Deconstruction

For other uses, see Deconstruction (disambiguation).

In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences which are valued above appearances.[additional citation(s) needed][1]

Since the 1980s, these proposals of language's fluidity instead of being ideally static and discernible have inspired a range of studies in the humanities,[2] including the disciplines of law,[3]: 3–76 [4][5] anthropology,[6] historiography,[7] linguistics,[8] sociolinguistics,[9] psychoanalysis, LGBT studies, and feminism. Deconstruction also inspired deconstructivism in architecture and remains important within art,[10] music,[11] and literary criticism.[12][13]

  1. ^ Lawlor, Leonard (2019), "Jacques Derrida", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2019 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 11 April 2020
  2. ^ "Deconstruction". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  3. ^ Allison, David B.; Garver, Newton (1973). Speech and Phenomena and Other Essays on Husserl's Theory of Signs (5th ed.). Evanston: Northwestern University Press. ISBN 978-0810103979. Retrieved 8 September 2017. A decision that did not go through the ordeal of the undecidable would not be a free decision, it would only be the programmable application or unfolding of a calculable process...[which] deconstructs from the inside every assurance of presence, and thus every criteriology that would assure us of the justice of the decision.
  4. ^ "Critical Legal Studies Movement". The Bridge. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  5. ^ "German Law Journal - Past Special Issues". 16 May 2013. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  6. ^ Morris, Rosalind C. (September 2007). "Legacies of Derrida: Anthropology". Annual Review of Anthropology. 36 (1): 355–389. doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.36.081406.094357.
  7. ^ Munslow, Alan (1997). "Deconstructing History" (PDF). Institute of Historical Research. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  8. ^ Busch, Brigitta (1 December 2012). "The Linguistic Repertoire Revisited". Applied Linguistics. 33 (5): 503–523. doi:10.1093/applin/ams056.
  9. ^ Esch, Edith; Solly, Martin, eds. (2012). The Sociolinguistics of Language Education in International Contexts. Bern: Peter Lang. pp. 31–46. ISBN 9783034310093.
  10. ^ "Deconstruction – Art Term". Tate. Retrieved 16 September 2017. Since Derrida's assertions in the 1970s, the notion of deconstruction has been a dominating influence on many writers and conceptual artists.
  11. ^ Cobussen, Marcel (2002). "Deconstruction in Music. The Jacques Derrida – Gerd Zacher Encounter" (PDF). Thinking Sounds. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  12. ^ Douglas, Christopher (31 March 1997). "Glossary of Literary Theory". University of Toronto English Library. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  13. ^ Kandell, Jonathan (10 October 2004). "Jacques Derrida, Abstruse Theorist, Dies at 74". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 June 2017.