Deconstrucción (general)

The MIT Press Essential Knowledge

by David J. Gunkel

El término deconstrucción nos es familiar, quizá demasiado. Corremos a comprar la última chaqueta o bolso deconstruido que ha sacado una marca para asistir a actos en edificios históricos recién rehabilitados según una estética arquitectónica deconstructivista donde disfrutamos de ensaladas deconstruidas mientras debatimos los puntos más sensibles del plan del gobierno de turno para deconstruir uno u otro aspecto del sobredimensionado Estado del bienestar. Pese a la proliferación aparentemente desenfrenada del término en el habla cotidiana, la deconstrucción sigue siendo un significante enigmático. Todos conocemos a medias o por lo menos creemos tener una noción aproximada de lo que designa la palabra. Hablamos de «falologocentrismo» o escuchamos propuestas que pretenden revocar el binarismo de género. Pero ¿qué significa realmente?

Este libro expone de forma clara la terminología, el concepto y las prácticas de la deconstrucción y ofrece una presentación del material que es, a la vez, accesible, concisa y fácil de utilizar. No lo hace con el simple objetivo de corregir los malentendidos y usos erróneos del término, sino para brindar a estudiantes, investigadores, docentes, activistas y personas de mente curiosa un potente juego de herramientas conceptuales para pensar e intervenir de forma diferente en el mundo.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

164 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 15, 2022

About the author

David J. Gunkel is Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University. He is the author of The Machine Question, Of Remixology, Robot Rights (all published by the MIT Press), and other books.

Reviews

[J S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fav book of the year (2024). Been familiar with and excited about Derrida's deconstruction for the last like 8 years, and I finally actually feel like I understand it after reading this.

[Brian Finn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat useful introduction to deconstruction, though at times seemed to assume to little of the reader. Also quite repetitive; could have been a great deal shorter and still gotten the main points across. Would recommend those interested to jump to the last two chapters first and read the first three only if there are still remaining questions.

[Billy Nisbett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A concise and well-structured introduction to deconstruction. Gunkel does a good job of motivating his arguments, backing them with theory, and citing relevant experts in the field. Thought provoking and well-written.

[Starbreeze · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible and concise. Better than I expected.

[Grant Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

⛏️🪚🔩🏘️🤖🐢🦑🦂🦍🐘😳

[Jessamyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Derrida for dummies. Neither good nor bad but thinking makes it so.

[Arjun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't find it interesting. Maybe this book was not for me. My mistake.

[Jagordo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that wastes more of the reader's time than it'd like to admit. The final two chapters offer a good understanding of deconstruction. The rest could be compressed a heavy amount.

[Michael Barros · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book make me feel all stupid while reading it. Now I feel all smart because I finished it.

I was shocked how much I’d misunderstood deconstruction, and I gotta say, I don’t like it.

However, in the absence of his personal defenses (since he’s no longer with us), Derrida has become an icon of destruction and dismantling. You might say that there’s Derrida, Derrida’s opponents, and then a non-dialectical third option which is this Derrida simulacrum.

Hoisted by your own petard, nerd, now we’re all free to keep doing deconstruction wrong and saying it’s right and calling it “deconstruction” as a form of paleonymy! Another point on the board for morons like me! Suck it post-structuralism!

Edit: my 2nd read of this was only 1 day apart from when I read it last year. New Christmas tradition.