Hello readers in this blog I'll be dealing about a bit complicated topic i.e 'Deconstruction' and as a flipped learning task there are some video to make the concept of deconstruction easy, and also some questions from those videos, so let's dive.
About Jacques Derrida
A French philosopher, who was born on 15 July 1930 and died on 9 October 2004. He developed the philosophy of deconstruction, which he utilized in a number of his texts, and which was developed through close readings of the linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and Husserlian and Heideggerian phenomenology.
He is one of the major figures associated with post-structuralism and postmodern philosophy, although he distanced himself from post-structuralism and cast aside the word "postmodernity".
Throughout his career, Derrida published over 40 books, together with hundreds of essays and public presentations. He had a significant influence on the humanities and social sciences, including philosophy, literature, law, anthropology, historiography, applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, psychoanalysis, music, architecture, and political theory.
deconstruction is a form of philosophical and literary analysis which was derived mainly from work begun in the 1960s by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, that questions the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or “oppositions,” in Western philosophy through a close examination of the language and logic of philosophical and literary texts. In the 1970s the term was applied to work by Derrida, Paul de Man, J. Hillis Miller, and Barbara Johnson, among other scholars.
During the 1980s it nominated more loosely a range of radical theoretical enterprises in diverse areas of the humanities and social sciences, including in addition to philosophy and literature in law, psychoanalysis, architecture, anthropology, theology, feminism, gay and lesbian studies, political theory, historiography, and film theory. In critical discussions about intellectual trends of the late 20th-century, deconstruction was sometimes used abusively to suggest nihilism and jokey rationalism. In popular usage the term has come to mean a critical dismantling of tradition and traditional modes of thought.
1st Video
Why is it difficult to define Deconstruction?
The questions which Derrida keeps on asking is that; Is it possible to define something? What are the limits or to what extent can we define something? Derrida refuses to define the term deconstruction, it is similar to all other terms used in philosphy or literary criticism, the deconstruction can not be once and for all finally define. That's why one can't find a particular meaning and find's it difficult to reach to a definite meaning.
Is Deconstruction a negative term?
Deconstruction is not a negative or destructive term, but its an inquiry into the foundation. Derrida wants to transform the way people think.
Is Deconstruction a negative term?
Deconstruction is not a negative or destructive term, but its an inquiry into the foundation. Derrida wants to transform the way people think.
2nd Video
The influence of Heidegger on Derrida
Heidegger sprouted the seeds of deconstruction along with Freud and Nietzche, which Derrida acknowledges. The term 'destruction' in German translated as 'Deconstruction' in French. It is one of the direct connection between Heidegger and Derrida, such thoughts of Heidegger influnces Derrida.
Derridean rethinking of the foundations of Western philosophy.
In the very famous book ' Being and Time' by Heidegger, in this book he has taken the project in which he is transforming the way westerners think. Derrida in many ways continues this project of deconstructing and transforming of western philosophy. Derrida wants to rethink the western philosophy like Heidegger. Derrida wants to rethink the way western philosophers think and also wants to reinvent the language in which philosophy is done.
3rd Video
Ferdinand de Saussureian concept of language (that meaning is arbitrary, relational, constitutive).
Saussures writing is that relationship between the word and its meaning, it's not natural but it's a convectinal one. " What connects a word with its meaning or as signal with its meaning is the convention and the convention is always social.
How Derrida deconstructs the idea of arbitrariness?
Derrida deconstructs by saying that, the meaning of the word is usually thought of as something in our mind according to Saussures, but Derrida points out that the meaning of the word is nothing but another word.
Concept of metaphysics of presence.
We usually associates a being of something with its presence and this bias is one of the things which Heidegger is questioning, association of being with its presence. Presence of something can only be understand by the absence of something and that bias is built in the western philospshy.
4th Video
Derridean concept of DifferAnce.
Derrida says DifferAnce implies a force, its not an idea or a concept but a force which makes differentiation possible, which makes postponing possible. Throughout the western philosophy there is a tendency to assume that final meaning can be grasped and that final meaning is what he calls ' Transcendental signified'.
Infinite play of meaning.
Saussurean sign is equal to signifier which signifies something, but Derridean sign is free play of signifiers signifying nothing. Derrida is drawing attention to the fact that wetake things for granted, we assume that we have understood. Meaning is always postponed, ultimate and final meaning is myth according to Derrida.
DIfferAnce = to differ + to defer.
Derrida combines two terms differ and defer. Differer is use to imply both the word and so it's a pun( in french) it means to differ, it also means to differentiate, so postpone and differentiate only one word for them is used to signify. You can never pronounce ( speak) it differently, you can only spell (write) it differently. Derrida is drawing attention towards difference between speech and writing, he question privilege ove writing.
5th Video
Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences.
The essay ' Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences' is the very important document of contemporary literary theory. This essay is actually a critique of Claude- Levi Strauss who made structuralism very popular.The structuralism when it began it began as a criticism and attack on metaphysics and science on another hand.
Explain: "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique."
Derrida says that the language contains all the believes coded into it and as shown in differAnce ultimate final meaning can never be grasped. There's always something missing in language, the language demands critique, any philosophical statement will contain a blind spot which asks for criticism and that applies much to deconstruction also. Deconstructive writing is most of the time auto-critical.
6th Video
The Yale School: the hub of the practitioners of Deconstruction in the literary theories.
During 1970's , it was a kind of real new thing breaking on the scene after new criticism which was something, which was more new criticism, so it became very fashionable and also for people associated with it. 1.Paul de Man 2. J. Hillis Miller 3. Harold Bloom 4. Geoffrey Hartman. They made deconstruction very popular or unpopular in America. For the very first time it became the school of deconstruction because of Yeal school, it is responsible to bring deconstruction in the literary criticism.
The characteristics of the Yale School of Deconstruction.
The characteristics of the Yale School of Deconstruction looks at the literature as the rhetorical or figurative construct. They showed that the literature can create multiplicity of meaning by focusing various figures of speech. They questioned the aesthetic as well as formalist approach to litrature and also question the historicist or sociologist approach to literature. Their preoccupation with romanticism, they often read important romantic texts as creating a different kind of meaning that usually is accepted.
7th Video
How other schools like New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Feminism, Marxism and Postcolonial theorists used Deconstruction?
1. New Historicism:- Is influnced by deconstruction and what Louis Montrose, one of the very important new historicist, is that new historicism is interested in reciprocal concern between textuality and historicity of text.
2. Cultural Materialism:- It emphasize the materiality of language. Language is material construct and it has got ability to unmask the hidden ideological agendas.
3. Feminist theories:- Are interested beacuse it deals with how to subvert the binary between male and female to subvert patriarchal discourse.
4. Postcolonial theories:- Are fascinated by its ability to show that the texts or the discourse of the colonizing can be deconstructed from within the narratives.
I hope this would be helpful,
Thank you.
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