Definitions HQ

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a reading that produces rather than protects. The task is to dismantle, not in order to reject or discard, but to reinscribe them in another way.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a technqiue of reading texts that makes use of the fact that meaning is inexhaustible, always hinting at other contexts and other meanings. It sets out to expose metaphysical assumptions (such as hidden hierarchies or values) at work in texts.

Deconstruction (n.) takes ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠place. It does not await the deliberation, consciousness, or organization of a subject, or even of modernity. It deconstructs itself.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠at home in an ambiguity between a structuralist and anti-structuralist gesture. Structures are not to be destroyed altogether but to be undone, decomposed, desedimented.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠concerned with recognizing underlying, implicit assumptions : Gaps, contradictions, elisions, revealing metaphors.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠concerned with structures (which are neither simply ideas, nor forms, nor syntheses, nor systems).

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠neither an analysis nor a critique. It is not an analysis because the dismantling of a structure is not a regression toward a simple element, toward an indissoluble origin.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a critique because the very instance of 'krisis' (decision, choice, judgment, discernment) is itself one of the essential 'themes' or 'objects' of deconstruction.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a method -it cannot be reappropriated or domesticated and transformed into one.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a method or set of rules and procedures because it is not even an act or an operation.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not destruction, but similar to deconstructing a machine in order to transport it elsewhere, to, for example, deconstruct verse by rendering it similar to prose.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠precisely the opposite of destruction. It does not break a term 'apart' but rather breaks it 'open'.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the effort 'to take this limitless context into account, to pay the sharpest attention possible to context, and thus to an incessant movement of recontextualisation.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not a repudiation, but simply a demonstration of how texts cannot sustain the oppositions they take for granted.

Deconstruction (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the analysis of the invasion of the excluded, differentiating other into the selfsame.