Deconstructing deconstruction?

Meta-deconstruction? Is it possible? How can it be done? And if it's done, is there any example?

Criticizing critics about their critiques.

edited 12th Feb '11 8:27:11 AM by Grain

One thing you might consider as a type of this is a Reconstructed Trope. You take a Deconstructed Trope, and rebuild it, taking the implicit criticisms of the genre into account and showing that even a more realistic implementation wouldn't be all that bad / unrealistic / etc.

The easiest way for something that meta is to use a story within a story.

that is called a "Reconstruction"

edited 12th Feb '11 12:22:59 PM by FallenLegend

Not quite. There's a semantics issue here. A deconstruction of a deconstruction would be a reconstruction, but deconstructing deconstruction would be deconstructing the process of deconstruction itself.

Deconstructing a specific deconstruction is generally a Reconstruction. Deconstruction of deconstruction itself would be a story about overuse of deconstruction causing people to be really depressed all the time and lose a good deal of imaginative processes because of their inability to conceive of an "unrealistic" scenario.

edited 12th Feb '11 4:19:57 PM by Pykrete

Yeah, I'm looking for the latter case of Pykrete and Ultrayellow's explanation, not Reconstruction...

The question is how can we accomplish that?

edited 12th Feb '11 5:47:41 PM by onyhow

Perhaps it would work if one were to deconstruct the sort of person who writes deconstructions; and show how they are actually foolish in their deconstruction?

Or maybe by pointing out how a deconstruction does not neccessarily have to be Darker and Edgier, and depressing.

Imagine a deconstruction that was actually Lighter and Softer. That would blow people's minds.

^ So basically the scene in Spiderman where a ton of random civilians start throwing shit at Green Goblin, but a whole movie of that?

So are we in need of reconstructing deconstructions? o_O

Imagine a deconstruction that was actually Lighter and Softer. That would blow people's minds.

That's an interesting concept. Lovecraft Lite?

Or perhaps a deconstruction of deconstructions wouldn't be a reconstruction, but something that dismisses the criticism entirely?

I really want to write a Lovecraft Lite one of these days. The death cult summons eldritches and people start going insane, but it turns out most of said eldritches are friendly and just have no idea what the hell they're doing in this strange realm of lowly three-dimensional space.

Would deconstructing deconstruction involve deconstructing True Art Is Angsty and True Art Is Realistic (the idea that something being realistic makes it automatically superior)? If that was the case, then it could involve a depressing scenario where no one is allowed to imagine anything, especially not anything that would make anyone feel good. And then it would get a Misaimed Fandom from the people who believe in those two tropes unless it ended up having a happier ending where it showed the values of idealism and imagination. Because if even fictional works couldn't imagine a better world, how would anyone get their ideas out to help things change? To make a better world, you have to imagine it first. Or at least showed that only consuming depressingly realistic entertainment makes one feel like life is futile while a character who reads or watches idealistic series feels inspired to aspire to greater things and accomplishes more than the cynic who feels like "I'm not likely to be a success, realisticly, so why bother?"