Winter’s Haven

I’ve recently observed several people use the word “deconstruct” as a synonym for “analyze”. Let’s see what the dictionary says about “deconstruct”:

1. To break down into components; dismantle.
2. To write about or analyze (a literary text, for example), following the tenets of deconstruction.

A deconstruction is a particular type of analysis: one done in accordance with these mysterious tenets of deconstruction. Thus, you probably should not use the word “deconstruct” without a clear understanding of said tenets. I won’t try to explain deconstructionism but instead will just note that it is strongly associated with the postmodernist movement in academia. This fact suggests an alternative, looser, way to use the word: you could use “deconstruction” in place of “analysis” to signal that you are a postmodernist, even if the analysis in question isn’t really done using the deconstructive method. In fact, using the word “deconstruct” does signal that you’re a pomo regardless of whether you had intended to do so.

This might be a good time to point out that many people, myself included, think that deconstruction and the postmodernist movement are Bad Things. So please, don’t go about “deconstructing” things unless you actually understand what “deconstruction” is, and whom you are associating yourself with.

This entry was posted 2008-Aug-13 and is filed under Semantics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.