Steven E. Cole and Archibald A. Hill examining its limitations. However, proponents find it innovative, applying it across literature, philosophy, and history. Notable applications include Lance St. John Butler's analysis of Beckett and Shawn St. Jean's work on Dreiser. Scholars like Edward Said and David B. Allison explore its implications in historical and philosophical contexts, revealing deconstruction's broad and contentious influence.
Contents
- Representative Works
-
Criticism: Overviews And General Studies
-
The Deconstructive Angel
(summary)
In the following essay, which many critics consider the strongest and most influential critique of deconstruction, Abrams points out the limitations of deconstruction in literary criticism.
-
J. Hillis Miller, Deconstruction, and the Recovery of Transcendence
(summary)
In the following essay, Atkins explores the charge of lack of spiritual concern leveled against deconstructionist critics, pointing out that their writings reinterpret rather than negate questions of the spiritual.
-
The Sign as a Structure of Difference: Derridean Deconstruction and Some of Its Implications
(summary)
In the following essay, Atkins discusses the ideas of Derrida, a leading practitioner of deconstruction, defending him from accusations of nihilism and undermining the humanistic tradition in literature.
-
The Dead-end of Deconstruction: Paul de Man and the Fate of Poetic Language
(summary)
In the following essay, Cole focuses on the critical theory of de Man, suggesting that his deconstruction of meaning in literature leads not to liberation from tradition, but to a logical dead end.
-
Deconstruction and Analysis of Meaning in Literature
(summary)
In the following essay, Hill discusses Hartman's deconstructionist interpretation of selected poems and posits that deconstructionist critics confuse textual with contextual meaning.
-
Deconstruction and America
(summary)
In the following essay, de Vries presents an overview of issues raised by deconstruction theory as it was introduced and flourished in the United States.
-
The Deconstructive Angel
(summary)
-
Criticism: Deconstruction And Literature
-
The Challenge of Deconstruction
(summary)
In the following essay, Muller and Richardson present a survey of the critical dialogue between Lacan and Derrida regarding Lacan's interpretation of Poe's “The Purloined Letter,” emphasizing that Derrida's method is to “deconstruct logocentrism.”
-
Making and Breaking Meaning: Deconstruction, Four-Level Allegory, and The Metamorphosis
(summary)
In the following essay, Ben-Ephraim demonstrates how Kafka both builds up and deconstructs the traditional pattern of allegory in his The Metamorphosis.
-
Beckett's Stage of Deconstruction
(summary)
In the following essay, Butler examines deconstructive elements in several plays by Beckett, suggesting that in them Beckett attempts to “escape … from the tyranny of the signifier.”
-
‘Word-Perfect But Deed-Demented’: Canon Formation, Deconstruction, and the Challenge of D. H. Lawrence
(summary)
In the following essay, Findlay considers Lawrence's Studies in Classic American Literature in light of deconstructionist critical methodology, emphasizing his belief in multiple textual meanings.
-
Social Deconstruction and An American Tragedy
(summary)
In the following essay, St. Jean explores how a deconstructionist approach to Dreiser's An American Tragedy illuminates his focus on the relativism of truth in the novel.
-
The Challenge of Deconstruction
(summary)
-
Criticism: Deconstruction In Philosophy And History
-
An Exchange on Deconstruction and History
(summary)
In the following conversation following a presentation, Said, Logan, Donato, and others discuss some theoretical implications of deconstruction for the study of history.
-
Destruction/Deconstruction in the Text of Nietzsche
(summary)
In the following essay, Allison examines elements of deconstruction theory in several texts by Nietzsche, also commenting on Derrida's interpretation of those texts.
-
Semiotics and Deconstruction
(summary)
In the following essay, Culler examines the interplay between deconstruction methodology and semiotics, noting that semiotics can benefit from “the most rigorous pursuit of logic” in the text that is the hallmark of deconstruction.
-
Derrida and Sartre: Hegel's Death Knell
(summary)
In the following essay, Howells discusses the textual interplay between the works of Hegel, Sartre, and Derrida—with Derrida attempting to refute Sartre, and both Derrida and Sartre attempting to refute Hegel.
-
‘You Who Never Was There’: Slavery and the New Historicism—Deconstruction and the Holocaust
(summary)
In the following essay, Michaels uses the example of the treatment of the Holocaust by American academics as an example of the importance of upholding cultural myths.
-
An Exchange on Deconstruction and History
(summary)
- Further Reading