Derrida and deconstruction; Deconstruction in practice

Hello! This blog is in response to a task assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir. In this Blog I am going to deal with my own understanding of deconstruction and going to elaborate deconstruction with examples. Derrida and Deconstruction, we learnt this topic in Flipped learning, to read my learning outcome CLICK HERE.

Derrida and Deconstruction

What is deconstruction?

It is a form of textual analysis. The theory of Deconstruction was introduced by the French Philosopher Jacques Derrida along with Paul de Man and his fellow Yale Deconstructionists; Harold Bloom, Geoffrey Hartman and J. Hillis Miller. Deconstruction is one of the important strings in Post Structuralism. Deconstruction had an immense influence on Literary studies (though this is more marked in the English- speaking world than in France) philosophy and Historiography. Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak was Derrida’s translator and had a major impact on Postcolonial theory and also became important element in Queer theory.

Deconstruction is a very difficult term to be defined; many of its practitioners insist that it is not a theory or philosophy that can be applied or can be defined in a set of propositions But its number of general principles can be identified.

Deconstruction relies upon extremely close reading of the texts under analysis and tends to refrain from introducing external evaluative criteria. Deconstruction can be called as an extreme form of Immanent critique. De Man states that it is not something that is added to the text.

Derrida says,

“Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique.”

A literary text deconstructs itself because it simultaneously asserts and denies the authority of its own rhetoric.

Derrida was not the initiator of this theory but it is ancestry is traced in Friedrich Nietzsche that there are no facts, only interpretations and Marti Heidegger’s critique of the priority that is traditionally given to the present tense in attempts to discuss the nature of being. While Derrida’s one of the constant concerns is with ‘Metaphysics of Presence’; to read the absence in the present of presence. Also can be said that the ‘subject’ can be self- understanding and can express itself fully in speech. Derrida also criticizes logocentrism or phono centrism which says that speech exists prior to writing. Logocentrism emphasizes the privileged role that logos, or speech, has been accorded in the Western tradition.

He claims that speech is the primal and the full form of expression. Logocentrism ignores or conceals the fact that if writing is a supplement to speech then definitely something must be absent in the speech that has to be supplemented. Speech does not have a point of origin but it arises from an ordinary lack. Following Saussure, Derrida describes language as a series of supplements and substitutions But he argues that the theory of the sign is itself an instance of logocentrism.

While in the critic of the sign Derrida introduce a new word ‘Differance’

Difference= differ + defer

This demonstrates that language has one point of origin and on end. The ‘meaning’ of the word is always a product of the difference between signs and it is always ‘deferred’ by a temporal structure that never comes to end.

For e.g.: It is a tree because it's not a plant

It's dark due to absence of light

Women due to absence of masculinity

So, there is never a final reading of the text, every reading infuses a supplementary reading.

The universalist ambition of structuralism is also challenged by deconstruction’s emphasis on undecidable apereas which cannot be described in terms of sets of binary oppositions. E.G. Plato’s ‘PHARMAKON’ which means both poison and antidote.

Derrida’s Grammatology which in detail studies Saussure exemplifies deconstruction’s insistence on unraveling the logic and contradictions of the text itself. Derrida explains deconstructing a philosophical text means working through its concepts and logic in such a way as to discover and determine what it cannot describe, what its history has excluded in order to constitute it as what it is.

Paul de Man makes a similar point in his argument that if they are to be coherent and self- consistent, Literary texts must of necessity be blind to the ‘metaphors’ and other figures of rhetoric that constitute them as texts. Deconstruction’s rigorous examination of those figures reveals the weakness of the links that hold them together.

Deconstruction is a poststructuralist theory, based largely but not exclusively on the writings of Derrida. It is in the first instance a philosophical theory and a theory directed towards the (re)reading of philosophical writings.

This is my basic understanding about deconstruction. Further in the blog I am going to deconstruct some ads and some Bollywood songs

This is Dr. Dilip Bard sir's presentation which instructs ‘How to Deconstruct a Text?’

How to Deconstruct a Text? from Dilip Barad

Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique

Deconstruction insists not that truth is illusory but that truth is institutional.

पैरों में पायल की बेड़ी से बंध के मैं ना रहने वाली

मैं अल्हड़ पुरवा के जैसी हूँ, परदेसों तक बहने वाली

मुझे गहनों से बढ़ के सपनों की चाहत है

जिन सपनों को सच हो जाने की आदत है

कट्टी है मेरी मर्दों से, यारी फ़िल्मों के पर्दों से

The above lines is from the Bollywood song “Param Sundari” from 2021 Laxman Utekar’s movie ‘Mimi’. Movie is about young ambitious woman who wants to be a actress and for money she opts to be a Surrogate mother for a foreign couple.

