Criticism Of Literary Deconstructivism

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Recommended: Leslie Marmon at Silko’s Ceremony

Christina Allison
Dr. Wymer
English 3300
Ceremony Final Paper

Literary Deconstructivism (deconstruction theory) identifies the “undecidability” in a text's meaning (306). Jacques Derrida introduced this form of literary criticism to prove that a text's implied meaning may not be the only point of a text. While Balkin further explains that "deconstruction does not show that all texts are meaningless, but rather that they are overflowing with multiple and often conflicting meanings" (1). Therefore, the recognition of a text's interpretations should be closely examined. In the context of Leslie Marmom Silko’s Ceremony, most critics would argue that the author's main concern is the make readers aware of the Laguna Pueblo Indians' inferiority to white settlers. This conflict caused white settlers, the bourgeoisie, in reference to Marxism, to shape the social, economic, and political constraints in their society because they are in power. After analyzing the context of the text more carefully, it is also evident that the Laguna Pueblo Indians isolate and shape the thought process, identity and acceptance of those partially removed from their culture, particularly those of multi- and other racial ancestry, along with the people in relation with them. It shows that separation of classes take place due to unconscious cultural social order (cultural biases) and higher class versus lower class issues. It is primarily present in the Laguna Pueblo Indians' superiority and interactions with Laura - Tayo's mother, Tayo, and Night Swan.

To begin, Laura's alcoholism and irrepressible act, as viewed in their society, of conceiving a child out of wedlock with a white settler forced her to stray away from her Native American culture, wh...

... middle of paper ...

...ft for the army or be as emotionally wounded if he was accepted by the people of this culture. However, the Native Americans were so concerned with their superior role in this society that they led others astray, even those wanting to merely co-exist in their land.

Another person who was excluded from the Laguna Pueblo Indian society was Night Swan, a Hispanic woman, who was dating Josiah. Tayo's aunt

In Literary Critism: An Introduction of Theory and Practice, Bressler explained that “Deconstructionalists hope to ask a set of questions that will continually challenge the ideological positions of power and authority that dominate literary criticism. Furthermore, in the process of discovering meaning in a text, deconstructionalists declare that criticism of a text is just as valuable as the text being read, thereby inverting the text/criticism hierarchy” (118).

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