Derrida

Derrida and Deconstruction............. 

Jacques Derrida was an Algerian born French philosopher best known for developing form of semiotic analysis known as deconstruction. He is one of the major figures associated with post structuralism and postmodern philosophy.

The term deconstruction has become very popular in literary criticism and theory, its precise meaning is extremely problematic. It has had an enormous influence in psychology, literary theory, culture studies linguistics feminism, sociology and anthropology.  It has influenced a wide range of theoratical approaches to literary studies like feminism and gender studies, cultural materialism, new historicism post colonial studies, Marxism, Pychologysis and so on. It involves the close reading of text has irreconcilably contradictory meanings, rather than being a unified, logical whole. 

When we try to find out different between Structuralim theory and deconstruction theory then we easily define Deconstruction concept. Structuralism theory through to understand structure of the literature and define root of meaning. While deconstruction simple means is to see one thing in different ways. Most of when we read something at that time we can understand simple meaning but when we criticize any work or to re read something at that time we can deconstruction other meaning it means deconstruction.

Thank you.......... 

Structuralism

ette is a French literary theorist associated in particular with the Structuralist's movement and such figures as Roland Barthes and Claude Levi Strauss, from whom he adapted the concept of bricolage. Here, I apply his five concept which he used in Narrative Discourse: An essay in method:

1) Order

2) Frequency

3) Duration

4) Voice

5) Mood

• in literary theory, structuralism is an approach to analyzing the narrative material by examining the underlying invariant structure. for example, a literary critic applying a structuralist literary theory might say that the authors of west side story did not write anything "really" new, because their work has the same structure as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. 

it is not just advertisement of "Ariel" but in this advertisement we find very brif idea about equality of man and women.so i think structure of this advertisement is good.

In this advertisement we can see feminism structure of our society. man and woman both are going out side to work for money but very few theme are share burden of housework. 'gender inequalities rooted' in not only our social structure but also in our mentality. i'm just saying that if man go out side for making money then wife do cooking, cleaning,laundry everything, both are making money than why they are not share all there responsibility?

Thank you....... 

Cultural studies and postcolonialism

Online Discussion on Sharmeen's documentary, A Girl in the River.

 

Sharmeen obaid Chinoy 's Got Oscar award for her documentary " A Girl in the River " has been much celebrated at home. It is about honor killing in Pakistan. Sharmeen’s films are about truly heroic Pakistani women — women who have suffered appalling cruelty and oppression but who have refused to be silenced. In telling their stories to the world, they have fought back and exposed injustice. It is shows the true situation of women that how they suffering so by showing this reality it brings awareness in society. It is not the situation of women in Pakistan but overall in  the world. We don't know many places where women are suffering. people not easily accept this reality.

  We may feel that this kind of writer wants to be famous in people by publishing this kind of work. Because to get more publicity they already knows which kind of work gives more publicity . In the country like India people has so many problems so they might feels that he or she is talking about us. They are arguing for us by publishing their work.  But yet it must require to talk against the power or  to talk about the real condition of the country . And we have great example of it is Ravish Kumar ,Who always draws the picture of real issues and also of real condition of the country .

River and tide

"River and Tides: Andy Goldsworthy working with Time" is a 2001 documentary film directed by Thomas Riedelsheimer about the British artist Andy Goldsworthy, who creates intricate and ephemeral sculputers from natural materials such as rocks, leaves, flowers and icicles.

 This spiritual literate documentary also received the Golden Gate Award Grand Prize for Best Documentary at the 2003 San Francisco International Film Festival.

It is a wonderful documentary about the nature and art. In this documentary, he defines every art with philosophical point of view. As he says that, "Art for me is a form of nourishment".In this documentary he is working with time and also uses the natural environment to explore histories. He wanders on river banks and collects the natural materials and creates something beautiful out of them.But everything which is created, soon it will be destroyed by nature. Basically it speaks about the natural concept of birth and death.  

 He begins to work on an icicle sculpture and after many efforts and hard work he is able to give a tide shape to the ice. But it seems temporary, it will be melted with the passage of time. In the same way stone house breaks down in the river. 

