| The main purpose of this dissertation is to introduce Paul de Man's deconstructive strategy of rhetorical reading. The dissertation sets out to trace the origin and development of deconstructive movement and the similarities and differences between the two outstanding figures in the deconstructive history --- Derrida and Paul de Man,in order to show the latter's uniqueness. Then it goes on to the main body that studies de Man's rhetorical reading strategy, and ends with comments on his significant contributions.There are altogether four parts. The aim of the first part is to introduce the background --- to describe what deconstruction is and to figure out the differences between Jacques Derrida and Paul de Man to make it clear that it is misleading for readers to think of de Man as a follower of Derrida or as being part of the movement of so-called "deconstructionism" initiated by Derrida. Far from that, he should be taken as a unique critical thinker who needs to be understood on his own.Part Two is the main body of the dissertation, which attempts to draw an overall picture of what rhetorical reading strategy means by Paul de Man from a linguistic perspective. This part is divided into two. The first part dwells on de Man's thoughts on language and rhetoric, which are the linguistic foundations for his rhetorical reading theory, in which several important terms, such as sign, metaphor, allegory and reading, and their relationships are elucidated so that the origin of his deconstructive thoughts can be traced, which will provide readers with the knowledge of the basic concepts and how de Man understands and employs them. The second part explains by examples what rhetorical reading is and how de Man reveals the gap between grammar and rhetoric, which produces ambiguity in reading a text so that the meaning of the text is in a "suspense" state. In this sense, every reading is an allegory of reading and every reading is a misreading. Starting from the negation of referentiality of language, de Man proceeds on rhetorical reading strategy to deconstruct the stable meaning of all narratives, including both literature and philosophy. Part three comments on de Man's significant contributions in philosophy, in literature and in history.Part Four is the conclusion: as a way of thought, "deconstruction" is similar with the "critical" spirit in the period of Enlightenment; hence it embodies its historical rationality and its pragmatics to reality. That modern criticism such as Feminist Criticism, New Historicism and Post-Colonial Studies that stress the social content of literature may be taken as the result of the fact that deconstruction has come to a new historical phase of integration. |
