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The Unstable Meaning of Texts: Deconstruction and Interpretation in Literary Criticism



Examples of Deconstructive Criticism in Literary




Deconstruction is a philosophical and critical approach that aims to destabilize and question the assumptions and conventions that underlie our understanding of texts and discourses. Deconstruction was developed by Jacques Derrida in the 1960s and 1970s and has been widely applied to literary criticism since then. In this article, we will explore what deconstruction is and how it applies to literary texts. We will also look at some examples of deconstructive criticism in literary works from different genres and periods.




Examples Of Deconstructive Criticism In Literary



The Principles of Deconstruction




Deconstruction is based on three main principles that challenge the traditional ways of reading and interpreting texts. These are:


  • The critique of binary oppositions



  • The critique of the stability of meaning



  • The critique of the authorial intention



Let's examine each of these principles in more detail.


Binary Oppositions




Binary oppositions are pairs of concepts or terms that are opposed or contrasted to each other, such as presence/absence, speech/writing, center/margin, etc. Binary oppositions are often used to structure and organize texts and discourses, and to create a sense of order and coherence. However, deconstruction argues that binary oppositions are problematic and problematic for several reasons:


  • They imply a hierarchy, where one term is privileged or valued over the other, such as presence over absence, speech over writing, center over margin, etc.



  • They are arbitrary, meaning that they are not based on any natural or objective criteria, but rather on cultural and historical conventions and preferences.



  • They are unstable, meaning that they can be reversed or subverted by showing that the terms are not mutually exclusive or fixed, but rather interdependent and variable.



Deconstruction aims to expose and challenge the hierarchy, arbitrariness, and instability of binary oppositions by showing how they are constructed and deconstructed in texts and discourses.


Examples of binary oppositions in literary texts




Many literary texts use binary oppositions to create tension, conflict, or contrast in their plots, characters, themes, or styles. However, some literary texts also subvert or invert the binary oppositions they use, either explicitly or implicitly, to create irony, ambiguity, or complexity. Here are some examples of how literary texts deconstruct binary oppositions:


  • In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the binary opposition between human/monster is deconstructed by showing that the creature is not inherently evil or monstrous, but rather becomes so due to the rejection and mistreatment he faces from his creator and society. The creature also challenges the distinction between human and monster by displaying human emotions, intelligence, and morality. Moreover, the novel suggests that Frankenstein himself is monstrous in his ambition, irresponsibility, and cruelty towards his creation.



  • In Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, the binary opposition between civilization/barbarism is deconstructed by showing that the European colonizers are not civilized or superior to the African natives, but rather barbaric and corrupt in their exploitation and violence. The novel also shows that the African natives are not barbaric or inferior to the Europeans, but rather have their own culture, history, and spirituality. Moreover, the novel implies that the distinction between civilization and barbarism is relative and subjective, depending on one's perspective and context.



  • In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the binary opposition between sin/virtue is deconstructed by showing that Hester Prynne, who is branded as a sinner for committing adultery, is not immoral or wicked, but rather courageous and compassionate in her defiance of the Puritan society. The novel also shows that Arthur Dimmesdale, who is revered as a virtuous minister, is not moral or righteous, but rather hypocritical and cowardly in his concealment of his sin. Moreover, the novel suggests that sin and virtue are not absolute or fixed categories, but rather depend on one's interpretation and judgment.



The Stability of Meaning




The stability of meaning refers to the idea that texts have a single or fixed meaning that can be objectively determined by referring to the author's intention, the text's structure, or the reader's context. However, deconstruction argues that meaning is not stable or fixed, but rather dependent on three factors:


  • Context: Meaning is influenced by the historical, cultural, social, and personal circumstances in which a text is produced and received.



  • Interpretation: Meaning is shaped by the reader's perspective, background knowledge, expectations, and preferences.



  • Difference: Meaning is derived from the contrast and comparison between words and concepts within a text and across texts.



Deconstruction aims to show that meaning is not given or inherent in texts, but rather constructed and deconstructed by context, interpretation, and difference.


Examples of unstable meaning in literary texts




Many literary texts use language to convey meaning in clear and coherent ways. However, some literary texts also play with the ambiguity, multiplicity, and indeterminacy of meaning, either deliberately or unintentionally, to create confusion, surprise, or complexity. Here are some examples of how literary texts deconstruct meaning:


  • In Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, the meaning of words and concepts is constantly challenged and changed by the absurd and illogical logic of Wonderland. The text uses puns, paradoxes, riddles, and nonsense to create humor, satire, and critique of language and reality.



  • In James Joyce's Ulysses, the meaning of events and characters and changing by the multiple perspectives, styles, and references that the text uses. The text draws on various literary, historical, cultural, and personal sources to create a rich and complex portrait of Dublin and its inhabitants on a single day.



