An Analysis On The Deconstructiveness In Nathaniel Hawthorne

Hawthorne, as one of the greatest American writer in the 19th century, explores the deepest part of the human heart in his works. His .works feature with "ambiguity" and "ambivalence" which lead the readers to ask what is hidden in his works."Differance," as a difference that produces difference, is a very important concept in Derrida's deconstruction. Through differance, Derrida subverted the "logocentrism" and "phonocentrism"of the western metaphysical thinking and established the concept of differance and made it clear that any effort to trace the ultimate meaning of the universe is in vein."Hawthorne's works", as a signifier, according to the traditional interpretation, must have a determinate signified or meaning, and "the original sin" presented in his works is a good case in point. While if we take the Differance view to analyze his works, we will draw a different conclusion that there exits deconstructiveness in Hawthorne's works.In order to acquire a better understanding of the deconstructiveness in his woks, this thesis chooses Hawthorne's short novel "The Minister's Black veil" as a typical example to give an analysis from the angle of differance of deconstruction. The author finds that the black veil, with self-differancing in the text, has no certain signified meaning with the characteristics of vague heterogeneity.As for the layout of this paper, the first two parts give a theoretical introduction to Hawthorne and Derrida's deconstruction with the aim to offer a theoretical background for the interpretation, then in next two parts show a specific interpretation, and finally draws a conclusion that differance exists in the text, and the text, once independent of the author, will begin a self-deconstructing activity.