Deconstruction Flashcards
(22 cards)
Deconstruction
represented by Jacques Derrida, Philosophical system underlines the roles of the context and the reader interested in the act of reading looking for the Other and the new
Deconstructionism
Paul de Mand
draws attention to self-referentiality of literature
investigates the rhetorical figures and tropes through close reading
interested in the discrepancy between the linguistic reality and natural reality between the words, their sounds and their meanings
Derrida
1966
The Philosophy of Deconstruction
A critique of logocentrism there must be a base of everything
The Philosophy of Deconstruction
Challenging commonly accepted truths
revealing Paradoxes, stemming from the acceptance of easy duality, acknowledged pairs of opposites good bad, right wrong
The Philosophy of Deconstruction
Oppositions Vs. quasi-transcendentalia
we are both made up both sameness and otherness
we are defined as other in relation to other things
so our identity is hinged upon the Other (me vs. not me
The paradox of Other: it is elusive, impossible to tame, familiarize but also calling for a dialogue, answer
Affirmation: embracing the Other (saying Yes) enables communication
Deconstruction and Literature
Language Play
The interaction between different elements of the text
Deconstruction and Literature
Main Interest
the surplus of meaning, the inexpressible, the Other, the surprise, incongruence
Deconstruction and Literature
there is nothing outside the Text
Derrida
Deconstruction and Literature
Invention
looking for new ways of talking about literature, especially ones destabilizing the institutions: looking for new rules for new contexts
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms
Aporia, Differance, Idiom, Institution
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms APORIA
a rhetorical device used to express doubt
to be or not to be
in deconstruction, a paradox or an impasse, resulting from a possible-impossible situation
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms DIFFERANCE
the result of the play of language: constant tension between different words, which meaning remains indeterminate
the liberation from the aporetic impasse
Assume the constant change of meanings, escaping from final definitions
Literature provides the space for taling about the inexpressible, the aporetic
There is no literature-in-self, no pure essence, it is submerged in history, especially literary history
Literature composed of individual idioms and general
tradition, which cannot be fully reconciled
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms DIFFERANCE Idiom
the unique composition of the literary work, challenging converntions
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms DIFFERANCE Institution
the conventions which enable the expression of the literary work
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms DIFFERANCE
a philosophy of openness towards the text, looking for the meaning in the ambiguites
Meaning is created through repetition in different contexts, thus it is essentially changing
Each reading is different and unrepeatable
Deconstruction and Literature
Key Terms DIFFERANCE
dynamic relations of meaning, the relation between the reader and the text
Creative re-reading constitutes the enduring character of the text
Deconstruction and Literature
Methods
a rigorous exegesis with traditional methods to uncover discrepancies
Investigating instances of logocentrism and binary opposites good bad new meaning?
reading one text multiple times and constructing a different answer for each reading, e.g. through the choice of various genre, conventions, points of view
Paul De Man Quote
1979 literature does not reveal anything about us, the world, good, evil, beauty but only about the language it uses
The literal meaning is always weakened by the figurative
Paul De Man Irony
superior linguistic mode, wherein the word acquire meanings far beyond the intended ones
Paul De Man
Method
the analysis is rooted in the text
Not much use for the context of the work
the reader’s presence should be minimized
Investigating the discrepancies between the grammatic meaning and the rhetoric meaning
the tension between the assumed authorial meaning and the interplay between the tropes and figures
logocentrism
a method of literary analysis in which words and language are regarded as a fundamental expression of external reality, excluding nonlinguistic factors such as historical context. 2. excessive faith in the meanings of words or their specific usages. logocentric, adjective
