Deconstructionism

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /diːkənˈstɹʌkʃənɪzəm/

Definitions

1. A critical theory that analyzes cultural and literary texts by exposing inherent contradictions and questioning established norms
2. An analytical method that seeks to reveal the complexities and ambiguities in meaning through the breakdown of conventional structures
3. A philosophical approach that critiques and dismantles traditional ideas by revealing underlying assumptions and contradictions in meaning

Etymology: Deconstructionism is a word built in two stages, and its more famous part is the first. "Deconstruction" was the term Jacques Derrida introduced in the 1960s for his method of reading texts by tracing the hidden oppositions and unstable assumptions on which their meanings rest. The noun "deconstruction" itself came from the verb "deconstruct," which was in use before Derrida, and Derrida's coinage is usually credited with giving it the philosophical sense it now carries. The suffix "-ism," from Greek "-isma" through Latin and Old French, turns the method into a named doctrine or school of thought. The result is a term that often gets used more loosely than Derrida himself used his own work. Critics and admirers alike have applied "deconstructionism" to a broad range of literary and cultural analysis, sometimes as a label for a movement and sometimes as a description of a single reading strategy. The suffix makes it sound like a fixed system, which is at odds with the method's own insistence that meanings resist being fixed.

Synonyms: deconstruction, post-structuralism