CIM Briefing Papers
C.I.M. Outline #52
DECONSTRUCTIONISM:
THE POSTMODERN CULT OF HERMES
I. Introduction
A. Deconstructionism (D) is a powerful postmodern movement
currently in vogue on major college campuses and among
the intellectual elite. Its influence, permeates every
area of our culture. This movement has given rise to
tribalism, political correctness, re-imaging,
multiculturalism, and culture wars. It has become a
hammer for smashing traditional values.
B. The Background of Deconstructionism
In order to properly understand the context of D it is
important to follow the development of intellectual
thought in Western culture. Two terms are indispensable
to understand: modernism and postmodernism. Both are
very broad terms.
1. Definition of Modernism: Modernism is another word
for Enlightenment humanism. Evangelical thinker,
Thomas Oden, says this period began with the fall of
the Bastille in 1789 (French Revolution), and ended
with the collapse of communism and the fall of the
Berlin Wall in 1989. It was a period that affirmed
the existence and possibility of knowing truth by
human reason alone. Hence in a symbolic act, the
goddess of Reason was installed in the Notre Dame
cathedral in France--Reason took the place of God;
naturalism replaced the supernatural. It instead
avowed scientific discovery, human autonomy, linear
progress, absolute truth (or the possibility of
knowing it), and rational planning of social orders
(i.e., socialism). It began with great optimism.
2. Definition of Postmodernism: Postmodernism in many
ways is a reaction against modernism that has been
brewing since the late 19th Century. In
postmodernism the intellect is replaced by will,
reason by emotion, and morality by relativism.
Reality is nothing more than a social construct;
truth equals power. Your identity comes from a
group. Postmodernism is characterized by
fragmentation, indeterminacy, and a distrust of all
universalizing (worldviews) and power structures (the
establishment). It is a worldview that denies all
worldviews ("stories"). In a nutshell, postmodernism
says there are no universal truths valid for all
people. Instead, individuals are locked into the
limited perspective of their own race, gender or
ethnic group. It is Nietzsche in full bloom.
II. Defining Deconstructionism
(Note: Ds would resist all attempts at definition as
tyrannical, but they are inconsistent in this since their
own books are nothing more than extended definitions of
their method. In fact, one might well accuse Ds of only
defining!)
A. D is a way of reading a text. It was originally a
method of literary criticism and only applied to
literary texts. Now however, Ds say all of life is a
text to be interpreted, whether it is a poem, history,
family values, a government, religion, science, a
corporate charter, or architecture. The emphasis in
this form of reading is never to learn the intended
meaning of the author, but rather the subjective
interpretation of the reader.
B. "Ds argue that all writing is reducible to an arbitrary
sequence of linguistic signs or words whose meanings
have no relationship to the author's intention or to the
world outside the text." NEWSWEEK, 6/22/81
C. "The deconstructive approach to a "text"--which can be a
television sitcom or a roadsign as easily as an epic
poem--is to dismantle it, paying particular attention to
its elitists, anti-feminist or otherwise unchic
presuppositions. The enterprise is informed by a
philosophy according to which the world is indeterminate
until someone--temporarily, and only after a fashion--
makes it determinate by using words to describe it.
Since words are (allegedly) always shifting their
meanings, no interpretation of those words is more
correct than any other. The job of criticism is
therefore to expose this inherent contradiction in the
very idea of the "meaning" or veracity of a text." THE
ECONOMIST, May 18, 1991. p.95
III. The Roots of Deconstructionism--Its Philosophical
Foundations
The origin of D arose among some French intellectuals after
WWII. The most notable proponent and father of the
movement is Jacques Deridda. D was originally a form of
literary criticism ( as mentioned earlier) but soon took on
much wider implications. It emerged out of a philosophical
milieu which included, first and foremost, existentialism
(see CIM Briefing paper #50), Romanticism, the philosophy
of Kant, the psychoanalysis of Freud, fascism (they would
love to deny this), phenomenology, and pragmatism.
IV. The Major Tenets of Deconstructionism
A. The nature of reality: Objective reality cannot be
known. There is no transcendence. The universe is a
closed system. Reality is entirely subjective. A group
and its language creates its own reality until it is
replaced by the power of another group. (You see the
influence of Kant here, i.e., the phenomena of life can
never be known as it is, but is always interpreted
according to certain innate categories of the knower.)
