deconstruction

[dee-kuhn-struhk-shuhn]

noun

1. the act or practice of breaking something down into constituent parts.

   The deconstruction of complex problems into smaller issues can make them easier to tackle.

2. 1. a philosophical and critical movement that questions all traditional assumptions about the ability of language to represent reality and emphasizes that a text has no stable reference or meaning.

   2. a critical movement that questions forms, hierarchies, and assumptions that are thought to be fixed because of the language traditionally used to describe those forms, hierarchies, and assumptions.

deconstruction

/ ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkʃən /

noun

1. a technique of literary analysis that regards meaning as resulting from the differences between words rather than their reference to the things they stand for. Different meanings are discovered by taking apart the structure of the language used and exposing the assumption that words have a fixed reference point beyond themselves

Other Word Forms

• deconstructive adjective
• deconstructionist noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of deconstruction¹

de- + construction

Example Sentences

It takes years and years of slowly letting go of different concepts and beliefs — I was falling down Reddit holes and watching Rhett & Link deconstruction videos.

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But the film’s meta moments are not a deconstruction of the form, so much as they are a mirror.

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The result was a stunning yet subtle deconstruction of the song — an exquisite little two-hander that felt like a conversation between Erivo and Hancock.

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For us to see it, to witness his deconstruction in that way — that’s what the ending is, not so much about the prison.

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Insights’ rambling, overly long deconstruction of my columna caused some people to conclude it was downplaying the KKK’s awfulness.

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