Understanding Deconstruction: A Critical Approach

By Dr. Supriya Singh | Banaras Hindu University

Learners enrolled: 369 | Exam registration: 11

ABOUT THE COURSE:

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of Deconstruction Theory, tracing its origins, evolution, and application. In Week 1, we will introduce the foundational principles of deconstruction, setting the stage for a deeper dive into Jacques Derrida's key concepts—différance, logocentrism, binary oppositions, trace, play, and more in Week 2. Week 3 will examine deconstruction's intersections with other philosophers, such as Paul de Man, J. Hillis Miller, Geoffrey Hartman, Judith Butler and Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak. Week 4 will focus on its contemporary applications in interpretation and reading strategies, uncovering the transformative power of deconstruction as a critical approach.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Undergraduate/ Postgraduate/ Ph.D. Students/ Early career faculty/ anyone interested in understanding the meaning and purpose of life.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Academic or Content writing, Research and Development, Journalism, Social, Cultural or advertisement industry

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Core
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	4 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences Arts
Credit Points :	1
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	18 Aug 2025
End Date :	12 Sep 2025
Enrollment Ends :	18 Aug 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	01 Sep 2025
Exam Date :	24 Oct 2025 IST
NCrF Level	6.5 — 7.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: An Introduction to Deconstruction Theory

Week 2: Derrida and his Key Concepts

Week 3: Deconstruction and Other Philosophers

Week 4: Applications and Contemporary Relevance

Books and references

All We Imagine as Light. Directed by Kapadia, Payal, Film South Asia/Arte France Cinema, 2024. MUBI, www.mubi.com/films/all-we-imagine-as-light.
Atkins, George Douglas. Reading Deconstruction/Deconstructive Reading. University Press of Kentucky, 2014.
Barker, Chris, and Jules Challis, editors. Barthes' Mythologies Today: Readings of Contemporary Culture. Taylor & Francis, 2013.
Barthes, Roland. Critical Essays. Translated by Richard Howard, Northwestern University Press, 1972.
Barthes, Roland. S/Z. Translated by Richard Miller, Jonathan Cape, 1975.
Bloom, Harold, editor. Deconstruction and Criticism. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979.
Brontë, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Pan Macmillan, 2017.
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Taylor & Francis, 2011.
de Man, Paul. Blindness and Insight: Essays in the Rhetoric of Contemporary Criticism. Taylor & Francis, 2013.
Derrida, Jacques. Aporias. Translated by Thomas Dutoit, Stanford University Press, 1993.
Derrida, Jacques. Archive Fever: A Freudian Impression. Translated by Eric Prenowitz, University of Chicago Press, 1998.
Derrida, Jacques. Dissemination. Translated by Barbara Johnson, University of Chicago Press, 2021.
Derrida, Jacques. Margins of Philosophy. Translated by Alan Bass, University of Chicago Press, 1982.
Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Motilal Banarsidass, 2002.
Derrida, Jacques. Signature Derrida. Edited by Jay Williams, University of Chicago Press, 2013.
Derrida, Jacques. Specters of Marx: The State of the Debt, the Work of Mourning and the New International. Translated by Peggy Kamuf, Taylor & Francis, 2012.
Derrida, Jacques. Speech and Phenomena: And Other Essays on Husserl's Theory of Signs. Translated by David B. Allison, introduction by John Wild, Northwestern University Press, 1973.
Derrida, Jacques. The Animal That Therefore I Am. Edited by Marie-Louise Mallet, translated by David Wills, Fordham University Press, 2008.
Derrida, Jacques. The Gift of Death. Translated by David Wills, University of Chicago Press, 1995.
Derrida, Jacques. The Post Card: From Socrates to Freud and Beyond. Translated by Alan Bass, University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Derrida, Jacques. The Truth in Painting. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Ian McLeod, University of Chicago Press, 2020.
Derrida, Jacques. Writing and Difference. Translated by Alan Bass, University of Chicago Press, 2021.
Devi, Mahasweta. Imaginary Maps. Translated by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Taylor & Francis, 2019.
Hartman, Geoffrey H. Criticism in the Wilderness: The Study of Literature Today. 2nd ed., Yale University Press, 2007.
Hartman, Geoffrey H. The Unmediated Vision: An Interpretation of Wordsworth, Hopkins, Rilke, and Valéry. Classic Reprint, FB&C Limited, 2015.
Hénaff, Marcel. Claude Lévi-Strauss and the Making of Structural Anthropology. University of Minnesota Press, 1998.
Lévi-Strauss, Claude. Myth and Meaning. Taylor & Francis, 2003.
Miller, J. Hillis. The Ethics of Reading: Kant, de Man, Eliot, Trollope, James, and Benjamin. Columbia University Press, 1987.
Moriarty, Michael. Roland Barthes. Stanford University Press, 1991.
Morton, Stephen. Gayatri Spivak: Ethics, Subalternity and the Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Wiley, 2007.
Nayar, Pramod K. Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: From Structuralism to Ecocriticism. Pearson Education India, 2010.
Norris, Christopher. Paul de Man: Deconstruction and the Critique of Aesthetic Ideology. Taylor & Francis, 2009.
Powell, Jason. Jacques Derrida: A Biography. Bloomsbury Academic, 2006.
Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. Penguin UK, 2016.
Royle, Nicholas. Jacques Derrida. Taylor & Francis, 2003.
Salmon, Peter. An Event, Perhaps: A Biography of Jacques Derrida. Verso, 2020.
Saussure, Ferdinand de, et al. Course in General Linguistics. Open Court, 1986.
Seymour, Laura. An Analysis of Roland Barthes's "The Death of the Author." Macat Library, 2017.
The Elephant Whisperers. Directed by Gonsalves, Kartiki, Sikhya Entertainment, 2022. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/title/81458765.
Stocker, Barry. Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Derrida on Deconstruction. Taylor & Francis, 2006.

Instructor bio

Dr. Supriya Singh

Banaras Hindu University

Dr. Supriya Singh is a faculty member in English literature, committed to synchronizing theory with the pragmatic goals of education. She pursued higher education at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi. Always inclined towards research and academic engagement, she has been associated with the prestigious Vasant Kanya Mahavidyalaya since 2012, an institution affiliated with BHU. Her areas of interest include literary theory, film studies, and fiction.

She is the author of two books: one, a collection of short stories titled Cheers to Life, published by Notion Press; and the other, an edited volume titled Inculcation of Sustainable Development through Higher Education: An Overview.

Dr. Singh has had the privilege of presenting her ideas as a resource person at various seminars, conferences, and workshops. Several of her research papers have been published in reputable national and international journals. She has also delivered numerous talks on topics of contemporary relevance on the primary channel of Akashvani, All India Radio. Recently, she was honoured to receive the Malviya Smriti Samman 2024 from the Professor Harihar Nath Tripathi Foundation.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: 24 October 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 3 assignments out of the total 4 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup. It will have the logos of INI and BHU.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- INI team

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