Here we can see that how he represents the processes of life and death through nature.

The very thing that brought it to life, will bring about death”

 It represents that everything in life is temporary and everything will be changed or destroyed as the time passes.

It also speaks about the spiral shape of nature. In the natural world everything is in spiral or circular shape. There is no triangular shape.

paper 8 post-structuralism and deconstruction (Assignment)

Name:- Sejal R parmar

Sem:- 2

Enrollment no:- 2069108420190033

Year:-  2018-2020

Email:- sejalparmar095@gmail.com

Paper:- cultural  studies

Topic:- post-structuralism and deconstruction

Submitted:- smt. S. B. gardi department of English

*Post-structuralism and deconstruction

*Introduction

At the same time, deconstruction is also a "structuralist gesture" because it is concerned with the structure of texts. ... It was for this reason that Derrida distances his use of the term deconstruction from post-structuralism, a term that would suggest that philosophy could simply go beyond structuralism.

*What is post-structuralism

Post-structuralism, sometimes referred as the French theory, was associated with the works of a series of mid-20th-century French continental philosophers and critical theorists who came to international prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. The term was defined by its relationship to the system before it—structuralism.

*What is deconstruction

a method of critical analysis of philosophical and literary language which emphasizes the internal workings of language and conceptual systems, the relational quality of meaning, and the assumptions implicit in forms of expression.

*Definition of Post-structuralist:

  “Any of several theories of literary criticism

As deconstruction or reader response criticism

That use structuralists methods but argue against

The results of structuralism and hold that there wasno one true reading of a text”

   Post structuralism was the reaction of structuralism, a variety of postmodernism. The post-structuralists accuse structuralist of not following through the implications of the views about language on which their intellectual system is based. One structuralist said that language doesn't but just reflect or record the world.

According to the post-structuralist we have such kind of belief that we enter a universal of radical uncertainty. Since we can not have fixed landmark or fixed place. Without a fixed point of reference against which to measure movement we can’t tell whether or not we are moving at all. For example if I am seating in a stationary train with another train was running at that time we think that it’s my train was moving but it isn't. So when the train gone we can see that I am till now on the platform. So post structuralism says that fixed intellectual reference points are permanently removed by properly taking on board.

*Saussure’s theory about linguistic structuralism:

 Saussure was a key figure in the development of modern approaches to language study. In the 19th century linguistic scholar had mainly been interested in historical aspects of language such as working out the historical development of languages and the connections between them. Saussure concentrated instead of patterns and functions of language in use today, with emphasis on how meaning are maintained and established and on the functions of grammatical structures.

           But there was so interesting which wasfound Saussure structuralism. These can be explained by three pronouncements. First he emphasized that the meaning we give to word are purely arbitrary and these meaning are maintained by convention only. Words are to say are ‘unmotivated signs’ meaning that there is no inherent connection between a word and what is designates. Foe example the word’ Hut’ for instance is not any way appropriate to its meaning, and all linguistic signs art arbitrary is a fairly obvious point to make perhaps and is not a new thing to say(Plato said it in Ancient Greek times) but it is a new concepts to emphasis (which is always very much important that if language as a sign system is based on arbitrariness of this kind then if follows that language isn't reflection of the world and of experience, but a system which stands quite separate from it. This point will be further developed later

.

Secondly he emphasized that meaning of word are rational. This is something no word can be defined in isolation from other words. The definition of any given word depends upon its relation with other ‘adjoin’ word. For example, that word ‘Hut’ depends for its precise meaning on its position in a ‘Syntagmatic chain’ that is, chain of words related in function and meaning each of which could be substituted for any of others in a given sentence. The Syntagmatic chain in this case might include the following.

         Hovel, shed, hut, house, mansion, palace

The meaning of these words may be change if any word from this chain removed. Thus, ‘Hut’ and ‘She’ are both small and basic structures but they are not quite the same thing. One is primarily for shelter (a night watchman’s hut for instance) while other primarily for storage.

