Deconstruction of Binary Oppositions in Derrida’s Literary Philosophy

Abstract

Jacques Derrida’s concept of deconstruction stands as one of the most pivotal philosophical interventions in twentieth-century critical thought. At the heart of his philosophy lies a sustained critique of binary oppositions — conceptual pairs such as presence/absence, speech/writing, good/evil, male/female — that structure much of Western metaphysics and literature. This paper explores Derrida’s deconstruction of such oppositions and demonstrates how it disrupts the hierarchical structures embedded within language and literary discourse. It delves into the methodological frameworks Derrida used to expose the instability of meaning and traces how these insights transformed literary criticism, especially poststructuralist and postmodernist thought. Furthermore, the paper analyzes literary texts through a deconstructive lens to illustrate how binary structures can be subverted, thereby opening interpretive possibilities and foregrounding the political implications of textual meaning.

Keywords- Derrida, Deconstruction, Binary Opposition, Poststructuralism, Metaphysics of Presence, Literary Theory, Logocentrism, Différance, Textuality, Literary Criticism.