B. The possibility of knowledge: Ds are true skeptics.
What knowledge we have is not direct but indirect. The
world comes to us through language and only through
language which is in turn a social construct. A
statement is true if it empowers an individual or group.
Here we note the influence of pragmatism.
C. The nature of man: Individual identity is a myth. Man
only achieves his identity through his group or culture.
The individual when disaffected has the right to create
his own meaning. Here Ds differ from the earlier
existentialists where the individual is supreme. Ds are
similar to fascism in this regard.
D. Moral decision-making. Ds deeply resent what they call
"totalizing." By this term they are referring to
universal values that are true for all cultures and all
time. According to Ds, right is what a group decides is
right for the moment. Right emerges out of power.
According to Ds only the strong survive. Those who can
deal with the lack of meaning and can create their own
reality against the weight of the entire Western
tradition prove their right to exist. Laws and social
conventions are only masks for power. Value judgements
are power plays.
E. The nature of language: Language is a system
constructed on the foundation of arbitrary symbols.
That is, texts are collections of words and pictures
("signifiers") that have no inherent meaning or
connection to the objective world of things or objects
("signified"). Since language is the medium for
communication, and since language constructions are
unstable, interpretation is also uncertain. Therefore,
the emphasis is always on the one receiving the message,
i.e., the reader, or the interpreter. And further,
since the meaning of words ("signifiers") is derived
from one's social context, ultimate meaning likewise
arises from one's social context. Language can only
convey cultural biases.
V. The Method of Deconstructionism
A. Deconstructing a text is similar to dismantling a house
to see what mistakes were made in its building. When a
reader deconstructs a text he is examining it for
prejudice and bias that the author might have used for
purposes of control. For example, a deconstructionist
reading of the Declaration of Independence would note
that the phrase "all men are created equal" excludes
women, and while it talks of freedom, it was written by a
white male slave-owner. The rhetoric of liberty is
contradicted by sexism and slavery. The Ds look for
deception or bad faith which might be consciously or
unconsciously (the Freudian element) be motivating a
particular author/artist/politician. Note also, that
what is absent (gender or ethnic group) from a text may
loom large in a deconstructionist interpretation of a
text. They refer to this as "the presence of absence."
Postmodern critic, Thomas Oden notes:
"Deconstructionism...[is] always asking the skeptical
question about the text, asking what self-deception
or bad faith might be unconsciously motivating a
particular conceptuality." by Thomas Oden. TWO
WORLD: NOTES ON THE DEATH OF MODERNITY IN AMERICA AND
RUSSIA, p.79.
B. The task of D, therefore, is to uncover contradictions,
to show the hidden and suppressed meanings that inhere in
a text, whether it is a literary work, or a social
institution. Since the official meaning of a discourse
is determined by those "in power," Postmodern critics
"deconstruct" those meanings to discover what is hidden
or suppressed in a text, thereby discrediting the
establishment which stands behind the text and gaining
the "right" to overthrow its authority.
C. The ultimate aim of an interpretation is to construct a
meaning which accounts for one's own experience or that
of a group. For example, a revisionist historian might
write a history of Columbus' discovery of the new world
which might benefit those who were oppressed by the white
Europeans. Just as we have "spin doctors" in politics
and the news media, we have "spin scholarship."
VI. The Influence of Deconstructionism
The influence of D in America is all-pervasive. It can be
found in movies, rock videos, history textbooks, political
campaigns, theology and religious issues, performance art,
TV commercials, ethnic and gender studies, and especially in
literary criticism from which it arose. Some current
examples:
A. The recent Disney cartoon "deconstructs" the story of
Pocahontas. The artful cartoon feature has her falling
in love with the English colonist, John Smith, whom she
ultimately converts to Gaia (earth) worship. In
actuality, she was never romantically linked to John
Smith; she converted to Christianity, married John
Wolfe, and lived out her days in England.
B. Feminist theology. It is an attempt to re-image the
salvation story of Christianity in feminist terms.
Other attempts at re-imaging are the Black Muslims in
their peculiar "deconstruction" of Islam.
C. Inclusive translations of Scripture and re-writing of
old Christian hymns. The original text is
"deconstructed" to suit modern ethnic and group
sensitivities.
D. Elementary American history textbooks. In a new
American history textbook George Washington is given
scarce mention. When the author was asked why the
omission on a recent TV news program, he answered: "He
was a white, aristocratic slave-owner."
