Publisher's Synopsis
′What is Deconstruction?′ Deconstruction, developed by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, was a term initially used in literary criticism to describe a method of reading in which conflicting textual ′meanings′ were shown to undermine any fixed interpretation. This ′method′ has been applied not only to texts but also to the visual arts and architecture. By way of an introduction, Christopher Norris here clearly outlines the basic precepts of this approach, firmly locating it within, and as a reaction to, Western metaphysics. Andrew Benjamin further develops the discussion with illustrations from the work of artists such as Cy Twombly, Anselm Kiefer, Valerio Adami, and architects such as Peter Eisenman, Zaha Hadid, Bernard Tschumi and Daniel Libeskind. 56 pages, over 30 illustrations, 26 in colour Other What is .. ? titles include What is Post–Modernism? (Fourth Edition), What is Abstraction?, What is Classicism? and the forthcoming What is Modernism?