  • In T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, the meaning of images and symbols is constantly fragmented and juxtaposed by the collage of quotations, allusions, and languages that the text uses. The text borrows from various literary, religious, mythological, and historical texts to create a bleak and chaotic vision of modern society and culture.



The Authorial Intention




The authorial intention refers to the idea that the author's intended meaning or message is the ultimate or authoritative source of meaning in a text. However, deconstruction argues that the author's intention is irrelevant or inaccessible for several reasons:


  • The author's intention is not necessarily expressed or reflected in the text, as the text may have unintended or unconscious meanings that escape the author's control or awareness.



  • The author's intention is not necessarily known or knowable by the reader, as the author may not reveal or explain their intention, or may have multiple or contradictory intentions.



  • The author's intention is not necessarily fixed or stable, as the author may change or revise their intention over time or in different contexts.



Deconstruction aims to question and undermine the authority and relevance of the author's intention by showing how texts can have meanings that differ from or contradict the author's intention.


Examples of authorial intention in literary texts




Many literary texts are influenced or inspired by the author's intention to convey a certain meaning or message to the reader. However, some literary texts also challenge or undermine the author's intention, either explicitly or implicitly, to create irony, paradox, or complexity. Here are some examples of how literary texts deconstruct authorial intention:


  • In Roland Barthes' The Death of the Author, the author's intention is deconstructed by arguing that the author is not a source of meaning, but rather a product of language and culture. The text claims that the author is dead, meaning that the author has no authority or influence over the meaning of a text. Instead, the text asserts that the reader is alive, meaning that the reader has the freedom and responsibility to create meaning from a text.



  • In Samuel Beckett's The Unnamable, the author's intention is deconstructed by showing that the narrator is unable to express or communicate their intention through language. The text consists of a monologue by an unnamed and indeterminate narrator who struggles to find words to describe their identity and situation. The text suggests that language is inadequate and unreliable to convey meaning and truth.



  • In Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire, the author's intention is deconstructed by creating a fictional author within the text who has a different intention from the real author. The text consists of a poem by a fictional poet named John Shade and a commentary by a fictional critic named Charles Kinbote. The text implies that Kinbote has misinterpreted and distorted Shade's poem to suit his own agenda and delusions. The text also implies that Nabokov has intentionally created this ambiguity and complexity to challenge and mock the reader's expectations and interpretations.



The Implications of Deconstruction




Deconstruction has significant implications for the way we read, write, and think about literature and other forms of discourse. Deconstruction affects three aspects of our engagement with texts:


  • The reader's role



  • The writer's strategy



  • The cultural critique



Let's examine each of these aspects in more detail.


The Reader's Role




Deconstruction empowers the reader to actively participate in the creation of meaning and to resist the dominant or conventional readings of a text. Deconstruction encourages the reader to:


  • Be aware of the assumptions and conventions that shape their reading and interpretation of texts.



  • Be open to the multiple and alternative meanings that texts can generate in different contexts and perspectives.



  • Be critical of the authority and ideology that texts may imply or impose on their readers.



Deconstruction enables the reader to become a co-author of texts, rather than a passive or submissive consumer of texts.


Examples of reader's role in literary texts




Many literary texts invite or provoke the reader to engage in deconstructive reading, either explicitly or implicitly, to create interaction, involvement, or challenge. Here are some examples of how literary texts deconstruct the reader's role:


  • In Laurence Sterne's Tristram Shandy, the reader's role is deconstructed by breaking the conventions and expectations of the novel genre. The text uses digressions, interruptions, blank pages, illustrations, and other devices to disrupt the narrative and to address the reader directly. The text invites the reader to participate in the creation of the story and to question the reliability and authority of the narrator.



  • In Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler, the reader's role is deconstructed by creating a metafictional and self-referential text. The text consists of the beginnings of ten different novels and the commentary of a second-person narrator who addresses the reader as "you". The text invites the reader to identify with the narrator and to experience the frustration and fascination of reading multiple and incomplete stories.



  • In Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves, the reader's role is deconstructed by creating a complex and multilayered text. The text consists of a manuscript by a blind man named Zampanò about a film by a photographer named Navidson about a house that is larger on the inside than on the outside. The text also includes footnotes, appendices, and annotations by a tattoo artist named Johnny Truant who found Zampanò's manuscript. The text invites the reader to navigate through the various texts and formats and to construct their own meaning and interpretation.



The Writer's Strategy




Deconstruction inspires the writer to experiment with language, form, and genre and to challenge the norms and expectations of literary expression. Deconstruction encourages the writer to:


  • Be creative and playful with language, using techniques such as wordplay, neologism, parody, irony, etc.



  • Be innovative and unconventional with form, using techniques such as fragmentation, collage, intertextuality, metafiction, etc.



  • Be diverse and hybrid with genre, using techniques such as mixing, blending, subverting, or inventing genres.



