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  1. deconstruction love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A philosophical movement and theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth; asserts that words can only refer to other words; and attempts to demonstrate how statements about any text subvert their own meanings: "In deconstruction, the critic claims there is no meaning to be found in the actual text, but only in the various, often mutually irreconcilable, 'virtual texts' constructed by readers in their search for meaning” ( Rebecca Goldstein).

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. The undoing of what has been constructed or done.

Wiktionary

  1. n. a philosophical theory of textual criticism; a form of critical analysis
  2. n. The destroying or taking apart of an object; disassembly.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A philosophical theory of criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface meaning. This method questions the ability of language to represent a fixed reality, and proposes that a text has no stable meaning because words only refer to other words, that metaphysical or ethnocentric assumptions about the meaning of words must be questioned, and words may be redefined in new contexts and new, equally valid and even contradictory meanings may be found. Such new interpretations may be based on the philosophical, political, or social implications of the words of a text, rather than solely on attempts to determine the author's intentions.
  2. n. the process of criticising or interpreting a text by the method of deconstruction{1}.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a philosophical theory of criticism (usually of literature or film) that seeks to expose deep-seated contradictions in a work by delving below its surface meaning

Examples

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. deconstructionism

hypernyms (2)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. philosophical doctrine
  1. philosophical theory

same context (23)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. structuralism
  2. sexology
  3. cyberfeminism
  4. reënforcement
  1. historicism
  2. individualization
  3. female-to-male
  4. instrument-maker
  1. shriveling
  2. lesbianism
  3. gold mine
  4. deathtrap
  1. kill-joy
  2. autodidact
  3. feminism
  4. eyeblink
  1. steeple-chase
  2. pleasure-ground
  3. death-trap
  4. cloud-burst
  1. pampa
  2. battle-flag
  3. ghost-story

rhymes (18)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Reconstruction
  2. abduction
  3. conduction
  1. construction
  2. deduction
  3. destruction
  1. induction
  2. instruction
  3. introduction
  1. obstruction
  2. overproduction
  3. production
  1. reconstruction
  2. reduction
  3. reintroduction
  1. reproduction
  2. seduction
  3. suction

reverse dictionary (6)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. deconstruct
  1. deconstruction
  1. deconstructionist
  1. Derrida
  1. poststructuralism
  1. deconstructivism

tags (1)

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  1. derrida

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  • stephanieconn "It seems like in both usages, "dismantle" would work pretty well. "

    But @Chained_Bear, no... in the Derridean sense, 'deconstruction' implies not a taking-apart but a proving of elements of an argument to be inherently contradictory or false.

    Similarly, as @rolig mentions, taking a house apart is dis-assembling, not deconstructing.
    Jun 13, 2011

  • bilby Disassemble. Apr 4, 2009

  • chained_bear It seems like in both usages, "dismantle" would work pretty well. Apr 3, 2009

  • rolig I often come across the same problem in my editing. One of the people I work with (a Slovene artist) occasionally will refer to to deconstructing buildings, when what she means is pulling them down. I try to explain that the only way to deconstruct a building is to theorize about it (or perhaps build a new construction that in some way analyzes, questions and exposes the underlying structure of the first building). The problem becomes more interesting because my colleague also discusses in her work the deconstruction of modernism, and here, of course, she is talking about deconstruction. Apr 3, 2009

  • qroqqa Hum. I've just encountered this word referring to what workers did to a building at the World Trade Center site. I'm tempted to leave it in for its disturbing Baudrillardian quality, but I'm afraid duty requires me to substitute something more prosaic. Dismantling, perhaps. Apr 3, 2009

  • whichbe A philosophical movement and theory of literary criticism that questions traditional assumptions about certainty, identity, and truth; asserts that words can only refer to other words; and attempts to demonstrate how statements about any text subvert their own meanings: “In deconstruction, the critic claims there is no meaning to be found in the actual text, but only in the various, often mutually irreconcilable, ‘virtual texts’ constructed by readers in their search for meaning�? (Rebecca Goldstein). Dec 1, 2008

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‘deconstruction’ has been looked up 2121 times, added to 26 lists, commented on 6 times, and has a Scrabble score of 19.