Derrida and Deconstruction
This blog is a task assigned by H.O.D Dilip Barad sir. In this particular blog I am going to discuss what Deconstruction is and try to deconstruct some Indian TV ads and Bollywood songs as a part of this thinking task.
Jacques Derrida
Jacques Derrida was born 15 July 1930, El Biar, Algeria and died on October 8, 2004, Paris, France. He was a well known French philosopher whose critique of Western philosophy and analyses of the nature of language, writing, and meaning were highly controversial yet immensely influential in much of the intellectual world in the late 20th century.
Derrida is most celebrated as the principal exponent of deconstruction, that is a term he coined for the critical examination of the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or “oppositions,” inherent in Western philosophy since the time of the ancient Greeks. These oppositions are characteristically “binary” and “hierarchical,” involving a pair of terms in which one member of the pair is assumed to be primary or fundamental, the other secondary or derivative.
INTRODUCTION- THE WORD ‘DECONSTRUCTION’
The term "deconstruction" is related to the French verb "deconstuire", which in English connotes
"to undo the improvement of or the development of, to take to pieces.”
In philosophy, however, the word "deconstruction" was coined by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) in the late 1960s as a response to the idea of “destructive” analysis rendered by the German word ‘destruktion’ of Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), which literally means "destruction" or "de-building". Thus, the word “deconstruction” is genealogically linked to Heidegger. Instead of applying Heidegger's term of destruction to textual readings, Derrida opted for the term "deconstruction".
Derrida’s Definition of Deconstruction
Deconstruction is not to be confused with "deconstructionism", which
“is the constructive attempt to talk about God from within the context of our secular relativistic postmodern culture and in a non-theological form.”
Initiated by Derrida, deconstruction was inspired by what Heidegger calls the “destruction” of the philosophy's
tradition. Derrida sought to apply deconstruction to textual reading in place of Heidegger's "destruction", which was referring “to a process of exploring the categories and concepts that tradition has imposed on a word, and the history behind them.”
In Derrida's view, deconstruction is neither a philosophy, nor a doctrine, nor a method, nor a discipline, but "only what happens if it happens".
Deconstruction in Various Disciplines Today
Currently, the notion of deconstruction is disseminated by a broad range of disciplines as varied and disparate as art, literature, criticism, law, ethics, music, history, theology, politics, architecture and even fashion, and so on. The philosophy of deconstruction criticizes also “the governing principles of western society, including hierarchical system, binary oppositions and postmodern attitudes and by challenging these views has changed the aesthetic perspectives in the fields of architecture, art, painting and even music and has created styles in every field".
Fair and lovely tv ads
The ‘Fair & Lovely’ brand was launched in the Indian market in 1975. The very nomenclature of the brand has been indicative of its USP –fair skin and women as its target audience. With the evolution of television advertising the brand’s campaign has also evolved simultaneously.
Ad video - 1
In this first video there was a girl who had dark skin and she wanted to become an air hostess, and suddenly she noticed a tv ad of "fair and lovely" she tried it and got white skin and she instantly got the job of airhostess. After getting white skin she gets confidence in conversation.
This is not possible in real life. Every person has their own way of confidence, and every white skin person may not be successful in pursuing their career. Men and women get their job by their skill and knowledge and there is no one who pays for white skin except beauty ad.
Ad Video 2
In this ad there is a story of a dance group where the choreographer chooses one artist over the other because of her fair skin. The selected dancer advises her colleague that despite talent, she would not be able to shine out as doesn’t have the physical fairness. The lady brought a ‘Fair & Lovely’ tube to the protagonist, and when we saw the last shot of the ad shows the male choreographer being enamored by the dancer who he had earlier rejected.
So most of "fair and lovely" tv ads showcase dark skin women who were mostly sad and unsuccessful in their field or career, and after applying "fair and lovely" they instantly get white skin, and people started liking them, they instantly became successful.
As the audience raised the question that is there no place for dark skin women in big named companies, or in business? And what happens with dark skin men ? Are they successful without white skin ?
Vimal pan masala ad
जुबा एक लिए उड चला
जुबा एक लिए उड चला
गैरोकी जमीन पर, खुश्बु अपने पनकी ढुंढता,
औरोकी जमीन पर
मेरी माटीकी ये जुबान
मेरी माटीकी ये जुबान हे।
मुजसे दुर मीलो दुर
पर ये दील हे, चख रहा हे,
उन ही अल्फाझोका का नुर…. नुर…
दुर कीतनाभी जाओ, ये जुबा से दुर ना जा पाओगे, विमल बोलो जुबा केसरी…
This is an ad for "Vimal pan masala". There were many ads about pan masala, tambaku, which were popular in india.
In this particular ad a man who is living out of India is searching for the fragrance, which is much more familiar to him. The fragrance constantly spread from pan masala, and he connected that fragrance with his motherland. At the end of this ad he finds a man who is consuming that pan masala, and they delivered a dialogue that -
No matter how far you go, you will not be able to go away from Juba, Vimal Bolo Juba Kesari…
So this ad showcases the addiction of pan masala, that if anyone starts consuming it, it will be hard to get rid of it. This ad connected consumption with the smell of mother land. Why can one be considered as an Indian man if he consumes pan masala? One can also search or identify Indian men by other ways. No one with a saffron tongue is considered an Indian man.
मेरी माटीकी ये जुबान
मेरी माटीकी ये जुबान हे।
As a viewer one we raised question that why the actor proudly suggest विमल बोलो जुबा केसरी…, In most of "Vimal pan masala" ad men finding another fellow, Who were spreading saffron color through pan masala and if he consuming "vimal pan masala" he considered as his country's man, and how one can smell fragrance of pan masala from such far difference ? and how can one feel the smell of pan masala as a fragrance ?
खुश्बु अपने पनकी ढुंढता,
औरोकी जमीन पर
At the end, one can notice that this ad is much more beautifying with words, like the singer connected the smell of pan masala with fragrance. At the end the actor proudly suggested विमल बोलो जुबा केसरी…there was no pride in consuming pan masala.
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