Sherrie Levine re-photographed Walker Evans's Depression-era photographs and exhibited them as her own work. The visual content is identical to Evans's originals, yet the works generate entirely different meanings about authorship and originality. Which Derridean concept does this best illustrate?
ADifférance, because the same image carries meanings that differ across historical moments
BIterability, because the 'same' sign placed in a different institutional and temporal context generates altered meaning
CBinary opposition, because Levine's work simply reverses the original/copy hierarchy
DDeferred presence, because viewers cannot access the authentic Evans originals
Iterability is the concept that any sign can be repeated — iterated — in new contexts, and each repetition shifts its meaning because meaning is context-dependent. Levine's work is a precise demonstration: the visual content is unchanged, but the authorship, institutional framing, and historical context transform what the image means. The 'same' image is never truly the same when repeated. Différance also applies, but iterability is the more specific concept for this scenario of contextual repetition altering meaning.
Question 2 Multiple Choice
A student argues that since deconstruction shows all meanings are unstable, their purely personal interpretation of a painting is just as valid as any other reading. What does this misunderstand about deconstruction?
ADeconstruction actually supports the idea that artworks have one correct meaning, determined by the artist's intention
BDeconstruction shows meaning is structured through specific binary oppositions and differences — instability does not mean all interpretations are equally rigorous or accountable to the work
CThe student is correct; deconstruction licenses any interpretation as long as it is internally consistent
DDeconstruction only applies to literary texts, not visual art
The 'anything goes' interpretation is the most common misreading of deconstruction. Derrida's point is that meaning is produced through specific structural relationships — binaries like original/copy, presence/absence, high/low art — and that these structures can be analyzed rigorously. Deconstruction traces how these binaries work and shows that the subordinated term is secretly essential to the privileged one. This is precise, disciplined work, not a license for arbitrary reading.
Question 3 True / False
Deconstruction demonstrates that artworks contain no meaning whatsoever, since meaning is generally deferred and rarely arrives at a final destination.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: False
Deconstruction does not claim artworks are meaningless. It claims that meaning is not fixed, self-present, or determined by a single authoritative source. Meaning is always produced relationally — through differences from other signs — and deferred — each sign pointing to other signs. Artworks are rich with meaning; they simply do not possess a single determinate meaning that is independent of context, reading, and the differential system in which they operate.
Question 4 True / False
According to deconstruction, the concept of 'original' artwork requires the concept of 'copy' in order to have meaning.
TTrue
FFalse
Answer: True
This is a core deconstructive insight about binary oppositions. 'Original' only gains its meaning by being contrasted with 'copy' — without the possibility of copying, the concept of originality would be unintelligible. The privileged term is constitutively dependent on the subordinated term it claims to exclude. Derrida's move is not simply to flip the hierarchy but to show that the two terms are mutually constitutive, undermining the idea that any artwork can be purely and simply 'original.'
Question 5 Short Answer
Why does Derrida's concept of différance mean that an artwork can never have one final, determinate meaning, even in principle?
Think about your answer, then reveal below.
Model answer: Différance captures two inseparable features of meaning: difference (meaning is produced by contrasts within a sign system, not by any inherent connection between sign and thing) and deferral (each sign's meaning leads to other signs in an endless chain, never arriving at a self-present, context-independent foundation). An artwork's significance depends on which other works, contexts, genres, and historical frames it is read against — and these change. No interpretation has privileged access to a 'true' meaning because there is no fixed presence behind the signs, only a system of differences that keeps meaning in motion.
The key insight is that meaning is relational and contextual, not intrinsic. Just as the word 'painting' means what it does because of its differences from 'sculpture' and 'photograph' — not from any inherent connection — an artwork's significance is produced through its position in a shifting network of relationships. Change the context and the meaning shifts. This doesn't make meaning impossible; it makes it inexhaustible and perpetually open to new readings.