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. Also see art criticism, art history, meaning, and realism.