Deconstruction And Criticism

Five essential and challenging essays by leading post-modern theorists on the art and nature of interpretation: Jacques Derrida, Harold Bloom, Geoffrey Hartman, Paul de Man, and J. Hillis Miller.

"The focus of any genuinely new piece of criticism or interpretation must be on the creative act of finding the new, but deconstruction puts the matter the other way around: its emphasis is on debunking the old. But aside from the fact that this program is inherently uninteresting, it is, in fact, not at all clear that it is possible. . . . [T]he naïvetê of the crowd is deconstruction's very starting point, and its subsequent move is as much an emotional as an intellectual leap to a position that feels different as much in the one way as the other. . . ." --From the book

This book surveys the main schools and theorists of deconstruction, establishing their philosophical roots and tracing their intellectual development. It analyses their contribution to the understanding of literature and ideology, comparing their critical value and exploring the critical reaction to deconstruction and its limitations. The text is designed for students who wish to understand how and why deconstruction has become the dominant tool of the humanities. Deconstruction and Critical Theory marks a new stage in the reception history of Derrida's work and in the wider philosophical debate around deconstruction. Zima's study makes a strikingly original contribution to our better understanding of deconstruction and its various philosophic sources. Christopher Norris, University of Wales at Cardiff. Deconstruction And Critical Theory: surveys the main schools and theorists of deconstruction; establishes their philosophical roots; traces their intellectual development; analyses their contribution to the understanding of literature and ideology; compares their critical value; explores the critical reaction to deconstruction and its limitations. This is the ideal text for students who wish to understand how and why deconstruction has become the dominant tool of the Humanities.

From the New Criticism to Deconstruction traces the transitions in American critical theory and practice from the 1950s to the 1980s. It focuses on the influence of French structuralism and post-structuralism on American deconstruction within a wide-ranging context that includes literary criticism, philosophy, psychology, technology, and politics.

Originally published in 1982. Aside from Jacques Derrida's own references to the "possible articulation" between deconstruction and Marxism, the relationship between the two has remained largely unexplored. In Marxism and Deconstruction, Michael Ryan examines that multifaceted relationship but not through a mere comparison of two distinct and inviolable entities. Instead, he looks at both with an eye to identifying their common elements and reweaving them into a new theory of political practice. To accomplish his task, Ryan undertakes a detailed comparison of deconstruction and Marxism, relating deconstruction to the dialectical tradition in philosophy and demonstrating how deconstruction can be used in the critique of ideology. He is a forceful critic of both the politics of deconstruction and the metaphysical aspect of Marxism (as seen from a deconstructionist perspective). Besides offering the first book-length study of Derrida in this context, Ryan makes the first methodic attempt by an American scholar to apply deconstruction to domains beyond literature. He proposes a deconstructive Marxism, one lacking the metaphysical underpinnings of conservative "scientific" Marxist theory and employing deconstructive analysis both for Marxist political criticism and to further current anti-metaphysical developments within Marxism. Marxism and Deconstruction is an innovative and controversial contribution to the fields of literary criticism, philosophy, and political science.

This collection of essays examines a wide range of topics relating to deconstruction, which emerged in France as a reaction to structuralism but has found its greatest response in America, where literary critics have built on its basic assumptions to create a new critical movement.