REINCARNATING THE WORD: INTERPRETATION AND DECONSTRUCTION

The emergence of deconstruction in the seventies inaugurated a new, and what some believe, a radical way of appreciating literature. After it the analysis of literary texts was transformed, as an entirely different method of studying textuality of literary works was introduced in the academia. Though, by this time, New Criticism had in many ways already paved the way for ?close reading? of literary works, the French philosopher Jacques Derrida introduced new tools of discussing and analyzing literature. He derived his concepts and terminology essentially from Western philosophy, and by applying them with the linguistic strategies employed in literature provided new perspectives on it. In fact, Derrida introduced ?hermeneutics of suspicion? as the cornerstone of his analytical method, and while doing so succeeded in elevating ?ambiguity? to the central principle of interpretation. After this, interpretation of literature acquired a different perspective in literary criticism. It would not be an overstatement to assert that deconstruction made problematics of interpretation as the central aspect of literary study and appreciation. However, this also led to certain problems and contradictions in the critical analysis of literary works. The paper charts the problems and contradictions of literary interpretation in the wake of deconstruction, critiquing many of its fundamental assumptions and focussing on their ramifications for literary criticism.