deconstruction

deconstruction
deconstruction de`con*struc"tion (d[-e]`k[u^]n*str[u^]k"sh[u^]n), n. A philosophical theory of criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface meaning. This method questions the ability of language to represent a fixed reality, and proposes that a text has no stable meaning because words only refer to other words, that metaphysical or ethnocentric assumptions about the meaning of words must be questioned, and words may be redefined in new contexts and new, equally valid and even contradictory meanings may be found. Such new interpretations may be based on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the words of a text, rather than solely on attempts to determine the author's intentions. --RHUD --MW10

Syn: deconstructionism. [WordNet 1.5 +PJC]

2. the process of criticising or interpreting a text by the method of {deconstruction[1]}. [PJC]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • déconstruction — [ dekɔ̃stryksjɔ̃ ] n. f. • v. 1965; de déconstruire ♦ Fait de déconstruire. La déconstruction d un système social, d une notion. ● déconstruction nom féminin Fait de déconstruire quelque chose ; déstructuration. En philosophie, analyse critique d …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • deconstruction — [dē΄kənstruk′shən] n. [Fr déconstruction] a method of literary analysis originated in France in the mid 20th cent. and based on a theory that, by the very nature of language and usage, no text can have a fixed, coherent meaning deconstructionist… …   English World dictionary

  • deconstruction — 1973, as a strategy of critical analysis, in translations from French of the works of philosopher Jacques Derrida (b.1930). The word was used in English in a literal sense from 1865 of building and architecture, and in late 1860s sometimes as an… …   Etymology dictionary

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  • deconstruction — deconstructionist, adj., n. deconstructive, adj. /dee keuhn struk sheuhn/, n. a philosophical and critical movement, starting in the 1960s and esp. applied to the study of literature, that questions all traditional assumptions about the ability… …   Universalium

  • Déconstruction — Pour l approche architecturale, voir Déconstructivisme La déconstruction est une méthode, voire une école, de la philosophie contemporaine. Cette pratique d analyse textuelle est employée pour décortiquer de nombreux écrits (philosophie,… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • deconstruction — noun Etymology: French déconstruction, from dé de + construction Date: 1973 1. a philosophical or critical method which asserts that meanings, metaphysical constructs, and hierarchical oppositions (as between key terms in a philosophical or… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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