April 18, 2007

Deconstructionism

From Artlex.com

deconstruction - A method of literary criticism that assumes language refers only to itself rather than to a reality outside of a text, that asserts multiple conflicting interpretations of a text, and that bases such interpretations on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the use of language in the text rather than on the author's intention.

Quote:

  • "By day, Structuralists constructed the structure of meaning and pondered the meaning of structure. By night, Deconstructivists pulled the cortical edifice down. And the next day the Structuralists started in again."
    Tom Wolfe (1931-), American journalist, author. From Bauhaus to Our House, chapter 5, 1981. See structuralism.
Well, I have another definition. Take a completely finished painting, one that's even been shown in a proper setting, take it home and, in the name of making it better, tear it apart to the point that it will never be the same. Okay... the point is to make it better! It was imperfect, it needed to be fixed!

No, I'm not going to show it to you. I'll give it one more day to get it right, then maybe. Ummm... it just might be relative to what T. Wolfe was talking about after all.