Saturday 5 August 2023

Derrida and Deconstruction

This blog is in response to a thinking activity given by our professor Dilip Barad sir https://blog.dilipbarad.com/2015/03/deconstruction-and-derrida.html?authuser=0 this is the link of sir's blog you can go there and see more detail about Deconstruction and what this task is about. In this Blog I am going to write about my understanding of "Derrida and Deconstruction" and I will try to deconstruct some songs or poster of film. 


First question arises is what is deconstruction and what is the  connection of Derrida with deconstruction?

- Deconstruction is a philosophical and literary theory that emerged in the mid-20th century, primarily associated with the French philosopher Jacques Derrida. It challenges traditional ways of understanding and interpreting texts, ideas, and concepts by questioning the inherent binary oppositions and hierarchical structures that often underlie them.

At its core, deconstruction seeks to reveal the complexity and ambiguity in language, thought, and representation. It suggests that meaning is not fixed or stable, but rather fluid and context-dependent. Deconstruction often involves analyzing texts to uncover the hidden assumptions, contradictions, and multiple interpretations that may be present within them.
Derrida says,

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

Key ideas in deconstruction include:

1. Binary Oppositions:- 

-Deconstruction emphasizes the idea that many concepts and ideas are constructed through pairs of opposing terms (such as good/evil, male/female, presence/absence). Derrida argued that these pairs are not independent, but rather rely on each other for their meaning. Deconstruction seeks to blur or dissolve these oppositions, revealing the interdependence and instability of the terms.

2. Logocentrism:-

This concept points to the traditional Western philosophical emphasis on the written word as the source of truth and stability. Deconstruction challenges this by showing that language itself is inherently unstable and that meaning is deferred, meaning it is never fully present in a single word or text but is always reliant on other words and contexts.

3. Differance:-

A term coined by Derrida, "differance" plays on the dual meaning of the French word "differer," which means both "to differ" and "to defer." It suggests that meaning is both deferred (postponed, never fully present) and differs (is distinct and separate). This highlights the inherent tension and ambiguity in language and representation.

4. Play of Signifiers:-

Deconstruction emphasizes the idea that language operates through a constant play of signifiers (words or symbols) and that meaning emerges from the relationships between these signifiers rather than from fixed definitions.

5. Intertextuality:-

Deconstruction recognizes that texts are interconnected and referential, drawing meaning from other texts and contexts. This intertextual nature of language further contributes to the instability of meaning.

Deconstruction is not a clear-cut methodology, but rather a mode of analysis that seeks to reveal the complexities and uncertainties present in language and thought. It has been influential not only in literary criticism but also in fields such as philosophy, linguistics, cultural studies, and beyond. However, it has also been criticized for its perceived obscurity and the challenge it poses to traditional approaches of interpretation.

This is my basic understanding about deconstruction. Further in the blog I am going to deconstruct some posters of movies and some lines of songs. This is the Presentation of Barad sir there he is explaining how to Deconstruct a text?


1. Dill Dance Mare:-

This is a song from the Bollywood movie Tashan which was released in 2008 directed by Vijay Krishna Acharya. Song name is Dill Dance Mare.

White white face देखे दिलवा beating fast ससुरा जान से मारे रे
अरे White white face देखे दिलवा beating fast ससुरा जान से मारे रे
ओ White white face देखे
हा White white face देखे दिलवा beating fast ससुरा जान से मारे रे
Oh very oh very (Oh very oh very)
Oh very happy in my heart (Oh very happy in my heart)
दिल dance मारे रे (दिल dance मारे रे)

In this song, as you can see, the first line goes 'White White face.' Here, we might interpret a potential theme of racism in the song. It appears that the lyrics suggest that when someone sees a 'white face,' their heart starts beating faster, and they might fall in love with the beautiful lady possessing that white face.

2. Chittiyaan Kalaiyaan:- 

This Song is from the movie Roy which is directed by  Vikram Jit Singh released in 2015.


In this song this word like Chittiyaan means white hand or we can say that the reference of who has a white beautiful hand is more beautiful than other women's. In this song we could find racism or opposite binaries of White and Black.


3. नानी तेरी मोरनी को मोर ले गए :-


naanii terii moranii ko mor le gae

baakii jo bachaa thaa kaale chor le gae


In this song you can see the second line is like, बाकी जो बचा था काले चोर ले गए, so this chor/ thief are black. So we can interpret that racism is also there in our childhood songs.


4. White tone:-


Name of face Powder itself is Problematic like it only Promote white tonation or white Colour skin. It is also problematic that it says that only white skin Colour is beautiful not other Colour like Black or brown Colour. It's also racism.


5. Poster Deconstruction:-



This movie is directed by Sung-ho Hong, Released in 2019. This movie has the idea of On Fairy Tale Island, a group of heroic villagers called the Fearless Seven – Merlin, Arthur, Jack, Hans, and triplets Pino, Noki and Kio – save a Fairy Princess from a dragon. However, after seeing her green face, they assume she is a witch and attack her. To teach them a lesson, she curses them to transform into ugly, green dwarves whenever people look at them. The curse can only be broken by a kiss from "the most beautiful woman in the world", which they believe is impossible since they are so ugly.


This movie appears to convey the problematic message that a woman's beauty is diminished if she is overweight. It seems to perpetuate the harmful practice of body shaming.



As you can see in this poster, what if snow white was no longer beautiful? And another question is what if those 7 dwarfs are not so short? Here we could find that body shaming is showing through height and overweight.

These are some of the examples which I have tried to deconstruct. I have tried my best to deconstruct. I hope you like it. Thank you So Much For Reading This Blog.


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