Flipped Learning : Derrida and Deconstruction
Hello Everyone😊,
This blog is based on 'A Flipped Learning Task' assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. In this blog questions are answered after watching videos. First, let's understand what flipped learning means.
(For overview of assigned task : (Click here)
Flipped learning is a teaching method where traditional classroom activities and homework are reversed. Instead of listening to lectures in class, students watch pre-recorded videos or read materials at home. Then, they come to class to do exercises, projects, or discussions. This approach allows for more interactive and hands-on learning during class time.
Questions-Answers:
Video 1: Defining Deconstruction
1.1. •Why is it difficult to define Deconstruction?
It is difficult to define deconstruction because "Derrida refuses to define it, saying that like all other terms that we use in philosophy or literary criticism, even deconstruction cannot be once and for all finally defined." This refusal creates challenges for students and scholars who often want something that is clear-cut and defined, making Derrida a very difficult philosopher to read.
1.2. •Is Deconstruction a negative term?
Deconstruction might seem negative when taken literally, but it is not about destruction. Instead, it explores the foundations and limits of systems. Its interpretation depends on individual perception, though most critics see it positively.
1.3. • How does Deconstruction happen on its own?
Deconstruction is a reaction against structuralism, which simplifies everything into binary oppositions or unified contexts. It emerges from the limitations of structuralism itself, challenging these rigid frameworks by questioning binary oppositions and the foundational structures they create. Deconstructionists explore how these oppositions not only define systems but also contain the potential for their own transformation, offering new ways of understanding complex ideas.
Video 2: Heidegger and Derrida
2.1. •The influence of Heidegger on Derrida
Heidegger was a German Philosopher with his remarkable work "Being and Time" 1927 destroyed the entire western tradition of philosophy. In this work he criticizes the idea of being of beings. This influenced Derrida.
2.2. Derridean rethinking of the foundations of Western philosophy.
Influenced by Heidegger, Derrida identified two key concepts in Western thought:
1. Phonocentrism: The tendency to prioritize speech
2. Logocentrism: The focus on writing and logic
Derrida makes a binary of speech and writing, in which speech is privileged over writing and writing is wholly neglected in the western.
Video 3: Saussurean and Derrida
3.1. •Ferdinand de Saussureian concept of language (that meaning is arbitrary, relational, constitutive)
Ferdinand de Saussure describes three types of meaning in language:
Arbitrary,
Relational, and
Constitutive.
Words are given names through mutual agreement, making their connection to objects arbitrary; for example, tree and swing are just labels assigned to objects.
Relational meaning arises from the relationship between words, such as good being understood as what bad is not, and male being defined by what female is not.
Constitutive meaning suggests that language shapes our experience of the world rather than just referring to it directly, implying that our understanding of reality is constructed through language. Saussure's idea of the sign includes the signifier (the word) and the signified (the concept), emphasizing the arbitrary connection between them.
3.2. •How Derrida deconstructs the idea of arbitrariness?
Derrida discusses the idea that meanings are arbitrary. In his work "Structure, Sign, and Play," he explains how we can understand something even when it is absent. Structuralists use binary oppositions, where one side is considered superior because it is seen as present, while the other side is viewed as inferior due to its absence.
3.3. •Concept of metaphysics of presence
In Deconstruction philosophy, Derrida describes the "metaphysics of presence." This is the tendency to understand important concepts like truth, reality, and being in terms of presence, essence, identity, and origin, while ignoring the role of absence and difference. In binary oppositions, one part is always seen as present and superior, while the other part, which is absent, is considered secondary. For example, women are often seen as the "other" compared to men.
Video 4: DifferAnce
4.1. Derridean concept of DifferAnce
Derrida's concept of 'DifferAnce' combines ideas of difference and deferral, showing how meaning is both distinguished and postponed through language. This challenges traditional views of fixed and immediate meaning. The difference between 'Difference' and 'DifferAnce' is in their spelling, not their pronunciation. Derrida uses 'DifferAnce' to emphasize that writing, not speech, is crucial. We distinguish between 'Difference' and 'DifferAnce' in writing, not when speaking.
4.2. •Infinite play of meaning
Derrida explains that a word's meaning is not in its definition but in another word. Each word signifies another, and this chain continues endlessly. He calls this ongoing exchange of meanings the 'infinite play of meaning.' It means that meanings are always changing and connected, with no fixed or final explanation.
4.3. •DIfferAnce = to differ + to defer
Derrida combines the words 'differ' and 'defer' into the term 'DifferAnce' because they both express the idea of difference. 'Differ' refers to the contrast between things, like different opinions or how black is not white. 'Defer' means to delay or postpone. When we try to understand the meaning of one thing, we encounter other signs that arise during our search for meaning.
Video 5: Structure, Sign and Play
5.1. •Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences
This is the foundational work of deconstruction. Derrida presented a paper at Yale University where he critiques Structuralist Anthropology. In this work, he argues about the importance of speech, writing, and language.
5.2. •Explain: "Language bears within itself the necessity of its own critique."
In this quote, Derrida says that critics often use the same methods they criticize when analyzing traditions. For example, they might criticize a scientific way of interpreting a work but end up using that same method themselves, which can make their critique less effective. This happens a lot in Deconstruction, where critics critique meaning even as they provide their own interpretations. Derrida suggests that every philosophical idea or language has a weak point that needs criticism, including deconstruction itself.
Video 6: Yale School
6.1. The Yale School: the hub of the practitioners of Deconstruction in the literary theories
The Yale School, centered at Yale University, was pivotal in developing Deconstruction. Key figures like Paul de Man, Harold Bloom, J. Hillis Miller, and Geoffrey Hartman, known as the "Yale Hermeneutic Mafia," played crucial roles. They promoted deconstruction theory in the 1970s, spreading its influence from America to the rest of the world.
6.2. • The characteristics of the Yale School of Deconstruction
The Yale approach to deconstruction focuses on finding many meanings in texts through playful and scholarly analysis, without emphasizing philosophical or political arguments. In contrast, Derrida is interested in exploring both philosophical and political ideas through his work.
A) They explore many meanings in texts.
B) They challenge traditional ways of reading literature, including history and aesthetics.
C) They occupied with Romanticism
Video 7: Other Schools and Deconstruction
7.1. •How other schools like New Historicism, Cultural Materialism, Feminism, Marxism and Postcolonial theorists used Deconstruction?
Deconstruction provides basic idea of questioning the structure this revolutionary idea in various way influenced branches of theory.
New Historicism: Questions how history is written and shows that historical stories can be biased or contradictory.
Cultural Materialism: Looks at how money and power shape culture and art.
Feminism: Challenges traditional ideas about men and women, questioning why society is set up the way it is.
Marxism: Examines how capitalism affects society and points out its flaws.
Postcolonial Theory: Looks at how colonialism affected different cultures and how people view themselves after colonialism.
Each of these schools adapted deconstruction's core principle of questioning established meanings to reveal multiple interpretations and give voice to marginalized perspectives within their respective areas of focus.
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