Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

transcendental and empirical, etc...
It is therefore as if what we call language
could have been in its origin and in its end
only a moment, an essential but determined
mode, a phenomenon, an aspect, a species of
writing, and as if it had succeeded in making
us forget this, and in willfully misleading us,
only in the course of an adventure: as that
adventure itself (Derrida, 1967:8).
Deconstructionists further argue that all texts are mediated by language and cultural
systems, which are manifested as ideologies and symbols, expressed in genres, ideas and
practices, and are limited in their ability to truly express the author’s thoughts. They
argue that texts which ‘confess’ the highly mediated, or biased, nature of our human
experience move closer to deconstructing themselves. This ‘confession’ moves the text
closer to reality than other texts, which remain conditioned by culture and tradition. The
process is, especially in a formal literary sense, an attempt to literarily express oneself,
freed from the traditions and biases that culturally condition all people. Those who
subsequently read these offerings must in turn attempt to be hermeneutically unbiased,
exegeting fairly and without bias; but deconstruction does not stop here, routinely doing
violence to the text (Lye, 1996). Postcolonial studies sometimes employ this same
deconstructive technique, especially relative to the abuse of power and exploitation of
others by the Colonials.
In our day, deconstruction has come to mean ‘tearing down,’ often in a disrespectful
and nihilistic manner. Some would argue that it misses Derrida’s original intention,
which is to [humbly] consider afresh the claims of traditional texts, especially those held
by society to be properly understood. Others would argue that Derrida’s own conceit laid
the foundation for today’s radical hermeneutics. Yet, it is this, “take a fresh look at the
old texts” aspect of Derrida's work that is worthy of consideration. In a similar manner,
the Renaissance scholars ‘re-considered’ the ancient Greek texts, even as the Reformers
did with the biblical texts in the original languages. From an interview, Derrida said of
his work:
Deconstruction questions the thesis, theme,
the positionality of everything. . . . We have
to study the models and the history of the
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University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa