Deconstruction and Derrida
Deconstruction, a critical theory introduced by French philosopher Jacques Derrida, challenges traditional assumptions about the ability of language to represent reality. Emerging in the 1960s, Derrida's deconstruction is rooted in the idea that meaning is not fixed but rather constructed through differences and oppositions within language. By analyzing texts to reveal inherent contradictions and ambiguities, deconstruction seeks to dismantle established hierarchical binaries, such as speech over writing or presence over absence. This approach has profoundly influenced various fields, including literature, philosophy, and cultural studies, by emphasizing the fluidity and instability of meaning.
Jacques Derrida was a French philosopher whose potent critique of Western philosophy comes among towering figures of intellectual life in the late 20th century. At the core of his philosophical work stands deconstruction: a methodology he employed in many texts. Derrida’s deconstruction resulted from careful reading of the linguist Ferdinand de Saussure and the phenomenology of Husserl and Heidegger. It makes him one of the most discussed writers in post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy, as well.
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Video 1
1. Why is it difficult to define Deconstruction?
Derrida questions throughout his career that is it possible to define something and if so, then to what extent. He himself refused to define Deconstruction and believes it cannot be properly defined.
2. Is Deconstruction a negative term?
No, Deconstruction is not a negative term because it is not a destructive activity. It is an inquiry into the foundations.
3. How does Deconstruction happen on its own?
The conditions that give “meaning” to a system simultaneously impose limits on it. When we question these foundational conditions, we break free from their constraints. Therefore, investigating these foundations can undermine the entire system. In this way, deconstruction happens on its own.
Video 2
1. The influence of Heidegger on Derrida
The influence of Heidegger on Derrida is undeniable. Derrida himself acknowledges the influence of thinkers such as Heidegger, Freud and Nietzsche in his essay, “Structure, Sign and Play”. The ideas by Heidegger are continued by Derrida.
2. Derridean rethinking of the foundations of Western philosophy
Derrida rethinks the foundation of Western philosophy because he thinks that more importance is given to language as speech rather then language as writing. He calls it “Phonocentricism”.
Video 3
1. Ferdinand de Saussureian concept of language (that meaning is arbitrary, relational, constitutive)
Ferdinand de Saussure, in his book ‘Course in General Linguistics’, discusses the concept of language. He argues that the connection between a word and its meaning is not natural but an arbitrary one. We use a certain word to mean a certain thing because of social convention.
2. How Derrida deconstructs the idea of arbitrariness?
Derrida deconstructs the idea given by Ferdinand by saying that the meaning of any word is nothing but the other word.
3. Concept of metaphysics of presence
Metaphysics of Presence is when we consider being of something and connect it to its presence. It’s when the presence of something is taken as proof of its existence.
Video 4
1. Derridean concept of DifferAnce
The Derridean concept of DifferAnce is a complicated one. In fact, it is not an idea or a concept but of force which makes differentiation possible. It makes postponing the true meaning possible. It is both a negative and a positive term. At the same time, it is neither.
2. Infinite play of meaning
Derrida says that we always assume that we understood something. In reality, we’ve just stopped asking question. The ultimate meaning is always postponed. He even goes on to say that it is a myth.
3. DIfferAnce = to differ + to defer
Derrida combines two words: difference and deference. Difference is to differentiate a word from another to understand its meaning. We do not define, actually, we differentiate. Deference means the meaning of the word is postponed. Through the combination of both the words, he tried to differentiate the speech and the word.
Video 5
1. Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences
It is an essay by Jacques Derrida, presented in 1966, at the colloquium on ‘Structuralism’ at the John Hopkins University. It is a very important document that inaugurated Post structuralism. This essay is actually a critic of Claud Levi-Strauss’ “ Structural Anthropology”.
2. Explain: "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique."
Derrida says that there is something missing in language which makes it impossible to reach the ultimate meaning. Essentially, the criticism used against tradition uses the same assumptions that tradition is using. This means, criticism cannot go outside of tradition. Because of this, whenever we critique something, we start to resemble that very thing.
Video 6
1. The Yale School: the hub of the practitioners of Deconstruction in the literary theories
During the 1970s, the Yale School became the hub of deconstruction. They are responsible for bringing deconstruction from philosophy to literary criticism. Due to their influence, scholars like Paul de Man, J. Hillis Miller, Harold Bloom and Geoffrey Hartman, were considered Yale hermeneutic mafia.
2. The characteristics of the Yale School of Deconstruction
There are three major characteristics of Yale School of Deconstruction. They are:-
1) They look at literature as a rhetorical or figurative construct. They showed that literature can create multiplicity of meaning by focusing on various figures of speech.
2) They question aesthetics as well as formalist approach to literature. They also questioned the historic or socialist approach to literature.
3) They had a preoccupation with Romanticism.
Video 7
1. How other schools like New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Feminism, Marxism and Postcolonial theorists used Deconstruction?
Other critical approaches are interested in deconstruction for different reasons. Postcolonial theories are fascinated by destruction because of its ability to show that the text of the colonisers can be deconstructed from within the narratives. Feminist theories, on the other hand, are interested because it deals with how to subvert the binary between male and female. Cultural materialists are interested in deconstruction to emphasise the materiality of language. New historicism is interested in destruction because of their reciprocal concern between history and text.
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