E. Science. The influence of deconstructionist thinking in
the scientific establishment is causing no small amount
of alarm. Ds maintain that scientists are nothing more
than the high priesthood of the establishment that
produce better technology for oppression. For an
excellent study of the influence of D in the field of
science see: HIGHER SUPERSTITION: THE ACADEMIC LEFT AND
ITS QUARRELS WITH SCIENCE, by Paul R. Gross and Norman
Levitt.
VII. A Critique of Deconstructionism
(Note: D may seem easy for us as Christians to refute
since it so readily defies logic. This is true, but we
must remember that for Ds the issues are primarily
emotional. Christians are their worst nightmare because
they insist on a transcendent Word and that reality is
intelligible!
A. Ds are relativists, but proclaimed relativists cannot
be consistent relativists. If truth does not exist
what is to prevent us from deconstructing the Ds? If
"nothing is true" as they say it is, why should we
believe that proposition? Why should we attach any
value to any of their writings? For another example,
Ds often rail against the western canon (great
classics), but turn around and establish their own.
One professor rejects Shakespeare because he was too
heterosexual. Then she recommends her own selections
for students to study!
B. Moral issues are the Achille's heel of D. At best they
can only remain silent. However, they are anything
but! They argue loud and long about oppression as
though it were a great evil. To say something is right
for someone else or some group would be "logocentric"
according to their own texts!
C. The Ds are correct that interpretation is somewhat
subjective and limited in determining what is in the
mind of an author. Yet while we do not know
exhaustively, we can know truly. If we did not,
civilization would be impossible.
D. There is probably no clearer example of solipsism in
the history of philosophy. If we read their books
seriously (do they want us to?) then communication is
impossible. (Solipsism: "the total inability to know
outside of one's own mind.")
E. The reader becomes the artist. The author/actor no
longer has rights to the intended meaning of his work.
All creativity comes in the interpretation of a text.
F. Ds rightly reject reason alone as an absolute in
modernist thinking. However, reason is part and parcel
of the IMAGO DEI. The only consistent way to dispense
the law of noncontradiction is to abolish all speech
and attempts at communication which the Ds not do. The
fact is they write scores of books and are incessant
talkers (circumloquacious). It is almost as if speech
(for those who would denigrate language) for Ds is a
way of self-affirmation, i.e., "I talk, (or write)
therefore, I exist."
G. Ds are consumed by animosity toward those who are
logocentric--modernists and particularly Christians.
They believe the latter are the cause of all prejudice
and oppression that exists in the world.
VIII. Conclusion
Christianity believes the Logos is transcendent to the
world, but not immanent; the Logos is not subordinate, but
equal with God; personal, not impersonal; reflected in all
creation, especially in humanity. Absolutes exist because
of the revealed Word. See John 1:1-12.
"The author must die so the reader may live."
Deconstructionist quote of unknown source
"...the unbeliever's war with the Word (that is to say,
their war with Scripture and Christ) will lead them to be
at war with the word--all human language and meaning.
Because they reject the transcendent Word of God, Jesus,
who is the very Truth of God, they are led in the immanent
domain to reject the idea of the word, meaning and logic
as well." Gregory L. Bahnsen (1948-1995).
For Further Study
Carson, D.A. and Woodbridge, John D. GOD AND CULTURE. See
Chapters 1 and 2.
Culler, Jonathan. ON DECONSTRUCTION.
Ellis, John M. AGAINST DECONSTRUCTIONISM.
Lehman, David. SIGNS OF THE TIMES: DECONSTRUCTION AND THE FALL
OF PAUL DE MANN.
D'Souza, Dinesh. ILLIBERAL EDUCATION: THE POLITICS OF RACE AND
SEX ON CAMPUS. See Chapter 6.
Lundin, Roger. THE CULTURE OF INTERPRETATION: CHRISTIAN FAITH
IN A POSTMODERN WORLD.
Phillips, Timothy R. and Okholm, Dennis L. ed. CHRISTIAN
APOLOGETICS IN THE POST MODERN WORLD.
Thiselton, Anthony C. NEW HORIZONS IN HERMENEUTICS.
Veith, Gene Edward, Jr. MODERN FASCISM: LIQUIDATING THE JUDEO-
CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW. See pp. 135-144.
Veith, Gene Edward, Jr. POSTMODERN TIMES: A CHRISTIAN GUIDE TO
CONTEMPORARY THOUGHT AND CULTURE.
Walhout, Clarence, and Ryken, Leland. ed. CONTEMPORARY LITERARY
THEORY: A CHRISTIAN APPRAISAL
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