Deconstruction Deconstruced

Deconstruction is a form of literary criticism that I think is really just a whole lot of BS. Don't know anything about it? Think back to the Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton thing and the way President Clinton responded during all the hearings, the way he was able to take the accusing questioners around and around in circles....("it would depend on what you mean by the word 'the'," just something I remember). I was not a fan of the President of the United States waxing rhetorically and I'm not a fan of this particular criticism method, here's what I submitted:


Deconstruction is an example of a critical strategy of literary analysis that deserves every bit of the negative connotation its very name implies. The technique suggests the complete demolition and denigration of an artist’s creation in order to find some variety of underlying messages that may not have been intended during the scribe’s construction of his or her work. With complete disregard for plot, characterization, setting, or any of the multiple literary devices implemented by the author, deconstruction seeks to establish that one or more hidden meanings motivated the written words. Furthermore, the asserted claims of a deconstructive critic can only be proven once the structure of an original work is completely broken down, debased, and made devoid of all intended meaning in favor of incongruous and inane ideas.

Although there are a myriad circumstances and factors that encompass the writing process and the creation and assembly of any work, the utilization of deconstruction on any piece of art concentrates too heavily on these factors as the possible inspirations that motivated the author’s voice. Such analysis is not only of possible detriment to a masterpiece, but also of complete disrespect to the talent and style of the writer. There are many in the literary world who may tout the advantages and positive attributes of deconstruction, but many more believe the strategy to be excessive, fatuous, and even irrational, with little or no basis in logic, tried and true academics, or other types of scholarly criticism.