The Guitarist: please describe the difference between these two representations.

A Review of Structuralism Language is primary means of signification Signification is how we achieve meaning through linguistic signs and other symbols Language comprises its own rule-governed system to achieve meaning Language is not the only sign system Act of reading is a cultural and social practice that contains its own codes Meaning in a text resides in these codes

Structuralism, continued Reader has mastered codes before he/she ever picks up the text Proper study of literature is inquiry into conditions surrounding the act of interpretation itself, not the investigation of the text Structuralists seek to discover the overall system (langue) that accounts for the individual interpretation (parole)

Ferdinand Saussure Linguistic SIGN (word) SIGNIFIER (spoken sound or written symbol) SIGNIFIED (concept signaled by signifier)

SIGNIFIED: concept or thing

SIGNIFIED: concept or thing

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Deconstruction

Basic Literary Assumptions Language is stable and has meaning we can all agree on. The author is in control of the text s/he writes. Works of literature have an internal consistency. Works of literature have an external relevance. You can take the author’s word for what s/he writes. There is a set of interpretive tools that you can reliably use to interpret a literary text.

History Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) was the founder of “deconstruction.” Derrida didn’t believe in the myth of logocentrism (the idea that knowledge is the pursuit of discovering one meaning or “truth”). This does not mean that there is NO meaning in text and language. It means that the meaning is undecidable. Another way to understand deconstruction is to contemplate the meaning of a work of literature changing with each reader’s interpretation of it.

History Deconstruction was a reaction to Structuralism. Structuralism was a popular literary theory of the 1950’s. Structuralists were looking for the hidden center of language. They looked at language as a tool to help humanity understand the world. Deconstruction holds that language is completely arbitrary and only hindered humanity’s ability to comprehend the world.

Deconstruction in Literary Theory Instead of looking at text through a single lens (Feminism, Marxism, Historical, Psychoanalysis), Deconstruction looks through any and every lens at once. Since Deconstructionists do not trust any single interpretation of language, meaning in text becomes almost completely elusive.

My Papa’s Waltz The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy;    But I hung on like death:    Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pans    Slid from the kitchen shelf;    My mother’s countenance    Could not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wrist    Was battered on one knuckle;    At every step you missed My right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time on my head    With a palm caked hard by dirt,    Then waltzed me off to bed    Still clinging to your shirt.

Work Cited Appleman, D. (2000). Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents. New York: Teachers College Press. Austin, M., Clark, G., Duerden, R., Houston, G., Lundquist, S., Sorenson, P., Young, B. (1994). The Critical Experience. (D. Cowles, Ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.  Baldick, C. (2004). Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms. New York: Oxford University Press. Balkin, J. (1995). Deconstruction. Retrieved March 30th, 2008. http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/jbalkin/articles/deconessay.pdf Deconstruction. (2007). Retrieved March 30th, 2008. http://library.thinkquest.org/26491/db-style.php3?browser=3&styleIndex=3 Lawlor, L. (2006). Jacques Derrida. Retrieved March 30th, 2008. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/derrida/ Leitch, V. B.(Ed.) (2001). The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. Moore, C. (2007). Controversies. Retrieved March 30th, 2008. http://www.carolmoore.net/4secretary/controversies.html Stephens, I. (2007). Postmodernism, structuralism, post-structuralism, deconstruction and art criticism. Retrieved March 30th, 2008. http://www.unisa.ac.za/Default.asp?Cmd=ViewContent&ContentID=7267