    Saussure used a famous example to explain what he meant by saying that there are no intrinsic fixed meaning in language

      Hardly for Saussure has language constituted our world, it doesn't just record it or label it. Meaning always attributed by and expressed through language. It is not already contained within the thing. Well-known examples are what would be the first choice between ‘Terrorist’ and ‘Freedom Fighter’. There is no neutral or objective way of designating such a person merely a choice of two terms which ‘construct’ that person in certain ways.

*Post-structuralism/ Deconstruction:

The post-structuralism accuse structuralist of not following through the implication of the views about language on which their intellectual system is based. We saw one or other structuralism characteristic views is the notion that language doesn't just reflect or record the world rather it shapes it, so that how we see that how  we see that.

*Deconstruction

Originated by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, deconstruction is an approach to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. Derrida's approach consisted of conducting readings of texts with an ear to what runs counter to the intended meaning or structural unity of a particular text. The purpose of deconstruction is to show that the usage of language in a given text, and language as a whole, are irreducibly complex, unstable, or impossible. Throughout his readings, Derrida hoped to show deconstruction at work.

Many debates in continental philosophy surrounding ontology, epistemology, ethics, aesthetics, hermeneutics, and philosophy of language refer to Derrida's observations. Since the 1980s, these observations inspired a range of theoretical enterprises in the humanities,including the disciplines of law anthropology,historiography,linguistics,sociolinguisticspsychoanalysis, LGBT studies, and the feminist school of thought. Deconstruction also inspired deconstructivism in architecture and remains important within art,music,and literary criticism.[11][12]

While common in continental Europe (and wherever Continental philosophy is in the mainstream), deconstruction is not adopted or accepted by most philosophy departments in universities where analytic philosophy is predominant.

*Deconstruction according to Derrida

*Etymology       

Edit

Derrida's original use of the word "deconstruction" was a translation of Destruktion, a concept from the work of Martin Heidegger that Derrida sought to apply to textual reading. Heidegger's term referred to a process of exploring the categories and concepts that tradition has imposed on a word, and the history behind them.

*Basic philosophical concerns    

Edit

*Derrida's concerns flow from a consideration of several issues:

A desire to contribute to the re-evaluation of all Western values, a re-evaluation built on the 18th-century Kantian critique of pure reason, and carried forward to the 19th century, in its more radical implications, by Kierkegaard and Nietzsche.

An assertion that texts outlive their authors, and become part of a set of cultural habits equal to, if not surpassing, the importance of authorial intent.

A re-valuation of certain classic western dialectics: poetry vs. philosophy, reason vs. revelation, structure vs. creativity, episteme vs. techne, etc.

To this end, Derrida follows a long line of modern philosophers, who look backwards to Plato and his influence on the Western metaphysical tradition.Like Nietzsche, Derrida suspects Plato of dissimulation in the service of a political project, namely the education, through critical reflections, of a class of citizens more strategically positioned to influence the polis. However, like Nietzsche, Derrida is not satisfied merely with such a political interpretation of Plato, because of the particular dilemma modern humans find themselves in. His Platonic reflections are inseparably part of his critique of modernity, hence the attempt to be something beyond the modern, because of this Nietzschian sense that the modern has lost its way and become mired in nihilism.

*Différance       

Edit

Main article: Différance

Différance is the observation that the meanings of words come from their synchrony with other words within the language and their diachrony between contemporary and historical definitions of a word. Understanding language, according to Derrida, requires an understanding of both viewpoints of linguistic analysis. The focus on diachrony has led to accusations against Derrida of engaging in the etymological fallacy.

There is one statement by Derrida—in an essay on Rousseau in Of Grammatology—which has been of great interest to his opponents.:158 It is the assertion that "there is no outside-text"  which is often mistranslated as "there is nothing outside of the text". The mistranslation is often used to suggest Derrida believes that nothing exists but words. Michel Foucault, for instance, famously misattributed to Derrida the very different phrase "Il n'y a rien en dehors du texte" for this purpose.According to Derrida, his statement simply refers to the unavoidability of context that is at the heart of différance

For example, the word "house" derives its meaning more as a function of how it differs from "shed", "mansion", "hotel", "building", etc.  than how the word "house" may be tied to a certain image of a traditional house.with each term being established in reciprocal determination with the other terms than by an ostensive description or definition: when can we talk about a "house" or a "mansion" or a "shed"? The same can be said about verbs, in all the languages in the world: when should we stop saying "walk" and start saying "run"? The same happens, of course, with adjectives: when must we stop saying "yellow" and start saying "orange", or exchange "past" for "present"? Not only are the topological differences between the words relevant here, but the differentials between what is signified is also covered by différance.

