Deconstruction解构主义

西方文学批评入门教案99DeconstructionIntroduction1.Thetermspoststructuralismanddeconstructionareoftenusedinterchangeably.Poststructualismemergedinthelate1960sasanewstrategyfortextualanalysisandanewapproachetointerpretatingliterature.Todayitreferstoavarietyoftheoriesthathavedevelopedafterstructuralism.2.DeconstructionfirstdevelopedintheUnitedStatesin1966whenDerridaquestionedanddisputedinhispaper“Structure,Sign,andPlay”themetaphysicalassumptionsheldtobetruebyWesternphilosophysincethetimeofPlato.3.Derridaanddeconstructionwishtodisputeanddeconstructtheassertionthattruthoracoreofmetaphysicalidealscanbedefinitelybelieved,articulatedandsupported.TheychallengebeliefslongheldbyWesternculture.4.Deconstructionutilizespreviouslyformulatedtheoriesfromotherschoolsofcriticism,especiallystructuralism.FromstructuralismDerridaborrowsthebasisofandstartingpointforhisdeconstructivestrategy.Tounderstandhisdeconstructiveapproachtoliteraryanalysis,wemustfirstgainaworkingknowledgeofthehistoricalandphilosophicalrootsofstructuralism.5.Tounderstandandutilizedeconstruction’sapproachtointerpretingatext,wemustalsoinvestigatetheproposedradicalchangesDerridamakesinWesternphilosophyandmetaphysicsandmastersomenewterminologyofdeconstruction.HistoricalDevelopment1.Saussure:structureallinguistics1)Languageisasystemofruleswhichgoverneveryaspectofthelanguage.Everyspeakerofalanguagelearnstheserulesandknowswhentheyarebroken.2)Therulesthatcomprisealanguageiscalledlangue,anditsspeakers’individualspeechutterancesarecalledparole.Thetaskoflinguisticsistoinferalanguage’slanguefromtheanalysisofmanyinstancesofparole.3)Alllanguagesarecomposedofbasicunitsoremes.Withineacheme,distinctionsormeaningdependondifferences.Someaninginlanguagedependsondifferenceswithineacheme.Languageisprimarilydeterminedbyitsowninternalrules,suchasphonology,grammarandsyntax.Theserulesarehighlysystematizedandstructured.4)Thelinguisticsigniscomposedoftwoparts:thesignifierandthesignified.Therelationshipbetweenthesignitierandthesignifiedisarbitraryandconventional.Sothelingusisticsignisdefinedbydifferencesthatdistinguishitfromothersigns.Someaninginlanguageisdeterminedbythedifferencesamongthelanguagesigns.2.Derrida:deconstructivediscourse1)DerridaborrowsfromSaussuretheconceptthatmeaninginlanguageisdeterminedbythedifferencesamongthelanguagesigns,andusesitasakeybuildingblockintheformulationofdeconstruction.HeagreeswithSaussurethatlanguageisasystembasedondifferencesandthatweknowthemeaningofsignifiersthroughtheirrelationshipsandthedifferencesamongthemselves.2)Derridaappliesthisreasoningtothesignified.Hesuggeststhatsignieds(orconcepts)conalsobeknownonlythroughtheirrelationshipsanddifferencesamongthemselves.3)Derridadeclaresthattherelationshipbetweenthesignifierandthesignifiedisarbitraryandconvention,andsothesignifiedcannotorientormakepermanentthemeaningofthesignifier,Veryoftensignifiedsfunctionassignifiers.4)Sincelanguageisasystemofdifference,andasignifiertakesonitssignifiedfromitsdifferencefromothersignifiers,alanguagesigncontainswithinitselfallthetracesoftheothersigns,anditsmeaningresultsfromthefreeplayofthesetracesandisthereforeimpossibletopindown.Withthedissolutionofthebinaryopposition,theunderlyinguniversalmeaningofstructuralismdisappears.Derridacoinsanewwordandconcept:differance,whichisderivedfromtheFrenchworddifferer.(P79,para.1)Understandingwhathemeansbydifferanceisanimportantkeytounderstandingdeconstruction.Assumptions1.Westernmetaphysicsisfoundedonanerror:thesearchingforatranscendentalsignified(超验所指),whichisanexternalpointofreferenceuponwhichwemaybuildaconceptorphilosophy.Oncefound,itwouldprovideultimatemeaning.2.Thetranscendentalsignifiedwouldhavetobeunderstoodwithoutcomparingittoothersignifiedsorsignifiers.Itsmeaningwouldoriginatedirectlywithitself.Thesetranscendentalsignifiedswouldprovidethe“center”ofmeaning,allowingpeoplewhobelieveinthemtostructuretheirideasofrealityaroundthese“centers”oftruth.3.Westernmetaphysicshasinventedavarietyoftermsthatfunctionascenters.Theyareself-sufficientandself-originating,andserveastranscendentalsignifieds.Thistendencyislogocentrism.4.Sincepeoplecannotfreethemselvesfromtheirlogocentrichabitofthinking,byquestioninganoldcenter,wemayautomaticallyestablishanewcenter.Andestablishinganewcentermeansthatanothercenterisdecentered.5.Westernmetaphysicsisbasedonasystemofbinaryoppositionsorconceptualoppositions.Foreachcenter,thereexistsanopposingcenter.Ineachoftheseopposingcenters,oneconceptissuperioranddefinesitselfbyitsopposingconceptwhichisinferior.DerridaobjectstothecreatingofthesehierarchalbinariesasthebasisforWesternmetaphysics.6.DerridawishestodismantlethefragilebasisforWesternmetaphysics.Hedeclaresthatinabinaryopposition,oneelementisalwayssuperior,orprivilegedwhiletheotherbecomesinferior,orunprivileged.Westernthoughthaslongprivilegedspeechoverwriting.Derridacallsthisphonocentrism.Hebelievesthatpeoplevaluespeechoverwritingbecausespeechimpliespresence,andwritingsignifiesabsence.Hearguesthatspokenlanguageisakindofwritingwhichhecallsarche-writing,andspokenlanguagean