This is a stanza from the song sung by the female protagonist, the four lines of the song are very appealing that a woman is trying to come out from the traditional female role and loves her dreams. But the last line of the stanza again takes us back to the idea of limitations of women’s dreams. Dreams of beautifying themselves, dreams of being admired. In Contrast , dreams of male Bollywood characters are like ideal, sophisticated dreams. For example ‘Kabir Singh’ is a love story, male protagonist is toxic, still he is a top surgeon and is honest to his work, no image damage as a doctor, and lives his dream. . While the female protagonist dreams to have a happy life, being admired, money and to be beautiful. Another instant example is also a ‘Fashion’ movie.

Tarak Mehta ka Ooltah chashmah is a Hindi sitcom based on the weekly column "Duniya Ne Undha Chasma" by Taarak Mehta in Chitralekha magazine. It is produced by Asit Modi. This serial focuses on the members of Gokuldham Society who come from different backgrounds, It attempts to deliver a beautiful notion of India which believes in Unity in Diversity. .Gokuldham is also referred to as "Mini India" in the show. But, deconstruction is always about finding loops. Perhaps it shares the unspoken socio- political condition of India. The Serial has one ‘Muslim” character Abdul. And he has no place in Gokuldham society, he owns a shop outside the society. He is part of every occasion but not of society. The society which is called Mini India perhaps really tries to bring a critic of India’s religious (Hindu- Muslim) biases. Or perhaps it is speaking the language of authority and trying to set viewers mentally.

Fairness cream ads are majorly problematic. It prioritizes fairness, white skin for being a leading personality in any field. It downgrades the talent, and beauty is prioritized. Here is the series of ads for ‘Ponds white cream’ . It's a storyline in which a boy breaks up with his beloved and falls for a white girl. But comes back to the girl once she starts looking fair. This brushes the racist ideology in the human mind. If a girl wants love or a job she needs to be fair. This ad also brings out the idea of colonizers and colonized. Still the colonizers are colonizing us, this ad makes us feel beneath them. Especially to women, there are white skinned people who won't let have a dreamt or happy life. Continuous telecast of this type of ads boosts this ideology in the culture.

Even the taglines of beauty products are like; Fair and lovely taglines- “Badal do apni kahani” and “Guaranteed Fairness. Guaranteed Fame.” To change life, to have fame one has to be fair.

Even our Bollywood songs praising the white skin “गोरे गोरे मुखड़े पे, काला काला चस्मा”

सुन्दर हो और सुशील

रंग चांदी सा चमकीला

डिग्री भी हो फैशन भी जाने सोनिये

हो सीता जैसे नारि और जाने दुनिया दारी

पिया को सब कुछ ही वो माने

दिल से दिल्ली हो वो धड़कन से हो लंदन

ढूंडू में ढूंडू

मेरे ब्रदर की दुल्हन

मोहब्बत की हो वो गूगल

जो देदे हर क्वेश्चन का हल

नज़र के एक ही क्लिक से सोनिये

वाक पे सुनती हो जाने

ब्रदर को खुश करना जाने

जो सबके दिल में दुआ सी बस्से

मॉडल हो वर्ल्ड बेस्ट पर मिटटी हो इंडियन

ढूंडू में ढूंडू

मेरे ब्रदर की दुल्हन

Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (translation. My Brother's Bride) is a 2011 Indian Hindi -language Romantic comedy film written and directed by Ali Abbas Zafar. The above lines are from its titular song. In this line a male protagonist is singing the characteristics he wants in his sister-in-law (Bhabhi). It suggest he want a hi-fi women who is capable to stand in this hi-fi world but should not leave her traditional values like husband is everything “pati Parmeshwar” idea पिया को सब कुछ ही वो माने. He demands a beautiful lady shining like a diamond, knowing fashion along with education but she should also be like SITA (mythical character from Ramayana). Should be loving, responsible, modern and could also make or keep his brother happy. She should be all rounder but traditional ideal Indian lady characteristics should be there.

Here we can see the demanding society, a woman should be more than 100% no guarantee about the men.

The same film also has a dialogue.

So here I end my blog, I have tried my best to make deconstruction easier for the readers. I hope it was useful to you. Thanks for visiting.

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