Thus, complete meaning is always "differential" and postponed in language; there is never a moment when meaning is complete and total. A simple example would consist of looking up a given word in a dictionary, then proceeding to look up the words found in that word's definition, etc., also comparing with older dictionaries. Such a process would never end.

*Metaphysics of presence         

Edit

Main article: Metaphysics of presence

Derrida describes the task of deconstruction as the identification of metaphysics of presence, or logocentrism in western philosophy. Metaphysics of presence is the desire for immediate access to meaning, the privileging of presence over absence. This means that there is an assumed bias in certain binary oppositions where one side is placed in a position over another, such as good over bad, speech over the written word, male over female. Derrida writes, "Without a doubt, Aristotle thinks of time on the basis of ousia as parousia, on the basis of the now, the point, etc. And yet an entire reading could be organized that would repeat in Aristotle's text both this limitation and its opposite".Derrida, the central bias of logocentrism was the now being placed as more important than the future or past. This argument is largely based on the earlier work of Heidegger, who, in Being and Time, claimed that the theoretical attitude of pure presence is parasitical upon a more originary involvement with the world in concepts such as ready-to-hand and being

*Deconstruction and dialectics 

Edit

In the deconstruction procedure, one of the main concerns of Derrida is to not collapse into Hegel's dialectic, where these oppositions would be reduced to contradictions in a dialectic that has the purpose of resolving it into a synthesis.The presence of Hegelian dialectics was enormous in the intellectual life of France during the second half of the 20th century, with the influence of Kojève and Hyppolite, but also with the impact of dialectics based on contradiction developed by Marxists, and including the existentialism of Sartre, etc. This explains Derrida's concern to always distinguish his procedure from Hegel's,since Hegelianism believes binary oppositions would produce a synthesis, while Derrida saw binary oppositions as incapable of collapsing into a synthesis free from the original contradiction

paper 7 Northrop Frye's Archetypal Criticism (Assignment)

Name:- Sejal R. Parmar

Sem:- 2

Enrollment no:-

Year:- 2018-2020

Email:- sejalparmar095@gmail.com

Paper:-literary criticism in the age of information: digital Humanities

Topic:- Northrop Frye's Archetypal Criticism

            Archetypal criticism

                                     -Northrop Frye

*Introduction

            Herman Northrop Frye (1912-1991) is Canadian literary critic, university professor and editor. A professor of English at Victoria Collage at the University of Toronto. Frye published his first book, ‘Fearful Symmetry: A study of William Blake’ in 1947. The book is a highly original study of the poetry of Blake and it is considered a classic critical work.

 Anatomy of Criticism

 The Education Imagination

 The Modern Century

 The Archetypes of Literature

            In his ‘Archetypes of literature’ Frye outlines a theory of the arts in general and literature in particular which would be developed more fully in his celebrated “Anatomy of criticism”. Archetypal literary criticism was a type of critical theory that interprets a text by focusing on recurring myths and archetypes in the narrative, symbols, images, and character types in literary work.

 What is Archetypal?

               Archetype was a Greek word meaning “Original pattern, or model.” In literature, film and art an archetype was a Character, an event, a story or an image that recurs in different works, in different culture and in different periods of time.

*Definition of archetypal.

 Archetypal means images and symbols are representing in literature it’s called archetypal.

In literature, an archetype is a typical character, an action or a situation that seems to represent such universal patterns of human nature.

 Archetypal can refer to a constantly recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting or mythology.

  “A kind of literary anthropology”-by Frye

* In dictionary meaning: A typical idea.

