Deconstructive Analysis of Albert Camus’s Novel, The Outsider by using Derrida’s Deconstruction Theory

Abstract

Albert Camus' novel "The Outsider" consists of an uncountable number of meanings which can be unfolded through Jacques Derrida's Deconstruction Theory. This theory addresses that meaning is always complex, unstable, unfixed, evolving and dynamic. The act of reading a text always creates a new meaning and interpretation. It also deconstructs the constructed binaries and the ideologies behind them in the text. The novel, “The Outsider” invites various interpretations of the text in order to show the hidden meaning. The protagonist of the novel Meursault, is an unusual character who seems indifferent to the world of rationality. Society judges him through the lens of his relationships with his mother and over her burial and murder of an Arab. The aim of this study is to uncover the folded and concealed meaning of the text as well as to deconstruct the culturally constructed binaries and to identify the ideologies behind them. The protagonist of the Camus always goes against the constructed norms of the society which will be deconstructed through Derrida’s Deconstruction Theory as my perspective. I would apply my own model of analysis followed by three steps: Identification of binaries, to deconstruct the binaries and finally to find out the ideologies behind them. To understand the meaning and language of the text as the play of signifiers, close reading will be applied to comprehend the linguistic features of the text like individual words, syntax and structure of the sentences which uncover the ideas will be used as a method of research.

Keywords: Deconstruction, Binaries, Ideologies, Signifiers.