Deconstruction enables the writer to become a critic of texts, rather than a follower or imitator of texts.


Examples of writer's strategy in literary texts




Many literary texts demonstrate deconstructive writing techniques, either deliberately or unintentionally, to create originality, complexity, or critique. Here are some examples of how literary texts deconstruct the writer's strategy:


  • In James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, the writer's strategy is deconstructed by creating a novel that defies the rules and conventions of language and narrative. The text uses a multilingual and polyphonic language that combines words from different languages, dialects, registers, and sources. The text also uses a circular and nonlinear narrative that blends history, mythology, literature, and dreams.



  • In Laurence Sterne's The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman., the writer's strategy is deconstructed by creating a novel that mocks and subverts the expectations and conventions of the novel genre. The text uses digressions, interruptions, blank pages, illustrations, and other devices to disrupt the narrative and to address the reader directly. The text also uses irony, parody, satire, and metafiction to critique the literary and social norms of its time.



  • In Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, the writer's strategy is deconstructed by creating a novel that mixes and blends different genres and styles. The text combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, autobiography, satire, and metafiction. The text also uses techniques such as time travel, alien abduction, nonlinear narrative, intertextuality, and self-reference to create a complex and multifaceted story.



The Cultural Critique




Deconstruction enables the critique of the cultural and ideological assumptions and implications of texts and discourses. Deconstruction enables the critique to:


  • Expose and challenge the power structures and relations that shape and influence texts and discourses.



by texts and discourses.


  • Expose and challenge the marginal or alternative ideologies and discourses that are suppressed or ignored by texts and discourses.



Deconstruction enables the critique to become a tool of resistance and transformation of texts and discourses.


Examples of cultural critique in literary texts




Many literary texts use deconstruction to expose or resist the dominant or oppressive ideologies and discourses in their contexts, either explicitly or implicitly, to create awareness, subversion, or empowerment. Here are some examples of how literary texts deconstruct cultural critique:


  • In Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, the cultural critique is deconstructed by creating a prequel to Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre that challenges the colonial and patriarchal discourses of the original text. The text gives voice and agency to Bertha Mason, the madwoman in the attic, who is portrayed as a victim of racism, sexism, and oppression in the Caribbean and England.



  • In Toni Morrison's Beloved, the cultural critique is deconstructed by creating a novel that exposes and resists the slavery and racism discourses of American history and literature. The text tells the story of Sethe, a former slave who killed her daughter to save her from slavery, and Beloved, the ghost of her daughter who haunts her. The text uses techniques such as magical realism, nonlinear narrative, and multiple perspectives to create a complex and powerful representation of the trauma and legacy of slavery.



  • In Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the cultural critique is deconstructed by creating a novel that exposes and resists the patriarchal and religious discourses of a dystopian society. The text tells the story of Offred, a handmaid who is forced to bear children for a powerful commander in a totalitarian regime called Gilead. The text uses techniques such as satire, irony, intertextuality, and metafiction to create a chilling and provocative vision of a possible future.



Conclusion




In this article, we have explored what deconstruction is and how it applies to literary texts. We have also looked at some examples of deconstructive criticism in literary works from different genres and periods. We have seen that deconstruction is a philosophical and critical approach that aims to destabilize and question the assumptions and conventions that underlie our understanding of texts and discourses. Deconstruction is based on three main principles that challenge the traditional ways of reading and interpreting texts: the critique of binary oppositions, the critique of the stability of meaning, and the critique of the authorial intention. Deconstruction has significant implications for the way we read, write, and think about literature and other forms of discourse. Deconstruction affects three aspects of our engagement with texts: the reader's role, the writer's strategy, and the cultural critique. Deconstruction empowers the reader to actively participate in the creation of meaning and to resist the dominant or conventional readings of a text. Deconstruction inspires the writer to experiment with language, form, and genre and to challenge the norms and expectations of literary expression. Deconstruction enables the critique of the cultural and ideological assumptions and implications of texts and discourses.


Deconstruction is not a method or a doctrine, but rather a practice and an attitude that can enrich and transform our experience and understanding of literature and other forms of discourse.


FAQs




  • What is deconstruction?



Deconstruction is a philosophical and critical approach that aims to destabilize and question the assumptions and conventions that underlie our understanding of texts and discourses.


  • What are the main principles of deconstruction?



The main principles of deconstruction are: the critique of binary oppositions, the critique of the stability of meaning, and the critique of the authorial intention.


  • What are some examples of deconstructive criticism in literary texts?



Some examples of deconstructive criticism in literary texts are: Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness, The Scarlet Letter, Alice in Wonderland, Ulysses, The Waste Land, The Death of the Author, The Unnamable, Pale Fire, Tristram Shandy, If on a winter's night a traveler, House of Leaves, Finnegans Wake, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman., Slaughterhouse-Five, Wide Sargasso Sea, Beloved, and The Handmaid's Tale.


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