✦ Deconstructionism: Analysis or Discovery of Meaning? ✦
The meaning of any word or sentence may be located in three possible places:
① In the mind of the author
② Within the written text itself
③ In the mind of the reader
New Criticism is a literary critical movement that emphasizes detaching the text from the author’s intention.
◉ Its adherents focus solely on the text itself, ignoring both the author’s motives and the reader’s interpretations.
✔ The text must be read with close attention.
✔ All possible meanings of every word must be considered.
✔ Meaning emerges from the interplay between words and structure within the text.
Cleanth Brooks, a central figure in New Criticism, argued in his essay “The Heresy of Paraphrase” that:
"A literary work's meaning cannot be fully captured through summary or explanation, because meaning arises from the dynamic relationship between content and form."
While feminist literary criticism uses close reading like New Criticism, its focus is ideological, not formal.
Feminism examines:
✔ How the author portrays gender roles, especially the status of women compared to men
✔ The presence of gendered language and bias
✔ The conflicting voices within a text that generate new or subversive meanings
Deconstructionism, or ردِّ تشکیل, takes a more radical approach. It holds that:
No fixed or final meaning exists in a text.
According to Jacques Derrida, the founder of deconstruction:
“No matter how precisely we use language, we can never fully arrive at the original meaning.”
A classic example of deconstruction:
A sign on an elevator reads: “Seeing Eye Dogs Only”
Possible interpretations:
① Only guide dogs are allowed.
② Only dogs (not people) are permitted.
③ If it’s meant for blind people, how can they read it?
This shows how textual meaning can fragment depending on context, perspective, and language structure.
While deconstruction breaks down the meaning of texts, it is not immune to self-deconstruction:
➤ If a critic deconstructs a text, their own interpretation becomes subject to the same instability they attribute to the original.
This reflexive vulnerability is seen as a major flaw of deconstruction.
Despite criticism, Thomas C. Foster, in “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, notes that:
“Deconstruction helps us uncover how a text is shaped by its social, historical, and cultural biases.”
It reveals the underlying ideologies of an era and the contradictions embedded in language.
✔ In contrast, New Criticism tries to explore a text’s internal logic and structure to approach a stable meaning.
✔ Both approaches offer critical insights, but deconstruction challenges the very foundation of meaning, including its own.
❖ Where Does Meaning Truly Reside?
The meaning of any word or sentence may be located in three possible places:
① In the mind of the author
② Within the written text itself
③ In the mind of the reader
✦ New Criticism: Reading the Text Apart from the Author
New Criticism is a literary critical movement that emphasizes detaching the text from the author’s intention.
◉ Its adherents focus solely on the text itself, ignoring both the author’s motives and the reader’s interpretations.
Key Principles of New Criticism:
✔ The text must be read with close attention.
✔ All possible meanings of every word must be considered.
✔ Meaning emerges from the interplay between words and structure within the text.
✦ Cleanth Brooks and “The Heresy of Paraphrase”
Cleanth Brooks, a central figure in New Criticism, argued in his essay “The Heresy of Paraphrase” that:
"A literary work's meaning cannot be fully captured through summary or explanation, because meaning arises from the dynamic relationship between content and form."
✦ Feminism and New Criticism: A Shared Method, Different Focus
While feminist literary criticism uses close reading like New Criticism, its focus is ideological, not formal.
Feminism examines:
✔ How the author portrays gender roles, especially the status of women compared to men
✔ The presence of gendered language and bias
✔ The conflicting voices within a text that generate new or subversive meanings
✦ Deconstruction: The Dissolution of Meaning
Deconstructionism, or ردِّ تشکیل, takes a more radical approach. It holds that:
No fixed or final meaning exists in a text.
According to Jacques Derrida, the founder of deconstruction:
“No matter how precisely we use language, we can never fully arrive at the original meaning.”
✦ Deconstruction in Practice
A classic example of deconstruction:
A sign on an elevator reads: “Seeing Eye Dogs Only”
Possible interpretations:
① Only guide dogs are allowed.
② Only dogs (not people) are permitted.
③ If it’s meant for blind people, how can they read it?
This shows how textual meaning can fragment depending on context, perspective, and language structure.
✦ The Paradox of Deconstruction
While deconstruction breaks down the meaning of texts, it is not immune to self-deconstruction:
➤ If a critic deconstructs a text, their own interpretation becomes subject to the same instability they attribute to the original.
This reflexive vulnerability is seen as a major flaw of deconstruction.
✦ Value of Deconstruction
Despite criticism, Thomas C. Foster, in “How to Read Literature Like a Professor”, notes that:
“Deconstruction helps us uncover how a text is shaped by its social, historical, and cultural biases.”
It reveals the underlying ideologies of an era and the contradictions embedded in language.
✦ Conclusion
✔ Deconstructionism teaches that language is inherently unstable, and meaning is always in flux.✔ In contrast, New Criticism tries to explore a text’s internal logic and structure to approach a stable meaning.
✔ Both approaches offer critical insights, but deconstruction challenges the very foundation of meaning, including its own.
