DECONSTRUCTIONALISM

Prepared by:
DE VILLA, Jan Niko G.
MANALILI, Joshua R.
FORTUNATO,Septhyl Marie F.
GONZALES, Eleanor Mae
GARCIA, Chelsea

HISTORY and ORIGIN

In late 1960s, the word deconstruction in literary was first coined by a French theorist,
writer and philosopher, Jacques Derrida. Hes a very intelligent person. He received a great deal
of popularity for his theories and writing style, and equally as much criticism for them. In 1967,
he first introduced the theory of Deconstruction. This notion of Derrida was presented at the
international symposium at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. Though he spoke
about it many times, the word remained ambiguous.
Derridas main influence for the development of this theory was from the theorist, Martin
Heidegger, an ontologist. In his work called Being and Time, Heidegger talks about
destructuring of previous ontological concepts such as time, history, matter, and more in order
to better understand them. In this book he also put a great emphasis to language as an instrument
to unfold the question of being. He criticized the traditional Western Philosophy and regarded it
as nihilistic. Thus, instead of finding the exact meaning of a term he pursues a kind thinking
which was no longer super mundane. This is where Derridas idea came from. Derridas
theory is similar to Heideggers in that he, too wanted to rethink many of the terms commonly
used in philosophical considerations, but Derrida took further steps in creating a workable
theory. Edmund Husserl, Sigmund Freud, Fredrick Nietzsche, Andre Leroi-Gourhan, Claude
Levi Strauss and Ferdinand De Saussure are famous thinkers that are influential and his
inspirations in improving his work.

WHAT IS DECONSTRUCTIONALISM?
Defining this term can be especially difficult and confusing. Here is a very simplified
explanation of the reasoning behind this theory.
Deconstruction seems to center around the idea that language and meaning are often
inadequate in trying to convey the message or idea a communicator is trying to express. Since
the confusion stems from the language and not the object then one should break down or
deconstruct the language to see if we can better understand where the confusion stems.

Deconstruction is simply a method of reading and understanding a text beyond what the
words imply. It doesnt focus on the clarity of meaning of the term rather it posits numerous
possible thoughts and meanings that can be drawn out of the context. Also, the said technique
doesnt focus on how the words are arranged rather focuses on how every terms are related to
each other.
Derrida also emphasized that deconstruction is a response to structionalism. Thats why
it was also called post-structuralist. Structuralist believes that all element of human culture
including literature can be understood in a single system of signs. They also believe that texts
have certain exclusive center or meaning a belief that they share with the formalist. Derrida
firmly rejects this concept because its clear for him that no one can fully understood what the
governing factors used by a writer to build its literary work.
Deconstruction is a philosophy applied to literary which became a criticism, as well as to
other forms of arts, which began to gain popularity in the late 1980s. This philosophy eschewed
the concept of one possible meaning for a text and instead suggested that meanings are multiple
and contradictory. Like what said in the statement above, deconstruction is a retort to the
concepts and theories of structuralism which suggest that, when words could be understood
within the context of a society of readers, then one could point to the specific meaning of a text.
Underlying a text is the subtext, a set of values that must be evaluated to see if the text is
really incoherent or contrary in nature and, therefore, somewhat without meaning.
Deconstruction also evaluates the way in which texts in the traditional literary canon are taught
to students, suggesting that traditional readings often ignore underlying value structures in
direct opposition to what is taught.

HOW TO DECONSTRUCT?
Choose a text to deconstruct. Focus on a text you know well as you practice textual
deconstruction. To avoid bias, though, it's best to focus on a text that isn't personally important to
you.

 Understand the intended meaning of the text, or the accepted meaning of the
text. For example, if you have access to the author's opinions of the text's
meanings, focus on this as you read; if a classic text is generally interpreted or
taught in a particular way, use this information as you read.

Locate ways in which the text doesn't conform to its stated or accepted meaning.
A classic example of this is Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," which has
generally been accepted as an anti-slavery book. However, Huck and Tom continue
to pretend Jim is a slave after he attains freedom. They treat him cruelly, as if he is
their slave. This section of the book doesn't conform to the accepted meaning.

Find tensions and contradictions within the text, looking for ideas that don't
readily match other ideas present in the text. Those who deconstruct texts say that
they don't actually deconstruct texts; instead, the texts deconstruct themselves
through their own instability.

Seek out the text's assumptions. Look for what it presents as normal, natural,
apparent or primary. Likewise, seek out where the text sets up a distinct binary
opposition between two categories. For example, it might insist that there is a firm
distinction between gay sexuality and straight sexuality, or it may indicate that
heterosexuality is natural, while homosexuality is a perversion.

Demonstrate how binaries and hierarchies break down under scrutiny by showing
how the text's idea of "normal, natural, apparent or primary" is actually none of
those things, or by showing how one thing (such as heterosexuality) needs another
(homosexuality) to define itself against. Without both categories, neither one makes
much sense.

REFERENCES:
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-deconstruction.htm#didyouknowout
http://www.iep.utm.edu/heidegge/
http://prelimsandbeyond.wordpress.com/2009/02/22/deconstruction-and-poststructuralism/
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/derrida/#Dec
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/derrida/#Dec
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deconstruction
http://www.ehow.com/how_2122472_deconstruct-text.html