Deconstruction
Deconstruction – a philosophical and critical approach associated with the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. It examines the internal tensions, contradictions, exclusions, and hierarchical oppositions through which texts, concepts, and systems of meaning are constructed.
Deconstruction demonstrates that meaning is neither entirely fixed nor unambiguous and that a text may contain assumptions and implications that undermine its apparent coherence. It does not simply replace one interpretation with another, but questions the conceptual structures that make particular interpretations appear natural, stable, or authoritative.
Derrida resisted giving deconstruction a single definitive formulation, since any such definition would rely on the very linguistic and conceptual structures that deconstruction subjects to critical analysis.
Deconstruction has been influential in contemporary philosophy, literary and cultural criticism, feminist theory, queer theory, and other fields of the humanities. It is commonly associated with poststructuralism and continental philosophy and has also significantly influenced debates often described as postmodern.
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