Sunday, November 9, 2008

Deconstructionism in Alice

Deconstructionism as a critical literary device is defined by an endless deferral of meaning. There are no absolutes, not black and white; everything is shades of gray. The best explicit example of deconstructionism in Alice is when Alice is talking to the knight in Through the Looking Glass.
" 'The name of the song is called 'Haddocks' Eyes.' '
'Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?' Alice said, trying to feel interested.
'No, you don't understand,' the Knight said, looking a little vexed. 'That's what the name is
called
. The name really is 'The Aged Aged Man.' '
'Then I ought to have said, that's what the song is called?' Alice corrected herself.
'No, you oughtn't; that's quite another thing! The song is called 'Ways and Means': but that's
only what it's called, you know!'
'Well what is the song, then?" said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.
'I was coming to that," the Knight said. 'The song really is 'A-Sitting on a Gate': and the tune's
my own invention." (ch. 8)
This is quite obviously a deconstructionist dialogue. Meaning is endlessly deferred through language, just as the Knight is doing. He is causing multiple layers of meaning to be created from the name of the song, as it apparently has four different titles, which, of course, confuses Alice enormously. She is exposed to a variety of meanings, of many shades of gray, rather than black and white. This makes sense in Wonderland precisely because Wonderland doesn't make sense. Neither does deconstructionism, as there are no absolute answers. One of the main reasons that Wonderland is so confusing for Alice is because it is constantly deconstructing itself, deflecting meaning and logic and straight answers. A cat is able to vanish and reappear. Cards and flamingoes play croquet. A caterpillar sits on a mushroom of epic proportions and smokes a hookah. These are deconstructed ideas, and they run rampant in Wonderland.

Here is the American Heritage's Definition of "Deconstructionism."

Here is a page on Derrida from the Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy.

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