*According to Northrop Frye………

“In literary criticism the term archetype suggests narrative designs, patterns of action, character types, themes and images whichare known to a wide verity of works of literature also to myths, dreams and even social rituals.”

                   General meaning of Archetypes according to Carl G. Jung of Dept. psychology in “Collective unconscious” it is Primordial images and Psychic residue. James G Frazer gave theory of Archetype in “The Golden Bough” identified elemental patterns of myth and ritual. Creative writers have used myths in their works and critics analyze text was called archetypal criticism. Archetype can be:

* Archetypal criticism as “A new poetics”

                   This, ‘New Poetics’ wasto be found in the principle of the mythological framework, which has come to be known as “archetypal Criticism”. It is through the lens of this framework, which is essentially a centrifugal movement of backing up from the text towards of literary criticism becomes apparent essentially. According to Frye;

*Is awaken students to Successive levels of awareness Of the mythology that lies Behind the ideology in which Their society indoctrinates them”

The study of recurring structure pasterns grants students an emancipation distance from theirown society, and gives theme vision of a higher human state the logician sublime.

*Frye use seasons in archetypal criticism

* Spring: Comedy

             Comedy emphases on the social group, often setting up an arbitrary law or humorous society and setting out to reform it.  This change, however, was rarely a moral judgment of the wicked, but usually a social judgment of the absurd instead. Comedy was aligned with spring because the genre of     comedy is characterized by the birth of the hero and spring was also symbolizes the defeat of winter and darkness.

*Summer: Romance

Romance related with summer both are pairettogether because summer was the culmination of life in the seasonal calendar, and romance genre culminates with some sort of triumph. Romance wasaligned with summer because summer was the Culmination of life in the seasonal Calendar. In romance the reader’s values are bound up with hero who unequivocally represents what is supposed to be right and virtuous. The essential element in the plot of romance.

* Winter: Irony and Satire

 Irony and satire parody romance by applying romantic mythical forms to a more realistic content, which fits them in unexpected ways.  It presents an image where reality rather than ideology was dominant. Satire is militant irony, where moral norms are relatively clear, and standards are assumed against which the grotesque and absurd are measured.

         Now Frye gives the context of a genre determines how a symbol an image is to be interpreted. He gives five different views of different fields like human, animal, vegetation, mineral, and water.

(1)        Human:

             The comedic human world is representative of wish –fulfillment. In its contrast, the tragic human world is of isolation, tyranny, and the fallen hero. Thus, in different world, the roles of different humans do not change.

(2)            Animals:

              The comedic animal world suggests the docile and pastoral animals whereas in the tragic animal world they are like hunters, predatory for example wolves, leopard etc.

(3)            Vegetation:

                     The comedic realm of vegetation is pastoral as well as gardens, parks also symbolizes roses and lotuses. And the tragic realm of vegetation is like a wild forest or sometime a sterile or barren place.

(4)            Mineral:

              The comedic mineral realm represents cities, temples or precious stones. The tragic mineral realm represents desert, ruined places

(5)            Water:

              At last, the comedic realm of water was represented by rivers. And in tragic realm by seas, especially by floods. Signify the water covers huge part of earth and it is vital for all known forms of life. For example The Mississippi River in Huckleberry Finn.

*Inductive & Deductive Methods of Archetypal Criticism

* Inductive Method

      Frye contends that structural criticism will help a reader in understanding a text, and in this analysis, he proceeds inductively. That is from particular truths. For example Othello, in the Shakespearean play, inflicts upon himself affliction and this was the particular truth of the general truth of life that jealousy is always destructive. This is called the inductive method of analysis under structural criticism and Frye disuses this in detail in this section of the essay.

*The Deductive Method

                   The Deductive method of analysis proceeds to establish the meaning of work from the general truth to particular truth. Literature is like music and painting. Rhythm is an essential characteristic of music and painting, pattern is the chief virtue. Rhythm in music is temporal and pattern in painting is spatial. In literature both rhythm and pattern is spatial. In literature both rhythm and pattern are recurrence of images, forms and word.

