Review Article
Year: 2020 | Month: April-June | Volume: 4 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 19-28
A Deconstructive Reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven”
Ladan Farah Bakhsh
M. A. Student in English Studies, Faculty of Philology, University of Lodz, Poland.
ABSTRACT
Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” is a mysterious poem about the loss of a loved one. Critics have been trying to solve its mysteries since its publication in 1845. Even Poe himself provided a sort of self-criticism after its publication and provided its readers with an authorial meaning. It can also be read in the light of poststructuralist literary theory that revolves around the concept of deconstruction. It was introduced into literature by the renowned French philosopher Jacques Derrida. Deconstruction that takes Saussurean linguistics as its basis states that understanding and interpretation is impossible. Like Saussure, he also believes that meaning is not representational, that is words refer to what is objectively out in the real world, but it is differential, that is it lies in the difference between the arbitrary signs. However, he adds the concept of deference to the structuralist concept of binary oppositions and coins the term différance. According to him, meaning is not only arbitrary but is always deferred and unstable; as a result, literary texts are always open to interpretation. Applying this approach to “The Raven” can deconstruct former interpretations, even Poe’s own authorial meaning, and add more mysteries to it. In order to do that, the binary oppositions in the poem are detected; then through the textual contradictions, it will be shown that the centrality of one side of the oppositions due to social, historical, and authorial reasons, is arbitrary; hence the meaning will be disturbed.
Keywords: Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven,” Poststructuralism, Deconstruction, Binary opposition, Jacques Derrida, Différance
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