A Deconstructive Reading of Yasmina Reza’s Art

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Abstract

This article is an investigation of the theories of Derrida in Yazmina's Reza's Art. The deconstructive strategies which have been applied include the concept of the floating signifiers, differance, paradoxes, and decentralization. The question of the aesthetic values of modern abstract art has been raised in this study. But more importantly, the research shows that the author confronts us with  miscommunication as  shortcoming of language and therefore a rift in a longstanding friendship of the three characters of the play. The name of the play is Art, focusing on a white painting, but the color of this art is not determinate. Each character in the play observes the painting in a different color. It seems that color acts as a sign which is caught up in a chain of signifiers that never rests on a definite signified. In addition, it is shown how a centre is deconstructed; the white painting is the centre around which the relationship between the characters are centred but according to Derrida a text is replete with many other centres as well. Therefore, the researcher tries to change this centre and put Yvan, a character in the play, at the centre which can itself be deconstructed as the text is full of paradoxes. At the end, it is demonstrated that the text of this play is indeterminate without giving us any definite answers as the meaning becomes a floating sign.

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Research in Contemporary World Literature
Volume 19, Issue 2
November 2014
Pages 27-44

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