 Literature can be interpreted in as many ways as possible. These methods are useful for critics and it can derive reader in new direction and vision of any literary work. If we want to interpret in different way through this methods Centre and periphery can be changed.

*Archetypes in Characters

·       The Hero:

     The Hero is a character who predominantly exhibits goodness and struggles against evil in order to restore harmony and justice to society. The traditional protagonist is the driver of the story: the one who forces the action. We root for it and hope for its success. For example Hamlet, Macbeth, Tom Jones, etc.

       *The outcast

      He or she has been out casted from society. The outcast figure can oftentimes also be considered as a Christ figure. For example in Indian myths there are characters like Pandvas, Ram- Sita- Laxman, Sugreev, Vibhishan etc.

   *The outcast

      He or she has been out casted from society. The outcast figure can oftentimes also be considered as a Christ figure. For example in Indian myths there are characters like Pandvas, Ram- Sita- Laxman, Sugreev, Vibhishan etc.

    *The Scapegoat

         A character that takes the blame of everything bad that happens. No one try to understand whether he or she is really at fault or nor. For example Tom Jones, Ophelia in “Hamlet”, etc.

*The Star-Crossed Lovers

         This is a young couple joined by love but unexpectedly parted by fate. For example Romeo and Juliet from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Heer and Ranjha, Heathcliff.

   * The Journey

         The main character takes a journey that may be physical or emotional to understand his or her personality and the nature of the world. For example; Oliver Twist, Tom Jones, Rama, etc.

*The situation or symbol

*The quest:

        The characters search for something whether consciously or unconsciously. Their action, thoughts, feelings are centered around the goal of completing this quest. For example Rama’s search  for Sita, Nal- Damyanti’s search for each other,  Savitri’s search for Satyakam’s life, etc.

*The Task:

This refers to a possibly superhuman feat that must be accomplished in order to fulfill the ultimate goal. For example, Frodo’s task to keep the ring safe in J.R.R. Tolkein’s  “The Lord of the Rings”  trilogy.

* Water:

Water is necessary to life and growth; it commonly appears as a birth or rebirth symbol. It is also strong life force. Symbolizes creation, purification and redemption also fertility and growth.

*Sun:

It symbolizes creative energy like fire, thinking, enlightenment, wisdom, spiritual wisdom, piousness, dawn etc. Rising sun symbolizes birth, creation, enlightenment. While setting sun symbolizes death.

* Colors:

  *Black- darkness, chaos, mystery, the unknown, before existence, death, the unconscious, evil.

   * Red- blood, sacrifice; violent passion, disorder, sunrise, birth, fire, emotion, wounds, death, sentiment

   *Green- hope, growth, envy, Earth, fertility, sensation, vegetation, water, nature, sympathy.

   * White - light, purity, peace, innocence, goodness, Spirit, morality, creative force, spiritual thought

   * Orange- fire, pride, ambition, egoism, Venus.

    *Yellow- enlightenment, wisdom.

    * Blue – clear sky, the day, the sea, height, depth, heaven, religious feeling.

  *Numbers:

  *Three- Spirit, Birth, Life, Death, light.

   *  Four-life cycle, four elements, four seasons.

   *Six- devil, evil.

*Seven-  relationship between man and God, seven deadly sins, seven days of week, seven days to create the world, seven stages of civilization, seven colors of the rainbow, seven gifts of Holy Spirit.

*Nature:

*  Air- activity, creativity, breathe, light, freedom (liberty), movement

*Rain- life giver

*Clouds - mystery, sacred

*Tree- where we learn, tree of life, tree of knowledge

 *Wind- Holy Spirit, life

*Mountain- height, mass, center of the world, ambition, goals.

*Heart- love and emotions.

The use of archetypal characters and situations gives a literary work a universal acceptance, as readers identify the characters and situations in their social and cultural context.

*Conclusion

                   To sun up, Frye points out there are only a few species of myth though there are an infinite numbers of individual myths. For example, these species or archetypes of myths include “myths of creation, of fall, of exodus and migration of the destruction, of the human race in the past or the future, and of redemption”.